I still cannot delete the boot folder from the HDD

terrorist96 · 19 Apr 2014

Long story short, I ran the command

Code:

bcdboot c:\windows /s c:

in order to recreate a boot file on my SSD and also went ahead and marked my HDD as inactive per Brink's detailed tutorial. My problem is that I still cannot delete the boot folder from the HDD. I've tried taking ownership and giving myself full permissions (and even removing SYSTEM and Trusted Installer from the permission list), using File Assassin, deleting via cmd and nothing works. Can anyone help me delete the boot folder on my HDD?

gregrocker · 19 Apr 2014

The correct way to uninstall another OS is always to delete its partition in Disk Mgmt, for this reason.

terrorist96 · 19 Apr 2014

I never had an OS installed on the HDD though. I installed the OS on my SSD but didn't think I should have to remove the HDD from the computer physically. I now know that if you want to install an OS, you should remove all drives except for the one you will be installing the OS on because Microsoft will try to install a boot folder on the other drives...

terrorist96 · 19 Apr 2014

:-\

Britton30 · 19 Apr 2014

Give the steps here a try: Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

I suspect the boot folder you're trying to delete is in fact, the active one even though it's on an inactive partition. This should get it back to the C:\ drive.

terrorist96 · 19 Apr 2014

I don't have a repair disk. And I'm not so sure that what you linked me is applicable since I already generated a new boot file on the SSD using the command I mentioned in my first post. Prior to doing that, my computer would not boot if I removed the HDD, but after running the command, it would boot successfully without the HDD, thus meaning that the boot folder on the HDD is not being used anymore.

terrorist96 · 19 Apr 2014

I know I could just mark it as hidden and forget about it, but that just isn't as satisfying as complete and total eradication.

carwiz · 19 Apr 2014

That's a Windows system reserved folder. You can't access it like a regular folder no matter what permissions you have. The only way to remove it is to delete the container partition and recreate it. If that folder isn't on your C: drive (Active, Boot), you'll need to reinstall Windows.

You don't have to "remove" the extra drive(s) when installing Windows--Just unplug them. Thousands of us have been through the SSD install. Don't know why you would doubt the instructions.

Britton30 · 19 Apr 2014

Yeah, I missed that part.
All I can think of is to boot with some Linux live CD and see if you can delete it from there.
Here's one using Peppermint3, but most Linux distros would work.
https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...cy-backup.html

terrorist96 · 19 Apr 2014

How can I delete the container partition? My drives don't have partitions (as you can see from my screenshot).
And I'd like to avoid a reinstall of Windows.
What I meant by removing the drives was just that - unplugging them because Windows will try to mess with them when I only want to install Windows on the SSD.