Can't Delete Cygwin Completely in Windows 10 - windows

I can't delete Cygwin in my Windows 10 setup. I narrowed it down and the file that's causing trouble is
C:\cygwin\usr\share\avogadro\crystals\zeolites\CON.cif

In my case why the cywin directory (folder) cannot be deleted was due to "access privilege". To delete the folder, the user needs to "take ownership" of this folder. It cannot be done easily in Windows GUI. It is, however, fairly easy to achieve in a command prompt window using three command lines.
I followed the steps posted in this link. Remeber to be very sure what you are doing. Take note that the command prompt DOS window must be opened as "administrator". What this link says:
Open DOS Window "cmd.exe" as "administrator". Issue to the command prompt the following lines:
takeown /f "c:\cygwin" /r /d Y
The last parameter makes takeown assume "yes" to all questions and depends on locale. In the author's locale he/she had to answer "J" to make it work.
icacls "c:\cygwin" /T /Q /C /reset
Finally, to delete the files after we got the relevant permissions:
rd "c:\cygwin" /s /q
This method should work as intended in Windows 7 and above. I tried it in Windows7-x64 and Windows10-x64.

Running the following in command prompt as Administrator helped me:
C:\>del \\?\C:\cygwin64\usr\share\avogadro\crystals\zeolites
\\?\C:\cygwin64\usr\share\avogadro\crystals\zeolites\*, Are you sure (Y/N)? Y

I know this is a bit late but I like it:
If you have Linux subsystem installed (I have Ubuntu 18.04), you can remove that file via bash without any of the above. Just do,
Win+r -> bash -> cd /mnt/c/cygwin64/usr/share/avogadro/crystals/zeolites -> rm CON.cif.
Problem with cmd.exe and explorer.exe are that they are Windows' programs, whereas bash is not. In a way, this is the same as Lucian's answer because it makes the computer consider the file as a regular file.

Here it worked referring to PowerShell To Set Folder Permissions:
replace <User_with_administrator>
$mypath = ".\cygwin64--TO-BE-DELETED"
$myacl = Get-Acl $mypath
$myaclentry = "<User_with_administrator>","FullControl","Allow"
$myaccessrule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule($myaclentry)
$myacl.SetAccessRule($myaccessrule)
Get-ChildItem -Path "$mypath" -Recurse -Force | Set-Acl -AclObject $myacl -Verbose
Then the .\cygwin64--TO-BE-DELETED can be deleted.

Related

How can I make my PowerShell script wait for the first command to finish and then run the second command

I have this PowerShell script that I want to run for my angular project.
I can only get it to run the first command or I can only get it to run the first command and then immediately run the second command.
Start /wait /b rmdir node_modules /S
Start npm install /b /wait
I've looked on stack overflow and googled different stuff and have seen some good suggestions but haven't been able to get it to work correctly. It does currently run the first command and then finish.
I've tried to remove some of the parameters like /b or /S with no luck.
Your primary problem is that you're using syntax for cmd.exe's internal start and rmdir commands, which doesn't work in PowerShell.
While PowerShell does have commands with the same names, they're aliases of PowerShell cmdlets, Start-Process and Remove-Item, and therefore require different syntax.
While you could fix your Start commands to use Start-Process instead, there's no reason to use it to begin with, given that invoking cmdlets and (console) programs directly executes them synchronously, in the same console window, with the output streams connected to PowerShell's, by default.
Therefore:
Remove-Item -Force -Recurse node_modules # Equivalent of rmdir /S /Q node_modules
npm install
Note: In older versions of Windows, including versions of Windows 10 prior to release 20H2, file and directory removal is inherently asynchronous, so on occasion the removal may not have fully completed yet by the time Remove-Item returns; it seems that calling via cmd /c - cmd /c rmdir /S /Q node_modules - lessens the chances of that happening (but still doesn't fully eliminate the problem). A reliable workaround is far from trivial, unfortunately - see this answer.
Update: As it turns out, you were actually running a batch file (.cmd or .bat), not a PowerShell script (.ps1), but the above points apply analogously; the batch-file solution is:
rmdir /S /Q node_modules
npm install

