[Solved] Windows 7 same problems different dollar...

So far my Windows 7 experience has been almost exactly the same as my Vista experience. After doing a clean install I was left with 3 directories that appeared to be GUID names -- i.e. "as1234sdfaek9097532lkhgfasf32424". Ran some Windows 7 updates and got another one -- 4 of these "mysterious" directories in total.

So I was successfull at deleting 3 out of the 4, but the 4th directory just didn't permit me (Administrator) to delete it (Access Denied). So once again I'm in Google research land trying solve a problem that shouldn't exist (I feel sorry for the normal human race that actually try to use this POS Windows 7). I tried Safe Mode, I tried creating the "real" Administrator account and logging into that, I tried cmd "Run as Administrator" and RMDIR, still "Access Denied".

So I look at the "owner" of this directory (it should be me since this was a new install and I'm the only person that uses my PC" -- turns out the owner is "Unknown" followed by S-1-5-21...1003 -- WTF who is this owner, all I did was a fresh install and run Windows 7 Updates. So, digging some more I figure out how to take "ownership" of this directory -- key being to also "include sub-directories" and finally I'm able to delete the directory. One would think that since I installed the OS, and I creatd my Admin account, that the OS would realize that I'm the OWNER, hello!!! What a LAME security implemenation, the same lame one that is in Vista.

Clearly, Microsoft just aren't gettin' it -- your average user isn't going to figure this out or most likely will just leave the Windows 7 updates directories/garbage on their drives (some of these garbage folders are huge, 2-3GB). It's mind boggling that Windows 7 really is just Vista SP3. It took less than an hour for me to run into yet again problems with Microsoft's OS and once again I'm wasting my time Googling for solutions.

As far as compatibility, try installing AOE III on Windows 7 - oh it doesn't and Windows 7 even warns you it will not work and "Check for solutions" -- I check the solution is .... drum roll ... there is NO solution - one of Microsoft's own games!!! I'm cracking up at just how lame Windows 7 is, I'm sure it will sell to those that think the interface is better (pretty always sells), but deep down it's clearly the same old junk that is Vista.

Honestly folks, don't waste your money on Windows 7 upgrade, if you think it is different from Vista, you will be sadly disappointed.

Thank you for sharing.

2-3GB x 4 = 8-12GB OH NOEEESSSS! Any computer sold with Win7 will most likely come with an HD over 500GB, that's not more than 2% of the HDD. It's not a big deal. You've got to have MASSIVE OCD problems if you can't handle having 4 directories on your computer, especially since they're there to help you?

As for update directories.....They are there in case you need to undo an update. THAT is why they are huge, they contain all the information to undo any update that it pertains to. Honestly, this is not something that in any way pertains to the average user and or even an enthusiast. If your way is so much better, write your own Mac/ Windows hybrid as your avatar suggests.

All this coming from a guy with an apple avatar. Suprise suprise.

Btw, I installed Sacrifice on my Vista 64 PC and it works fine. Same with many older games I own.

Ah, so now you've decided what is and isn't a big deal? I see you folks don't want to address the issue, just side step and try to focus on something else. I realize this is common form of debate among fan boys and girls, however, look at the facts as presented.

No OS should be producing GUID dirs off the root/boot drive. This is just sloppy cleanup -- also existed in Vista. Like I said, Windows 7 is Vista with a different name and slight facelift.

Windows 7 is Microsoft as usual -- didn't take long to discover that -- hopefully they'll offer Windows 7 to WinXP downgrades on new computers so others aren't FORCED to suffer this mickey mouse security model ... again.

Informative and valuable contribution ... exactly what I expect from Microsoft Windows hardware forum ... errrr ... I mean Tom's Hardware.

Are you honestly suggesting that Win7 is less secure than XP?

Honestly?

just because you installed it doesn't mean that the owner of the folder will be the administrator. there are alot of accounts that are hidden and run various system services and functions. you try to sound like you know the intricate details of how windows works but you obviously don't understand the permissions structure.
if you REALLY want to get rid of it, administrators can take ownership of any file or folder. do that. then close out of the permissions window and the folder properties. go back in, give yourself permissions and delete it.

