Forum Discussion
Disk Cleanup won't delete certain files
JohnnyGuiThis script does not tell you to delete anything. All it does is grant permissions to the operating system and programs, so that it can open file handles with these particular entries (due to missing or revoked file permissions, as I wrote in my earlier posts.) Sometimes this does happen, though it's very rare. The only other way around that is to backup and reformat ( icacls / takeown will save you a lot of time, as you won't need to reinstall. If you reinstall, all that does is just copy the same files, and create new file permissions for each entry. Takeown and icacls does the same thing, but without deleting the files and recreating them. )
Probably only a few file permissions have changed, so that might actually block the entire cleanup operation. You could also go into Windows Explorer and hand parse as well with your mouse and keyboard, if you don't want to use the scripts. My earlier post also covers that. All options are available, no risk whatsoever, as you can choose based on what you want to do. If you don't want to do anything, you can just read the documentation and then make some decisions later after thinking it through. Zero pressure whatsoever. It's your choice:
"I am aware I could try to go to the temp folder and delete the files manually, but why doesn't it work this way?"
For me, a non-reversible error may be changing the permissions to the file you recommend, and creates paths that may be a threat to the integrity of the system!
" This script does not tell you to delete anything. All it does is grant permissions to the operating system and programs, so that it can open file handles with these particular entries ("
DeletedThe whole point of changing the permissions is actually to restore integrity in some sense:
"changing the permissions to the file you recommend"
No new folders are created with these scripts...
"creates paths that may be a threat to the integrity of the system"Here's what it does. Line #1 and #3 will remove entries. The purpose of that also is to clear any ACEs that have an SID string tied to them, or to clear permissions that deny the operating system read / write permissions (from another computer,) and restore "full control". That in fact will increase integrity, if the file permissions are missing. If this computer was part of a domain that utilized Active Directory, of course this would be managed for you by an external entity, or it would be set through a profile. On a personal computer this is not risky if you run it offline on WinPE and let it finish. For line #2 and #4 which add entries, OI / CI mean Inherit, and F means full control. The reason why I have it in this specific order, is so it can be used to modify an offline image (it grants control without using SID strings.) If you were to use the full script, not a small excerpt like below, it would work the same way on a USB drive, regardless of what computer it was plugged into:
1.) icacls A: /remove "NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller" /c /l /q 2.) icacls A: /inheritance:r /grant:r "NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller":(OI)(CI)(F) /c /l /q 3.) icacls A: /remove "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" /c /l /q 4.) icacls A: /inheritance:r /grant:r "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM":(OI)(CI)(F) /c /l /qHere's another example for you to read:
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22000.795] (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Users\<user_name>\Desktop>icacls /? ICACLS name /save aclfile [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] stores the DACLs for the files and folders that match the name into aclfile for later use with /restore. Note that SACLs, owner, or integrity labels are not saved. ICACLS directory [/substitute SidOld SidNew [...]] /restore aclfile [/C] [/L] [/Q] applies the stored DACLs to files in directory. ICACLS name /setowner user [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] changes the owner of all matching names. This option does not force a change of ownership; use the takeown.exe utility for that purpose. ICACLS name /findsid Sid [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] finds all matching names that contain an ACL explicitly mentioning Sid. ICACLS name /verify [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] finds all files whose ACL is not in canonical form or whose lengths are inconsistent with ACE counts. ICACLS name /reset [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] replaces ACLs with default inherited ACLs for all matching files. ICACLS name [/grant[:r] Sid:perm[...]] [/deny Sid:perm [...]] [/remove[:g|:d]] Sid[...]] [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] [/setintegritylevel Level:policy[...]] /grant[:r] Sid:perm grants the specified user access rights. With :r, the permissions replace any previously granted explicit permissions. Without :r, the permissions are added to any previously granted explicit permissions. /deny Sid:perm explicitly denies the specified user access rights. An explicit deny ACE is added for the stated permissions and the same permissions in any explicit grant are removed. /remove[:[g|d]] Sid removes all occurrences of Sid in the ACL. With :g, it removes all occurrences of granted rights to that Sid. With :d, it removes all occurrences of denied rights to that Sid. /setintegritylevel [(CI)(OI)]Level explicitly adds an integrity ACE to all matching files. The level is to be specified as one of: L[ow] M[edium] H[igh] Inheritance options for the integrity ACE may precede the level and are applied only to directories. /inheritance:e|d|r e - enables inheritance d - disables inheritance and copy the ACEs r - remove all inherited ACEs Note: Sids may be in either numerical or friendly name form. If a numerical form is given, affix a * to the start of the SID. /T indicates that this operation is performed on all matching files/directories below the directories specified in the name. /C indicates that this operation will continue on all file errors. Error messages will still be displayed. /L indicates that this operation is performed on a symbolic link itself versus its target. /Q indicates that icacls should suppress success messages. ICACLS preserves the canonical ordering of ACE entries: Explicit denials Explicit grants Inherited denials Inherited grants perm is a permission mask and can be specified in one of two forms: a sequence of simple rights: N - no access F - full access M - modify access RX - read and execute access R - read-only access W - write-only access D - delete access a comma-separated list in parentheses of specific rights: DE - delete RC - read control WDAC - write DAC WO - write owner S - synchronize AS - access system security MA - maximum allowed GR - generic read GW - generic write GE - generic execute GA - generic all RD - read data/list directory WD - write data/add file AD - append data/add subdirectory REA - read extended attributes WEA - write extended attributes X - execute/traverse DC - delete child RA - read attributes WA - write attributes inheritance rights may precede either form and are applied only to directories: (OI) - object inherit (CI) - container inherit (IO) - inherit only (NP) - don't propagate inherit (I) - permission inherited from parent container Examples: icacls c:\windows\* /save AclFile /T - Will save the ACLs for all files under c:\windows and its subdirectories to AclFile. icacls c:\windows\ /restore AclFile - Will restore the Acls for every file within AclFile that exists in c:\windows and its subdirectories. icacls file /grant Administrator:(D,WDAC) - Will grant the user Administrator Delete and Write DAC permissions to file. icacls file /grant *S-1-1-0:(D,WDAC) - Will grant the user defined by sid S-1-1-0 Delete and Write DAC permissions to file. C:\Users\<user_name>\Desktop>If file permissions are blocked for "SYSTEM" or "Trusted Installer," SFC is not able to open file handles, so of course it can't replace a corrupted file or even open the file to check for corruption to begin with (verify checksums.) It is a good idea though to use DISM / SFC for what it is used for, which of course has nothing to do with this, but that could indirectly solve other issues:
"No, I did not find, but if you have any doubts, run SFC if it is okay and Windows works without errors is a waste of time to further analyze."
Thank you for your reply!