Unable to delete folder on mounted FAT32 partiton

[Edward Diener]

I have a FAT32 partition which I have mounted off of my C: drive in a
directory called WinMount. In that partition I have a subfolder which I
am unable to delete. When I try to delete it I get an "Access Denied"
message even though I have Administrator priveleges. When I look at the
properties of the folder, it says it is Read Only. So I try changing the
properties of the folder to not be Read Only. It seems to take it and
changes to not be Read Only, I choose Apply and OK. But when I ope the
folder's properties again it is once again Read Only. Even if I changed
it to not be Read Only, I have no idea whether I can delete it or not.

Does anybody know why I can not delete this folder on a FAT32 mounted
partition ?

 

[John John - MVP]

XP Home or XP Pro? Right-click on the folder and look at the security
settings, being an Administrator doesn't necessarily mean that you
automatically have privileges to all the files and folders, you may need
to grant yourself necessary permissions on the folder and its contents.

John

 

[Pegasus]

I have a FAT32 partition which I have mounted off of my C: drive in a
directory called WinMount. In that partition I have a subfolder which I am
unable to delete. When I try to delete it I get an "Access Denied" message
even though I have Administrator priveleges. When I look at the properties
of the folder, it says it is Read Only. So I try changing the properties of
the folder to not be Read Only. It seems to take it and changes to not be
Read Only, I choose Apply and OK. But when I ope the folder's properties
again it is once again Read Only. Even if I changed it to not be Read Only,
I have no idea whether I can delete it or not.

Does anybody know why I can not delete this folder on a FAT32 mounted
partition ?

A folder's read-only attribute is ignored by Windows. To delete it you need
to seize ownership of it. Click Start / Help and look for help on Ownership
if unsure how it's done.

 

[Edward Diener]

XP Home or XP Pro?

XP Pro.

Right-click on the folder and look at the security
settings, being an Administrator doesn't necessarily mean that you
automatically have privileges to all the files and folders, you may need
to grant yourself necessary permissions on the folder and its contents.

The security settings just brings up the Sharing tab. I do not have it
shared and I see no way to set any permissions from this tab. There is
no security tab, as there is for NTFS folders. This is a FAT32 folder.

 

[Edward Diener]

A folder's read-only attribute is ignored by Windows. To delete it you need
to seize ownership of it. Click Start / Help and look for help on Ownership
if unsure how it's done.

This is a folder on a FAT32 partition. Unlike NTFS folders there is no
Security tab. How do I take Ownership of a FAT32 folder so I can delete it ?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a FAT32 partition which I have mounted off of my C: drive in
a directory called WinMount. In that partition I have a subfolder
which I am unable to delete. When I try to delete it I get an
"Access Denied" message even though I have Administrator
priveleges. When I look at the properties of the folder, it says it
is Read Only. So I try changing the properties of the folder to not
be Read Only. It seems to take it and changes to not be Read Only,
I choose Apply and OK. But when I ope the folder's properties again
it is once again Read Only. Even if I changed it to not be Read
Only, I have no idea whether I can delete it or not.
Does anybody know why I can not delete this folder on a FAT32
mounted partition ?

Try in Safe Mode.
What is the folder in question's name?

Sounds to me like it is in use.

 

[Pegasus]

This is a folder on a FAT32 partition. Unlike NTFS folders there is no
Security tab. How do I take Ownership of a FAT32 folder so I can delete it
?

Good point. I would follow up Shenan's suggestion.

 

[Edward Diener]

Try in Safe Mode.

I am using System Commander to multi-boot various OSs and when I pick
out Windows XP I do not get a message of "Please Select the operating
system to start" where I can choose Safe Mode. Do you know of any other
way to trigger safe mode when XP is booting ?

What is the folder in question's name?

It is a Thunderbird mail folder with the name mailbox10b5ef27, which
does not correspond to any actual mailbox. I can not get Thunderbird to
delete it so when I asked on the TB NG, I was told to manually delete it
from where it is on my hard disk.

Sounds to me like it is in use.

This also seems to be the case for me, but if I never start Thunderbird
after booting and try to delete it I still get "Access Denied".

 

[Pegasus]

Shenan Stanley wrote:

I am using System Commander to multi-boot various OSs and when I pick out
Windows XP I do not get a message of "Please Select the operating system
to start" where I can choose Safe Mode. Do you know of any other way to
trigger safe mode when XP is booting ?

In a multi-booting environment the boot manager passes control to the
selected OS which will then start normally. This means that you must do this
in rapid succession:
1. Select WinXP in System Commander.
2. Immediately after pressing Enter, press the F8 key several times in order
to see the Windows XP boot menu.