I agree that install kits that leave garbage folders lying around is very annoying, and IMHO that's a perfectly valid criticism.

BUT your gripes about ownership are bogus - the problem isn't the concept of ownership per se, but rather the fact that you didn't understand how ownership and file security works and therefore were frustrated in your attempts to remove the file.

Again, that's not a fault of the OS. It's a design feature that's ALWAYS been in NTFS, and being amazed that Windows 7 is "just like Vista" in this regard simply demonstrates your lack of understanding.

As most administrators know, being able to set ownership and specify security on files that limits Administrative access is a key requirement to ensure privacy and confidentiality. And your comment on viruses is amusing because if Administrative accounts really did have blanket access to all files then the virus problem would be MUCH worse (especially given how many XP users do all their work using and Administrative account, a horrible practice IMHO).

i just found a hidden folder on my g5 and i can't remove it!!!!!lol!!!!!!!!!!

Nice try at diversion, but as I said in my original post, these Windows 7 folders aren't hidden, of the root drive and easy to spot.

Point of my post is why do I even have an "Unknown" SID in control of a folder? This is an account that doesn't exist.

This was a fresh install I performed under my admin account -- someone has to install the OS at some point soooo..... All I did was run Windows updates and I got these folders left on my root drive.

I later ran ATI driver install and Creative Labs driver install and attempted to install AOE III -- and look at the mess I had left over. This is basic stuff that many users will attempt to do. Overtime if this left over temp dirs stay around they'll continue to eat up disk space and slow my system down.

Every single file you add to a hard drive will slow the OS down -- that's why people seem to think a new OS install makes their PC seem "faster", it's because there isn't much on it -- start adding a bunch of stuff and it starts to slow down and the registry gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

This is why Window 7 is like Vista and like XP and like 2000 and like NT, Microsoft seem intent in just leaving junk that is not need on one's hard drive and/or in one's registry. This is the same reason why windows applications will make 40-50 calls to the exact same registry entry when they start -- nothing is optimized. You can easily validate/monitor just how crappy microsoft's code is with filemon and regmon. You'll be left wondering why on earth they just didn't call this entry once during app load and make it global rather than call it 50 times. I do know the answer to this, it's Microsoft way of developing apps, they taught (best practices) to NOT make anything Global because it uses memory and is hard to parse out and manage projects.

In the real world, it is actually Ok to use some global workspace to improve efficiency, just don't OVER use it -- it's this fear that has lead Microsoft developers into these packaged apps that call the same registry entry 50+ times for a single task rather than use a global scope.

Getting off topic now, but clearly Windows 7 is no better than Vista, and heck I could at least run AOE III on Vista, can't on Windows 7.

I think Microsoft got somewhat taken down the wrong road -- a road lead by cooperate IT, not realizing that cooperate users are also human. Also not realizing that cooperate users and home users were about 50/50. It's almost as if they felt a computer MUST have some higher entity governing it -- the Admin User and the real "Administator" two similar but different accounts.

V8VENOM.... there is one minor detail you seem to be overlooking..............

No one is forcing you to buy Windows 7 when it goes on general release, thats part of the reason Microsoft allow you to download the Beta's and RC so you can trial the new product without parting wiht any cash.

Windows by and large needs to be able to run / open old files and programs as well as new ones. Now no one is going to tell you everything will work 100% - but priorties lie with business users first as this is MS's core market.

Anyway show me an OS without flaws...

+1

I actually like macs, and osx, but some dude in history class decided to talk about his mac book and how great it was and how he was going to use it for a presenation. Im 39 years old, i work full time, i want to get in,get the class over, so lno love for macs today.

To bad Win 7 is more secure than Snow Leopard

So, let me get this straight, V8VENOM:

You want your old(er) game to work on an OS that hasn't been officially released to the public yet, but you also want Microsoft to change (or remove) the underlying basis of the OS (namely, the registry) so that every piece of software ever created to run on the OS won't run? If you thought Vista was bad (which, after SP1, became an excellent OS), that registryless-OS would certainly run Microsoft into the ground.

