Simples solution to delete protected permission files from old WIndows install

[Moonpreacher]

This is the solution to delete those undeletable files without having to edit the permissions.

I have a 2Tb HDD with about 1Tb of downloaded files. So I bought a 120gb SSD to use only for Windows 10 and software ( no gaming here ). So, SSD=disk C: and 2Tb HDD= disk D:

I went then to delete the unwanted files form disk D: but they were protected. Checked all I could to how change the permitions but none worked. While I have almost 1Tb of free space on D:, those files occupy more than 15Gb and I didn´t have extra external to backup all the files neither wanted to partition the disk to move the data and format and merge again, you get the point...

So, the solution is simpler than that. While the permission files can not be deleted they CAN be moved. So I created in D: a folder called WINDOWS.OLD and moved all the unwanted files and folders to it. Run DISK CLEANUP, selected D: and CLEANUP SYSTEM FILES. Windows 10 sees this as a old windows install that can be deleted, and I wonder if the developers knew it can be used to clean all type of unwanted files.

 

[R_1]

interesting. I boot to a linux thumb drive and delete from there. linux does not care about windows permissions. fast as two reboots.

 

[audie-tron25]

Have you tried using "File Assassin"? That's usually my go to for protected files:
- https://www.malwarebytes.com/fileassassin/