How to delete an old "Windows" Folder from the 2nd hdd?

[exittoexist]

so i had a 250gb hdd and when i bought a new 1 tb i installed win7 32bit to the new one and the old one stayed there for 3 years with the old windows file not deleted or formatted.


Right now when i want to delete the windows folder on the 2nd ( i boot from the first one) i get this error:

You need permission from S-1-5-21-177137277-3636363636-75646546 to make changes in this folder.

If there is a method to fully delete everything on the 2nd hdd i'm listening

 

[nhasian]

you could try deleting the folder in safe mode. if that doesnt work you can always format the drive

 

[Hawkeye22]

Take ownership of the drive or windows folder. Right-click it and select properties, then go to security/permissions and take ownership of it. That long string of numbers is the GUID for your old account from the previous windows install that no longer exists.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753659.aspx

 

[exittoexist]

i cant format it because of the ownership problem.

@hawkeye i did what you said but still i cant format it or delete windows file. it still says i need permission. on the security box my pc; ONUR-PC has all the permissions.

 

[exittoexist]

okay now i changed it to ONUR-PC/Onur but it now it says You need permission from ONUR-PC/Onur. But i gave it all the permissions!

 

[smethrony]

so i had a 250gb hdd and when i bought a new 1 tb i installed win7 32bit to the new one and the old one stayed there for 3 years with the old windows file not deleted or formatted.


Right now when i want to delete the windows folder on the 2nd ( i boot from the first one) i get this error:

You need permission from S-1-5-21-177137277-3636363636-75646546 to make changes in this folder.

If there is a method to fully delete everything on the 2nd hdd i'm listening

It is not a big problem.You first went to Partition wizard, and it did the work without having to shut down or anything. It is a pretty powerful program. So deleted this partition, then recreated a partition, and stored data on it just to make sure it actually worked and second option that deleting an old OS and also you need to delete the old OS partition or HD using the windows 7 installer, Diskpart commands, or a Partition Manager, or deactivate it first to delete in disk management.I hope your problem wil be solved shortly.

 

[Hawkeye22]

i cant format it because of the ownership problem.

@hawkeye i did what you said but still i cant format it or delete windows file. it still says i need permission. on the security box my pc; ONUR-PC has all the permissions.

Are all the check boxes checked off for your account under permissions, i.e. full control, Modify, Read, write,...?

You might also want to check the folder attributes and make sure it's not listed as "system" or "read only". You can find those by opening a command prompt, switch to the parent folder of windows.old and type in attrib windows.old and hit enter. Use attrib /? to get help on the attrib command.

 

[shanky887614]

you can simply delete thorugh cmd or using a tool e.g.

unlocker

 

[cliffro]

I used a combination of IObit Unlocker and some other program to delete an old Windows folder on my smaller hard drive. All of the programs were slow so you have been warned.

IObit Unlocker can be downloaded here, http://www.iobit.com/iobit-unlocker.html make sure to decline or skip the Toolbar install and the one for other IObit software as well.

 

[Guest]

why all this permission stuff just pop in ur win7 dvd>boot > run setup > from there delete the partition on that drive > exit setup > restart out with the boot dvd> right click my computer> go to manage> select disk mgmt > u will see ur old disk > right click to select create partition > everything done.

 

[Hawkeye22]

why all this permission stuff just pop in ur win7 dvd>boot > run setup > from there delete the partition on that drive > exit setup > restart out with the boot dvd> right click my computer> go to manage> select disk mgmt > u will see ur old disk > right click to select create partition > everything done.

What if the OP wants to keep the data on the drive and just remove the old windows folder?

 

[cds333]

If you want to delete everything did you try formatting it through diskmgmt.msc?

I know there used to be an issue when you installed a second hard drive windows would keep your boot information on the original hard drive... Total pain in the ass... Dont know if they fixed that in 7... What is the second harddrive listed as in diskmgmt console (next to "Healthy"?)

Other than that did you try adding "Administrators" group as owner in advanced security permissions?

 

[Guest]

hawkeye he can transfer his data temoralily to his first disk. i didnt mention this as he will do this ppl always do dat while formating a drive.

The method i advised is hassle free, just few steps. This method is handy as everything will be done outside the installed windows environment.

There r certain instances even installing windows on a drive when win setup fails to delete the already existing windows partitions . even then there is way out, just use a boot able linux dvd.

 

[Hawkeye22]

hawkeye he can transfer his data temoralily to his first disk. i didnt mention this as he will do this ppl always do dat while formating a drive.

He will most likely run into the same permission problems if he tries to copy other files, but he is certainly welcome to try it.

 

[DeadRam]

Check Disk Management before you format the 250GB drive. Windows may have put hidden files on it during the Windows 7 installation and they are necessary boot files.

 

[exittoexist]

Check Disk Management before you format the 250GB drive. Windows may have put hidden files on it during the Windows 7 installation and they are necessary boot files.

here is a screen from disk management. IF i wont lose the stuff i put at DİSK 1 (backup of my files) when i install 64bit to the DİSK 0 , then i dont have to delete or format Disk 1 . I am just scared that i wont be able to acces DİSK 1 because it contains and old 32bit windows 7 folder.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Odd, why is disk E showing up as a system disk? This is where windows thinks the boot loader is, which may be why you are having this problem.

This pertains to XP, Vista, and 7.

The partition with the Windows bootmanager is therefore always the System partition and the OS you are booted into will be the Boot partition.

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/system.html

 

[Guest]

here is a screen shot of my system's hard disk partitions. Like u i also have two disk. There r separate installation of windows on each drive . Note those two system drives. one is 32 bits and other is 64 bits. Booting option from any of the two disk can be selected from startup boot menu by pressing f10. Though both system partitions r smaller in size, only 100 gb but it is according to my requirement. Rest of all the partition r 600 gb each approx. I just keep everything from documents to movies etc in rest of the drives.

In case any thing goes wrong to any of my system partitions, i dont have to worry about losing anything. Will just have to reformat and install only the system partitions. rest of all the partitions remain intact.

If needed, can also unplug any of the disk and can still run the system with one disk or if i want format it etc without worrying about the other disk . Though the partitions on the other disk wont show ( as it is unplugged)

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1733/screenshot2vm.jpg

 

[kiracrack]

i coded for resolving mine. hope this also help yours. http://www.mediafire.com/download/4rc24f6k1wg7g7b/Delete_Protected_Windows_System_FolderFiles.exe

 

[Faheem Qazi]

Awesome! it worked for me. Thanks Kiracrack.