If you cannot do this then you must boot your machine with a WinXP boot
diskette. It will bypass System Commander.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a FAT32 partition which I have mounted off of my C: drive in
a directory called WinMount. In that partition I have a subfolder
which I am unable to delete. When I try to delete it I get an
"Access Denied" message even though I have Administrator
priveleges. When I look at the properties of the folder, it says it
is Read Only. So I try changing the properties of the folder to not
be Read Only. It seems to take it and changes to not be Read Only,
I choose Apply and OK. But when I ope the folder's properties again
it is once again Read Only. Even if I changed it to not be Read
Only, I have no idea whether I can delete it or not.
Does anybody know why I can not delete this folder on a FAT32
mounted partition ?

Try in Safe Mode.
What is the folder in question's name?

Sounds to me like it is in use.

I am using System Commander to multi-boot various OSs and when I
pick out Windows XP I do not get a message of "Please Select the
operating system to start" where I can choose Safe Mode. Do you
know of any other way to trigger safe mode when XP is booting ?

It is a Thunderbird mail folder with the name mailbox10b5ef27, which
does not correspond to any actual mailbox. I can not get
Thunderbird to delete it so when I asked on the TB NG, I was told
to manually delete it from where it is on my hard disk.

This also seems to be the case for me, but if I never start
Thunderbird after booting and try to delete it I still get "Access
Denied".

Refer to the help for System Commander or...

Safe Mode:
- Close all open programs.
- Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG in the box and click OK
- The System Configuration Utility appears, On the BOOT.INI tab, Check the
"/SAFEBOOT" option, and then click OK and Restart your computer when
prompted.
- The computer restarts in Safe mode.
- Perform the troubleshooting steps for which you are using Safe Mode.
- When you are finished with troubleshooting in Safe mode, open MSCONFIG
again, on the BOOT.INI tab, uncheck "/SAFEBOOT" and click OK to restart
your computer

No Go? Have you tried something like:
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

Could also give it a drive letter for a bit, reboot afterwards, should break
any connection it has with anything live long enough for you to erase it and
then change it back to a mount point (rebooting again.)

Come back, let us know!

 

[Roy Smith]

In a multi-booting environment the boot manager passes control to the
selected OS which will then start normally. This means that you must do this
in rapid succession:
1. Select WinXP in System Commander.
2. Immediately after pressing Enter, press the F8 key several times in order
to see the Windows XP boot menu.

If you cannot do this then you must boot your machine with a WinXP boot
diskette. It will bypass System Commander.

What about adding a new line in the boot.ini to boot XP in safe mode
like so:

-- Begin BOOT.INI --

;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT /USEPMTIMER /TUTag=O1BC7P
/Kernel=TUKernel.exe

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Safe Mode" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT /USEPMTIMER /safeboot:minimal
/bootlog /sos

-- END BOOT.INI --

This is my boot.ini and I have my laptop setup to dual boot Windows XP
and Windows 7, which explains the commented line about Vista boot options...

 

[Edward Diener]

Refer to the help for System Commander or...

Safe Mode:
- Close all open programs.
- Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG in the box and click OK
- The System Configuration Utility appears, On the BOOT.INI tab, Check the
"/SAFEBOOT" option, and then click OK and Restart your computer when
prompted.
- The computer restarts in Safe mode.
- Perform the troubleshooting steps for which you are using Safe Mode.
- When you are finished with troubleshooting in Safe mode, open MSCONFIG
again, on the BOOT.INI tab, uncheck "/SAFEBOOT" and click OK to restart
your computer

Even in Safe Mode I could not delete the folder ! It would be nice if
there were some way to dtermine who is supposedly accessing the folder
when I try to delete it.

No Go? Have you tried something like:
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

I guess I have to look at this. Deleting this simple FAT32 folder in XP
has turned out to be quite a chore.

Could also give it a drive letter for a bit, reboot afterwards, should break
any connection it has with anything live long enough for you to erase it and
then change it back to a mount point (rebooting again.)

In other words remove the mount and give it a drive letter instead ? I
will try that.

 

[Edward Diener]

Refer to the help for System Commander or...

Safe Mode:
- Close all open programs.
- Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG in the box and click OK
- The System Configuration Utility appears, On the BOOT.INI tab, Check the
"/SAFEBOOT" option, and then click OK and Restart your computer when
prompted.
- The computer restarts in Safe mode.
- Perform the troubleshooting steps for which you are using Safe Mode.
- When you are finished with troubleshooting in Safe mode, open MSCONFIG
again, on the BOOT.INI tab, uncheck "/SAFEBOOT" and click OK to restart
your computer

No Go? Have you tried something like:
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

Could also give it a drive letter for a bit, reboot afterwards, should break
any connection it has with anything live long enough for you to erase it and
then change it back to a mount point (rebooting again.)

This last did work. I removed the mount and was able to delete the
folder. Then I remounted and all was well.

 

[Tim Slattery]

I have a FAT32 partition which I have mounted off of my C: drive in a
directory called WinMount. In that partition I have a subfolder which I
am unable to delete. When I try to delete it I get an "Access Denied"
message even though I have Administrator priveleges. When I look at the
properties of the folder, it says it is Read Only.

No it isn't. There is no read-only attribute for folders. What you're
seeing is a shortcut that allows you to set or clear the read-only
attribute for all the files in the folder and optionally in
sub-folders as well.

