Undeletable Folder

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  1. Pez
    Posts : 5
    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit 16299 Multiprocessor Free
       #1

    Undeletable Folder


    Hi all.

    Recently I did a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate (not an upgrade). It's a hard drive that had already had Win 7 Ultimate on it, but I had run into some snafus, so I just re-installed fresh.

    As you probably already know, Windows 7 detects previous Windows installations and puts it into a folder called "Windows.old". After my new installation was done, this Windows.old folder was pretty big, around 25 gigabytes.

    From some searching I did, I found out about using Disk Cleanup, and you put a checkmark in the box for Previous Windows installations, and then let the program run its course.

    It worked.....basically.....sort of.

    The Windows.old folder is still there, and now it's only 1.94 kb in size; much smaller that the previous 25GB!!!

    But if I try to delete it, I get a pop-up message on-screen that says:

    "Could not find this item.
    This is no longer located in C:\. Verify the item's location and try again."

    There are two buttons to click: "Try Again" and "Cancel".

    If I click "Try Again", it just keeps popping back up.

    Isn't this a strange message to be getting, though? How is it that it says "could not find this item"?!?! Sure it can! I just clicked on it and tried to delete it, and yes, sure enough, it is in "C"!!

    I tried deleting it in Safe Mode, but I still get that same popup message I described above.

    If I navigate my way through this Windows.old folder, what's eventually in there is something leftover from SecuROM. Inside of it are two files with strange characters for names:

    ЃϵϳЅЂϿϽϯІχϯπρϴϱЄϱЃϵϳЅ
    ЃϵϳЅЂϿϽϯІχϯπρЂϻϵЉЃϵϳЅ

    Whether I try to delete these individual files, or any of the folders that contain them, I get error messages telling me it's not located there anymore.

    Not located there anymore?!?! Even though I'm looking right at it?!?!

    Anyone know how to get rid of this pesky, stubborn folder (file)? Any help or info is appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Pez

    P.S. I tried renaming the SecuROM files, but it won't let me do that either.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 17,796
    Windows 10, Home Clean Install
       #2

    Use disk clean up and check include system files.

    Windows.old Folder - Delete
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 525
    windows 7 ultimate 64bit
       #3
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 185
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
       #4

    You could always reg.edit it out but be carefull.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 130
    MSDN Home Premium
       #5

    I wonder if 'File Assassin' (from MalWareBytes) could get rid of them ?

    http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 2,259
    W7 Professional x64
       #6
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 6,305
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #7

    KremmenUK said:
    I wonder if 'File Assassin' (from MalWareBytes) could get rid of them ?

    FileASSASSIN: Malwarebytes
    I've had to try similar steps to manually remove the Windows/old folder and unfortunately, even after taking 110% control of the files in question they will not budge.

    richc46 said:
    Use disk clean up and check include system files.

    https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/19151-windows-old-folder-delete.html
    Best option out there, although, having manually deleted some files already it may give error messages if it's expecting the size of the folder to be larger than it actually now is....
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 111
    W7 64 Bit
       #8

    Go to System Protection, uncheck System Restore. Reboot, go back to the file, right click it and delete. If not, then start in safe mode, and delete it. Then renable system restore (if you use it).
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 18
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #9

    or maybe even the unlocker works as well. Google search them
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 654
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #10

    have you tried deleting the files from a linux live cd?
      My Computer


 
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