Then you want to be able to use administrator rights to delete anything on the computer because YOU are the owner, and then complain because Windows has malware that does the exact same thing to corrupt your computer?

Windows and the PC market thrive on choice, something the Apple camp isn't used to. Those directories are there to give you a choice to remove a certain update. Maybe in your particular instance, you don't need that choice, but perhaps someone else will. On behalf on Microsoft, let me extend to you my deepest apologies that the most popular OS (well, Windows, anyway) in the world doesn't cater to you.

They do have security issues... no one chooses to exploit them, that's all.

I know one Mac user that isn't getting more done... Seriously though...Windows has come a long way over the years. I still remember going from Win 3.1 to Win 95. What a difference that was...Windows 7 is a huge improvement over Vista from what I've seen...and remember, this is just a release candidate. It is assumed that there will be bugs in it. I'm a linux user and love trying out different OSs.

I hate to admit it, but Windows 7 has taken a lot of things that have been in the linux distros for years and has made them better. I think Microsoft is starting to pay attention. The main problem that still remains is the price.

Other than that, I think Win7 will be very popular and widespread in its use. It's very user friendly for the uninitiated and is much more streamlined than its predecessors. "Responsive" is the word that usually comes to mind. Compatibility will come down the road once the product is actually released. (I do love the irony that AoEIII didn't run out of the box hahaha)

Umm this folders are created by the patching EXE and not the OS. This is the standard way that a MS patch works. It creates a random folder name on the drive with the most available space that it has write access to. Yes it could be D: even. Then it extracts itself there and executes the actually patch installation from that folder. Now if the patch needs a reboot the folder is locked so that it survies a reboot and the user can't accidentily delete it. Each time the patch it run a new folder is made, the same patch will make different folders. Then when the patch is done this folder is deleted, but not always if there is a log file that is left behind. (Kind of a bug).

This has been happening since Windows 95/98 as it is the patching process that does it, not the OS. Not all patches work this way, but most now do. Uninstallation is normally held as a hinden / compressed folder in the C:\windows folder. The windows update downloads are held at another location. The update could have been one that a user has downloaded manually and executed.

If Apple wanted to they could do their patches in the same way.

A lot of these patching methods were designed so that they will work in a different environments from the home PC to Entreprise.

I converted all my workstations to Mac OS X several years ago, because I was spending too much time (about 50 hours per year per machine) keeping my Windows boxes running well. I spent about 1 hour per year per machine maintaining Panther-based Macs, and about 5 hours per year per machine maintaining Leopard-based Macs. I now run Windows XP only as virtual machines on the Macs, and it's very well behaved. Have things improved in Windows land since XP. Can you actually run a Windows Vista or Windows 7 PC for a several years with no performance degradation? That was the big issue for me--My Windows PCs suffered performance degradation over time and needed frequent maintenance to run well, while the Macs ran better over time as OS updates actually improved performance.

If you make this post about how Apple is better than Windows 7, then you are pushing an Agenda and naturally no matter how pure or righteous your message, nobody is going to listen to you and will continue to thrash you.

You have now basically just become a door-to-door bible thumper.

And about your "issue", I've installed Windows 7 on six different computers, versions ranging from Professional 32bit to Enterprise 32 and 64bit and Ultimate 32 and 64bit and I have yet to see this issue you are speaking about. I bet I can install Windows 7 on your computer using your Windows 7 edition and NOT run into the same issue you are running into.

You just simply don't know how to do things properly in a Microsoft Environment because your too busy being in love with Apple. And on another note, I hardly love Microsoft or am a Windows "fanboy". I really don't care. I use Linux and Windows at work, and have Windows and Mac at home. I have them all working the way I like and I don't have any issues.

You just need to learn to use a computer.

And sometimes the wheels fall off & the nut is left holding a wheel with no undercarriage or forward motion !