It's a three-state box that appears originally in its neutral state:
neither checked nor unchecked. Click it once, and it will become
unchecked. If you click "OK" or "Apply" now, all files within the
folder will have the bit cleared. Click the box again, and a check
appears. Now checking "OK" or "Apply" will make all the files in the
folder read-only. Click the box once more and it goes back to its
neutral state. Of course, every time you open the dialog the box
appears in the neutral state. Depending on your display settings, the
neutral state may be a filled box, which can fool you into thinking
it's checked.

 

[Pegasus]

No it isn't. There is no read-only attribute for folders.

Actually there is:
--d----- Mon Mon 09/03/2009
12:16:32
--d---r- My Music Sun 21/12/2008
09:56:52
--d---r- My Pictures Sun 21/12/2008
09:56:52\

However, Windows ignores it.

 

[Tim Slattery]

Actually there is:
--d----- Mon Mon 09/03/2009
12:16:32
--d---r- My Music Sun 21/12/2008
09:56:52
--d---r- My Pictures Sun 21/12/2008
09:56:52\

However, Windows ignores it.

A directory is a file that's handled in a special way by the OS and/or
the file system. A directory contains entries that describe other
files and directories. An entry that describes another directory has a
particular bit set. The other bits continue to exist (archive, system,
hidden), but not all of them have meaning for directories. The
read-only is like that. And the "Read-only" box OP was looking at was
*not* telling him that the directory was read-only.

MS goofed on that display. It does not communicate what it's supposed
to, far too many people misinterpret it.

 

[Twayne]

Actually there is:
--d----- Mon Mon 09/03/2009
12:16:32
--d---r- My Music Sun 21/12/2008
09:56:52
--d---r- My Pictures Sun 21/12/2008
09:56:52\

However, Windows ignores it.

Yeah, that's true. I have never seen a satisfactory explanation of
why/what the bit is about on the folders but they are all marked
read-only for some reason.

Is your sample a DOS, Cmd or Linux printout? "Mon" appears to be a
folder without the r attribute; don't think I've come across a folder
that didn't have the r attribute.
I rather liked Tim's description for what it's worth; at least it's
memorable.

Regards,

Twayne

 

[Pegasus]

Yeah, that's true. I have never seen a satisfactory explanation of
why/what the bit is about on the folders but they are all marked read-only
for some reason.

Is your sample a DOS, Cmd or Linux printout? "Mon" appears to be a folder
without the r attribute; don't think I've come across a folder that didn't
have the r attribute.
I rather liked Tim's description for what it's worth; at least it's
memorable.

Regards,

Twayne

Any folder can have any attribute, regardless of how it is interpreted by
Windows. Here is the full list for drive C: on my machine:

--d-sh-- Config.Msi Sun 01/03/2009 07:58:10
--d----- Documents and Settings Thu 29/01/2009 20:21:14
--d----- KaseyaReports Wed 26/11/2008 17:50:43
--d--hr- MSOCache Tue 25/03/2008 19:23:58
--d----- MYOB105 Sat 03/01/2009 15:06:06
--d----- Program Files Sun 08/03/2009 11:49:06
--d-sh-- Recycled Sat 22/12/2007 12:26:56
--d-sh-- RECYCLER Fri 22/02/2008 15:24:31
--d-sh-- System Volume Information Fri 12/09/2008 14:03:37
--d----- WINDOWS Mon 09/03/2009 16:58:56

 

[Bob I]

Any folder can have any attribute, regardless of how it is interpreted by
Windows. Here is the full list for drive C: on my machine:

--d-sh-- Config.Msi Sun 01/03/2009 07:58:10
--d----- Documents and Settings Thu 29/01/2009 20:21:14
--d----- KaseyaReports Wed 26/11/2008 17:50:43
--d--hr- MSOCache Tue 25/03/2008 19:23:58
--d----- MYOB105 Sat 03/01/2009 15:06:06
--d----- Program Files Sun 08/03/2009 11:49:06
--d-sh-- Recycled Sat 22/12/2007 12:26:56
--d-sh-- RECYCLER Fri 22/02/2008 15:24:31
--d-sh-- System Volume Information Fri 12/09/2008 14:03:37
--d----- WINDOWS Mon 09/03/2009 16:58:56

FWIW a user can elect to show attributes in the GUI/Windows Explorer.
Simply open a drive, r-click the column headers, tick the "Attributes"
selection.

 

[Tim Slattery]

FWIW a user can elect to show attributes in the GUI/Windows Explorer.
Simply open a drive, r-click the column headers, tick the "Attributes"
selection.

It looks to me like that listing knows that the RO flag is meaningless
for directories. It doesn't seem to show it. And the RO box on the
Properties/General tab is still a three-state box in its third state.

I haven't seen an answer to the question as how these Unix-looking
attribute listings are generated. It looks like output from the "ls
-l" command, not like anything from Windows.