Solved Trying to remove Windows 8 user account files

dc2000

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Location
Portland, OR
So when I was installing Windows 8 Pro (which came as an upgrade from a previous version of Windows) I created an account. Let's call it "DC". During the upgrade Windows used up quite a lot of space for that account: about 25 GB.

Now when Windows 8 is installed I went into the Control Panel / Users and removed the "DC" account. I also made sure to check the box to remove all of its files.

But when I go the "C:\Users\DC" folder on the hard drive, I see that the DC files are still there:

Capture2.PNG

If I do it's properties it shows that it still takes 25 GB of space, that I want to reclaim. (I have a 256 GB SSD, so as you see I can't waste that much space!)

So I log in as a built-in administrator and try to delete those files (by deleting the "C:\Users\DC" folder in Windows Explorer.) After a quick investigation it turns out that the most of the space is used up by the "Windows.old" file. But no matter what I do, it always results in this window:

Capture.PNG

I tried booting in a safe mode and it still gave me the same error.

Any idea how to remove that "C:\Users\DC" folder?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
Thanks. I tried that "Disk cleanup" tool and it doesn't find it for some reason. As for booting into the command prompt it doesn't seem to work for me (I have a BitLocker on that drive that needs USB stick to unlock it.)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
Ok, I know nothing about bitlocker so hang in there for some additional help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Did you try Option 2 in the Tutorial?

But in step 2 of the tutorial, change
RD /S /Q %SystemDrive%\windows.old​
to
RD /S /Q "c:\users\DC\desktop\windows.old"​

I think the Option to use the Cleanup tool may not be working because it's only looking for windows.old in a specific place, and yours is in a different folder.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, 10
@DavidY: Just tried RD /S /Q "c:\users\DC\desktop\windows.old" from an elevated command prompt as you suggested and got a bunch of errors as such:

Capture3.PNG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
You can also use "Unlocker" to remove that folder, it's at Major Geeks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
I think I got it, guys. First, run the following two commands (one after another) as a built-in administrator:

Code:
takeown /f "c:\users\DC\desktop\windows.old" /r


cacls "c:\users\DC\desktop\windows.old" /T /G administrator:F

This will reset ownership on that folder to the administrator. (May take some time if folder contains many other files.) After that simply delete it from Windows Explorer. Evidently the issue arises from a messed up ACL on that folder.

@XweAponX: Unlocker won't help since nothing is locking those files.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
Yes it will, you just tell it to "Delete" them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Yes it will, you just tell it to "Delete" them.
@XweAponX: Unlocker doesn't work on my Windows 8, and unfortunately I couldn't find a way to contact the developer to find out why... Too bad because I liked that utility. It should've been built into Windows from the get-go.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
I don't get it - I have it installed - Version 1.9.1 right? It works like this: Right Clock on the item you want gone:

unlocker1.png

And then choose the function you want:

unlocker2.png

If a file is a running process, it will bring you up a "Kill Process" window.

But I used this to exterminate the Windows.old file in my system after an in-place install and it eradicated every byte and nybble that was in there.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
I didn't have installer for v. 1.9.1 so I downloaded 1.9.2. I don't have Windows.old on my system anymore to try. As I said above I deleted it by modifying the ACL permissions and ownership. If unlocker uses NT-kernel I/O APIs to delete files then it would've failed as well since all I/O calls go through them.

By saying that "it doesn't work on my Windows 8" I mean that it doesn't see file-system objects being locked. A quick example -- I run an .exe file from a folder, then right-click on the folder itself, pick "unlock" like you showed. But instead of showing that the .exe program is holding a lock, it says "No locking handle found." This used to work on my Windows 7. From what I can tell Microsoft improved security on system drivers in Windows 8 that probably broke whatever "magic" Unlocker was doing. I'm honestly hoping that that project is still alive and that someone will fix this...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
So, you are trying to use it to close a hung up process? You can do that from the "Details" view of Task Manager, choose whatever task TM will not halt, and then hit "Open File Location" and then right click on it and choose unlocker there. You have to click on the file from which the process is originating.

If they changed it in 1.9.2, I'll send you 1.9.1 if you give me an email addy in a PM.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
So, you are trying to use it to close a hung up process?
No. I am not trying to close a hung process.

Here it is again. What I am saying is that the primary objective of unlocker is to remove OS locks on file system objects. I am emulating it by opening a process (or an .exe file) from a folder and then trying to unlock that folder. Because the .exe process is running, it automatically locks the folder it runs from. Thus my test with Unlocker. Unfortunately on my Windows 8, Unlocker doesn't detect that such folder is locked, which it used to do in Windows 7.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700 (customized)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel Z87
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Haswell on-board, 2 GB VDRAM
    Sound Card
    Haswell on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer / DVI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    C: Mushkin Scorpion PCle SSD, 222 GB
    D: Samsung SSD 840-series, 238 GB
    E: Samsung SSD 840 eVo, 500 GB
    F: WD (Red) HDD, 2 TB
    PSU
    Dell standard
    Case
    Dell standard
    Cooling
    Dell standard
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    Infrared wired mouse from Microsoft
    Internet Speed
    Comcast DSL
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 built-in
Well, take my word for it, if you click on that Windows.old folder and there are processes accessing it, the Kill Windows will pop up. Look, the purpose is to delete folders that refuse to be deleted otherwise, that's what it's for. It will not permanently remove a lock on a folder or file, it will only terminate it's process so you can delete it. You can't use it to unlock a locked file unless you are deleting the locked file.

Look, try right clicking on "Program Files" and select Unlocker- I guarantee this will pop up:

unlocker3.png

It will ONLY do this if any of the files running within are in a protected folder. If the Kill Windows don't come up? Then the file and the process really isn't locked.

Now, I tried your method, I opened several programs in my "Download" folder, but the download folder Path is not locked, and the Kill windows did not come up. It will only do this if the path itself is locked.

Ok, I opened even more programs from my download folder. One of them stalled. It showed me this, the file shown is totally locked up. The Process the file tried to pull up is locked. So for some reason, I cannot run Hijackthis. But this gives you a better idea of how it works, which is it will only offer to kill process that are themselves locked or pull up other locked processes, and those processes have to be running.

unlocker4.png
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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