When trying to delete some installed program, file or folder from Windows systems version 7 and above, have you ever encountered a message stating that you supposedly do not have sufficient rights to delete? Yes, indeed, this situation is among the most common. And okay, this would apply to those cases when your account really has some restrictions, because sometimes you are the only user registered in the system, so to speak, to your own administrator! Why is the system acting up?
The system writes: "Insufficient permissions to delete a file or folder." What is the reason?
To begin with, almost all the latest Windows modifications have become very picky about user actions. They initially contained limitations, since Microsoft experts considered that a user could accidentally delete them if they are carelessly handling system components. In addition, since the seventh version in Windows, a built-in superuser registration has appeared, which limits the user’s rights even more. However, regarding the reasons that when you try to delete an application, file or directory, a notification appears: "There are not enough rights to delete. Contact the Administrator", here you can highlight several typical situations:
- your "account" is not the only one in the system and really has restrictions on the performance of any specific actions;
- You delete a program installed by another user, or a similarly created document;
- super administrator registration is in active state;
- the level of control "accounting" is too high;
- You are trying to delete a system object.
- Files and folders are read-only.
- deleted objects are blocked by a virus.
Based on this, you can offer some simple universal solutions that will allow you to delete an undeletable file, directory or program. And let's start with the simplest.
"Not enough rights to delete": what to do in the simplest case?
Suppose you are trying to delete some object in Explorer. However, the system immediately begins to resent and reports that you do not have sufficient rights to delete.
The simplest solution is to call the properties of the recalcitrant file or folder through the PCM menu and examine them. It may well be that there will be a checkmark in the "Read Only" field. Just uncheck it and save the changes, then try again.
Log in as admin or lower UAC control level
If the deleted objects belong to other accounts, and the system has a separate computer administrator registration, you can try to log in to the system “under the administrator” (true, if only you know its access password). Once logged in, you can delete everything that has not been deleted before.
But what if you are the sole owner, and the system reports that you do not have sufficient rights to delete the selected object?
In this case, you should call the “Control Panel”, go to the accounts section, click the hyperlink to change the control settings, and then in the new window move the level slider to the very bottom. Delete the desired object, and then set the level to its original state (if you leave it at a minimum, all other applications, including viruses, will receive equal rights to change the system configuration with you, which can lead to fatal consequences).
Disable super administrator
If you are faced with a notification that you do not have sufficient rights to remove the program that was installed by running the installer executable just on behalf of the administrator (through the RMB menu), you will have to completely deactivate the super administrator.
To do this, you must first run the command line on behalf of the administrator , and then enter the combination net user Admin / active: no in it. This command will allow you to partially disable the "account" of the superuser (but some commands will still have to be run in the standard way), and it will also allow you to start the main processes and programs without necessarily using the above item in the PCM menu or even perform other actions, including installation and uninstallation some kind of software.
Note: sometimes the reason can be even more banal - the program can be active at the moment, as, for example, in the case of uTorrent, because the application "hangs" in the system tray and in the "Task Manager". Therefore, you will first need to exit the program or complete all its processes in the appropriate dispatcher.
Change the owner of the object
Along the way, it’s worth talking about those cases when you need to remove some component from the system directory (Windows) or from directories with installed software (Program Files). It is no secret that some residual components, especially when uninstalling applications using the system, can not be removed manually. In the simplest case, you can use programs like iObit Uninstaller, in which you can not only perform a complete removal, but also scan the system for existing balances, and then completely get rid of them.
If such applications are not at hand, call the properties of the object to be deleted, go to the security tab, click the "Advanced" button, and then use the "Change" hyperlink to change the owner. Very often TrustedInstaller can be specified in the owner field, so choose your account (the name that is assigned to you in the system).
Add yourself access rights
In addition, if the system with enviable constancy reports that you do not have sufficient rights to delete an item in the form of a file or directory, in the same section of the properties on the same tab, click the "Edit" button, and then select the checkbox for the full access item (all others are activated automatically).
If this does not help, add the desired entry through the advanced settings.
We use the utility Unlocker
If, after all the manipulations, the system still displays a message stating that you do not have enough rights to delete a component in the form of a file, a group of files or folders, use the Unlocker program (it embeds its own command in the Explorer menu), and in the running utility, set the action from the list to delete.
If for some reason you cannot immediately delete the selected object, it is quite possible that a message will be displayed indicating that it was deleted the next time you restart. If it comes to system files or, even worse, virus applets, sometimes you will first need to unlock with the forced termination of all processes that can use the file at the moment, and only then delete it.