Context menu for windows bash admin

I would like to be able to open the windows bash terminal from windows explorer with a context menu. Much like you can do in Ubuntu. I have created a subkey in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Directory/Background/shell with the command:
powershell -c start -verb runas cmd '/c start /D "%V" bash.exe'
This works well for opening the bash as admin in most directories, but it crashes if the directory has a space in it. It seems to be that bash only takes part of the string, and then can't find the directory to navigate to. I've tried escape quotes around the %V, e.g """%V""" but that didn't help. Any ideas?
Here's an alternate approach that avoids PowerShell. Create a key named "HKLM\Software\Classes\Directory\background\shell\runas" and give it a default value like "Open in bash as administrator". Create a subkey named "command" and give it a default value of "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe" /c start /B /D "%V" bash.exe. Change the path to cmd.exe if you have a different system directory. It has to be the fully-qualified path to cmd.exe. – eryksun

How can I delete a folder using CMD utitilty in Windows XP?

I have a folder without any file in it in my external hard. I am able to rename it, but not able to delete it. I ran CMD utility as an administrator and I tried the commands "del foldername", "rd foldername", "deltree foldername" (the last one was not allowed in Windows XP). They give me the message "Access is denied." for "rd foldername". How can I delete it?
I am not cmd guru, but simple as 1-2-3 is delete folder using system account.
at 11:11pm /interactive cmd
Now if system command appear, delete folder:
del foldername
try
attrib /s foldername
This should show you the directory attributes.
If the response is
R x:\dirname
then the directory is "read-only". In that case, execute
attrib -r foldername
and you should then be able to rd it.
It may be that the directory has (possibly hidden, possibly read-only) contents. The attrib /s should show these to you.

Impossible to delete folder Windows 7

I have a folder (cygwin) in my Program Files directory that can not be deleted. I am the administrator, and also the system administrator and still cannot delete the folder. I have tried deleting it with the command prompt (running it as administrator) and still cannot delete the folder. Is there any super be-all end-all way to delete this folder?
try to do this in cmd:
go to the cd where the folder is (example desktop)
cd desktop
attrib -s -h -r cygwin
cacls cygwin /e /c /g %username%:f
after that go to the cd were the folder his and try this
cd cygwin
del *.* /s /q
cd..
rd cygwin /s /q
I hope it works!
It's not clear whether what methods you've already used, but perhaps from an administrator command prompt you could try running "rd /s" on it? This would remove any subdirectories and files that might be hidden or set as system files that would otherwise prevent a delete.
I had the same issue, the folder was owned by a user that is not on my system. I don't claim to understand how that happened, but here is how I was able to finally remove the files.
First I had broken my cygwin install with previous delete commands, so I actually re-installed enough packages to have the terminal again. Then launched the terminal with administrator privileges and from cygwin prompt ran:
cd /cygdrive/c
chown -R `whoami` cygwin
This gave my current windows user the permissions to the folder and I was able to delete.

How to grant permission to users for a directory using command line in Windows?

