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How to Delete Protected System Files in Windows 7

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 11:09 PM PDT

In my role as an IT services technician, I find that on occasion you may wish to delete system files that are protected by Windows (such as those in your Winodws\System32 folder), and you receive following error message – ‘You do not have permission to perform this action’. In order to manage the particular System File you will need to obtain ownership of it and assign yourself the ability to modify or delete the files.

Resolution

In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder that contains the files you wish to delete, right-click on it and select Properties from the drop down list.

The Properties dialog box opens. Click on the Security tab and then select the Advanced button.

Click on the Owner tab. Currently the name for Current Owner is Trusted Installer. To change the Owner, click the Edit button. Select the account you would like to change the Owner to which would normally be your account or the Administrator account. Tick the checkbox - Replace owner on subcontainers and objects if you want to delete more than one file in the folder. Click OK to continue

The Current Owner should be the account you selected.

Click OK until you have exited out of System32 properties dialog box and returned to the Windows Explorer screen. Right click on the System32 folder and open the Properties dialog box. Navigate to the Security tab and select the Edit button.

Click on the Username in the list you want to edit the permissions for, which should be the same as the Current Owner (in our case, Administrators account) of the folder. Tick the box to allow Full Control and click OK to continue. Select OK again to return to Windows Explorer.