In Windows operating systems, the administrator is considered to be the user with the most privileges. Despite having more privileges, many administrators are not able to delete their files. If you commonly use a computer as the administrator, you have likely experienced the following issues when trying to delete files:
- Cannot delete file: Access is denied.
- The file is in use by another program or user.
- The source or destination of the file may be in use.
It is irritating to not have complete access to your files when you are the administrator. Fortunately, you can get rid of these files permanently through the command prompt or by using a program like FileASSASIN.
Using the Command Prompt To Delete Files:
You won’t need third applications to remove files using the command line.
Click the “Start” button and type “CMD” or “Command Prompt” inside the search box.
Right-click the “Command Prompt” icon from the search results and select “Run as administrator.”
This will launch an elevated or administrator level Command Prompt. Doing this allows you to execute commands without restriction.
An ideal command for removing a file should look like this:
DEL /F /Q /A C:\Users\Enter your username here\Enter the location of the file here\Enter the file name here
- DEL: Stands for delete
- /F: Stands for force delete
- /Q: Stands for quite mode. This means that it will prompt any notifications such as “Are you sure you want to delete this file?”
- /A: Stands for various file attributes such as read-only, hidden, ready for archiving, etc.
- /C: Stands for your main drive. In most cases, it is the “C:” drive.
For example if you want to delete a file named “virus.exe” on the desktop, you should enter the following command:
DEL /F /Q /A C:\Users\HackersRoom\Desktop\Virus.exe
Now hit the “Enter” key to execute the command. This will permanently delete the file.
If you prefer a less geeky way to delete an undeletable file, the software below can help.
FileASSASIN:
FileASSASIN is a free program created by the developers of Malwarebytes—a well-known anti-malware program.
Double-click the executable file to run FileASSASIN.
This is the main user interface of FileASSASIN
Click the “Browse” button to find files to delete.
After selecting a file to delete, FileASSASIN will provide you with several options. Select the“Delete” option if you want to erase the file.
Now click “Execute” to completely erase the file.
That’s all you need to do to delete a file. Not a complicated process – If you are not comfortable with the Command Prompt, you can always use File Assassin to delete those stubborn files.
Download FileASSASIN
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