How can I grant permissions to a user on a directory (Read, Write, Modify) using the Windows command line?
As of Vista, cacls is deprecated. Here's the first couple of help lines:
C:\>cacls
NOTE: Cacls is now deprecated, please use Icacls.
Displays or modifies access control lists (ACLs) of files
You should use icacls instead. This is how you grant John full control over D:\test folder and all its subfolders:
C:\>icacls "D:\test" /grant John:(OI)(CI)F /T
According do MS documentation:
F = Full Control
CI = Container Inherit - This flag indicates that subordinate containers will inherit this ACE.
OI = Object Inherit - This flag indicates that subordinate files will inherit the ACE.
/T = Apply recursively to existing files and sub-folders. (OI and CI only apply to new files and sub-folders). Credit: comment by #AlexSpence.
For complete documentation, you may run "icacls" with no arguments or see the Microsoft documentation here and here
You can also use ICACLS.
To grant the Users group Full Control to a folder:
>icacls "C:\MyFolder" /grant Users:F
To grant Modify permission to IIS users for C:\MyFolder (if you need your IIS has ability to R/W files into specific folder):
>icacls "C:\MyFolder" /grant IIS_IUSRS:M
If you do ICACLS /? you will be able to see all available options.
Open a Command Prompt, then execute this command:
icacls "c:\somelocation\of\path" /q /c /t /grant Users:F
F gives Full Access.
/q /c /t applies the permissions to subfolders.
Note: Sometimes "Run as Administrator" will help.
Use cacls command. See information here.
CACLS files /e /p {USERNAME}:{PERMISSION}
Where,
/p : Set new permission
/e : Edit permission and kept old permission as it is i.e. edit ACL instead of replacing it.
{USERNAME} : Name of user
{PERMISSION} : Permission can be:
R - Read
W - Write
C - Change (write)
F - Full control
For example grant Rocky Full (F) control with following command (type at Windows command prompt):
C:> CACLS files /e /p rocky:f
Read complete help by typing following command:
C:> cacls /?
I try the below way and it work for me:
1. open cmd.exe
2. takeown /R /F *.*
3. icacls * /T /grant [username]:(D)
4. del *.* /S /Q
So that the files can become my own access and it assign to "Delete" and then I can delete the files and folders.
Corrupt Permissions: Regaining access to a folder and its sub-objects
Although most of the answers posted in reply to the question have some merit, IMHO none of them give a complete solution. The following (might be) a perfect solution for Windows 7 if you are locked-out of a folder by corrupted permission settings:
icacls "c:\folder" /remove:d /grant:r Everyone:(OI)(CI)F /T
For Windows 10 the user/SID must be specified after the /remove:d option:
icacls "c:\folder" /remove:d Everyone /grant:r Everyone:(OI)(CI)F /T
.
Notes:
The command is applied to the specified directory.
Specifying the user "Everyone" sets the widest possible permission, as it includes every possible user.
The option "/remove:d" deletes any explicit DENY settings that may exist, as those override explicit ALLOW settings: a necessary preliminary to creating a new ALLOW setting. This is only a precaution, as there is often no DENY setting present, but better safe than sorry.
The option "/grant" creates a new ALLOW setting, an explicit permission that replaces (":r") any and all explicit ALLOW settings that may exist.
The "F" parameter (i.e. the permission created) makes this a grant of FULL control.
The "/T" parameter adds recursion, applying these changes to all current sub-objects in the specified directory (i.e. files and subfolders), as well as the folder itself.
The "(OI)" and "(CI)" parameters also add recursion, applying these changes to sub-objects created subsequently.
.
ADDENDUM (2019/02/10) -
The Windows 10 command line above was kindly suggested to me today, so here it is. I haven't got Windows 10 to test it, but please try it out if you have (and then will you please post a comment below).
The change only concerns removing the DENY setting as a first step. There might well not be any DENY setting present, so that option might make no difference. My understanding is, on Windows 7, that you don't need to specify a user after /remove:d but I might be wrong about that!
.
ADDENDUM (2019/11/21) -
User astark recommends replacing Everyone with the term *S-1-1-0 in order for the command to be language independent. I only have an English install of Windows, so I can't test this proposal, but it seems reasonable.
I struggled with this for a while and only combining the answers in this thread worked for me (on Windows 10):
1. Open cmd or PowerShell and go to the folder with files
2. takeown /R /F .
3. icacls * /T /grant dan:F
Good luck!
With an Excel vba script to provision and create accounts. I was needing to grant full rights permissions to the folder and subfolders that were created by the tool using our administrators 'x' account to our new user.
cacls looked something like this:
cacls \FileServer\Users\Username /e /g Domain\Username:C
I needed to migrate this code to Windows 7 and beyond. My solution turned out to be:
icacls \FileServer\Users\Username /grant:r Domain\Username:(OI)(CI)F /t
/grant:r - Grants specified user access rights. Permissions replace previously granted explicit permissions. Without :r, permissions are added to any previously granted explicit permissions
