Windows 7: Need to Delete Win7 folder from Ext HD

l02turner · 05 Sep 2012

hello,
I am using a 500GB HDD in a ext hard drive enclosure. The drive had Windows 7 installed when it was the primary drive in my computer and the folder is still present and taking a lot of space. When I try to delete it even as a Administrator, it says I need "permission from trustedInstaller..." I've never even heard of TrustedInstaller before - how do I get permission?

Brink · 05 Sep 2012

Hello l02turner,

It sounds like you will need to take ownership with your user account, and set permissions to "Allow" your user account "Full control" of the folder first before you will be able to have access permission to delete it.

Take Ownership of file - Vista Forums

Using this below to add "Take Ownership" to the context menu can help make doing this easier.

Take Ownership Shortcut

Hope this helps,

Shawn

l02turner · 05 Sep 2012

I used Take Ownership (had it installed but forgot about it) and now I get a different error saying I need permission from "Desktop-\PC Larry" and I have no idea where that might be.

I am now running Take Ownership on the whole HDD instead of the Windows folder so maybe that'll help -

Thanks again -
Larry

Brink · 05 Sep 2012

Larry,

If not, then since you already took ownership, you will just need to manually set permissions to "Allow" your user account "Full control".

Permissions - Allow or Deny Users and Groups

Bumpkin · 05 Sep 2012

Try Brink's suggestions first, Windows 7 should be able to resolve the issue.

But when having problems deleting folders with permissions problems, sometimes it's faster to boot with a Linux (Ubuntu) live disk and delete the folder or file. You will also be able to copy the folder to another drive if you want to save it.

Windows 7: Need to Delete Win7 folder from Ext HD

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