(OI)(CI) - This folder, subfolders, and files.
F - Full Access
/t - Traverse all subfolders to match files/directories.
What this gave me was a folder on this server that the user could only see that folder and created subfolders, that they could read and write files. As well as create new folders.
Just in case there is anyone else that stumbles on this page, if you want to string various permissions together in the one command, I used this:
icacls "c:\TestFolder" /grant:r Test_User:(OI)(CI)(RC,RD,RX)
Note the csv string for the various permissions.
XCACLS.VBS is a very powerful script that will change/edit ACL info. c:\windows\system32\cscript.exe xcacls.vbs help returns all switches and options.
You can get official distribution from Microsoft Support Page
Bulk folder creation and grant permission works me by using the below powershell script.
Import-Csv "D:\Scripts\foldernames.csv" | foreach-object {
$username = $_.foldername
# foldername is the header of csv file
$domain = “example.com”
$folder= "D:\Users"
$domainusername = $domain+“\”+$username
New-Item $folder\$username –Type Directory
Get-Acl $folder\$username
$acl = Get-Acl $folder\$username
$acl.SetAccessRuleProtection($True, $False)
$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule("Administrators","FullControl", "ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit", "None", "Allow")
$acl.AddAccessRule($rule)
$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule("SYSTEM","FullControl", "ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit", "None", "Allow")
$acl.AddAccessRule($rule)
$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule("$domain\Domain Admins","Read", "ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit", "None", "Allow")
$acl.AddAccessRule($rule)
$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule($domainusername,"Modify", "ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit", "None", "Allow")
$acl.AddAccessRule($rule)
Set-Acl $folder\$username $acl
}
Note: You have to create same domain username in csv file otherwise you will get permission issues
attrib +r +a +s +h <folder name> <file name> to hide
attrib -r -a -s -h <folder name> <file name> to unhide
excellent point Călin Darie
I had a lot of scripts to use cacls I move them to icacls
how ever I could not find a script to change the root mount volumes example: d:\datafolder. I finally crated the script below, which mounts the volume as a temporary drive then applies sec. then unmounts it. It is the only way I found that you can update the root mount security.
1 gets the folder mount GUID to a temp file then reads the GUID to mount the volume as a temp drive X: applies sec and logs the changes then unmounts the Volume only from the X: drive so the mounted folder is not altered or interrupted other then the applied sec.
here is sample of my script:
**mountvol "d:\%1" /L >tempDrive.temp && FOR /f "tokens=*" %%I IN (tempDrive.temp) DO mountvol X: %%I
D:\tools\security\icacls.exe %~2 /grant domain\group:(OI)(CI)F /T /C >>%~1LUNsec-%TDWEEK%-%TMONTH%-%TDAY%-%TYEAR%-%THOUR%-%TMINUTE%-%TAM%.txt
if exist x:\*.* mountvol X: /d**
I am Administrator and some script placed "Deny" permission on my name on all files and subfolders in a directory. Executing the icacls "D:\test" /grant John:(OI)(CI)F /T command did not work, because it seemed it did not remove the "Deny" right from my name from this list.
The only thing that worked for me is resetting all permissions with the icacls "D:\test" /reset /T command.
navigate to top level directory you want to set permissions to with explorer
type cmd in the address bar of your explorer window
enter icacls . /grant John:(OI)(CI)F /T where John is the username
profit
Just adding this because it seemed supremely easy this way and others may profit - all credit goes to Călin Darie.
When I ran the command:
icacls "c:/path/to/folderA/folderB" /grant:r Everyone:(OI)(CI)F /T
None of the files in folderB were being processed, which was indicated via the output message:
Successfully processed 0 files; Failed processing 0 files
However, once I changed the specified path to the parent directory("c:/path/to/folderA") and re-ran the command all the files in folderB were successfully processed.
Note: If you want any other files/folders in folderA to not be processed, try moving all those files/folders to a different location before running the command above.
Hope this helps anyone running into the same issue.
i was not able to open any file in a drive, this command unlocked all -
icacls i:\* /grant Users:F /t /q /c
in windows 10 working without "c:>" and ">"
For example:
F = Full Control
/e : Edit permission and kept old permission
/p : Set new permission
cacls "file or folder path" /e /p UserName:F
(also this fixes error 2502 and 2503)
cacls "C:\Windows\Temp" /e /p UserName:F
This is what worked for me:
Manually open the folder for which the access is denied.
Select the Executable/application file in that folder.
Right-click on it and go to Properties -> Compatibility
Now see the Privilege Level and check it for Run As Administrator
Click on Change Settings for all users.
The problem is solved now.

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