Windows 10: Cannot delete WindowsApps Folder June 2020

Hi all,


I have seen this question circulated everywhere and the issue still persists, some seem to have more luck than others.


In brief, I am clearing out my PC of tons and tons of GBs of games, everything is fine except when I enter my SSD my OS is stored on an M.2 the C. drive, this SSD, which is the Z. drive, is one I added down the line contains a WindowsApps folder with two subfolders, neither of which are deletable:


- MSIXVC

- Microsoft.HalifaxBaseGame_1.1.74.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe


I have tried every which way possible, giving myself permissions to the WindowsApps folder and all its content, deleting, running in safe/admin modes, running command prompt, running windows PowerShell etc. and nothing seems to delete the amassed 100+ GBs of whatever is the folders. Below are some screenshots of the feedback from both the command lines:




...




The folder that appears to be in use after running "resmon.exe" tells me that it is explorer.exe, but even by closing that and using just PowerShell or command prompt it still appears to be in use by the System.


Therefore, can anyone advise me on the best course of action to take and if necessary, worst-case scenario, would a drive format or factory reset be the only ways the get rid of it, as I would much rather a clean system than where it's at currently.


Many thanks in advance, I strongly believe Microsoft gaming needs to seriously reconsider how they store games on our hardware as respectively this issue isn't present on any other gaming service, and for that matter, when you're paying £££ for a 2Tb SSD, this does then feel like a digital hostage scenario. It needs to be solved.


Thank you!!

:)

 

Trouble deleting a folder

Thanks for the suggestion but it says "delete folder failed for E:\....." for each folder I try.

*Confused

Will I be forever stuck with these unnecessary folders? *Oh Well hwell:

 

WindowsApps folder says permissions are corrupted and need to be deleted, is this normal or critical?

According to your description, I suggest you try the following steps:

1. Navigate to the location C:\Program Files.
   
2. Right-click on the WindowsApps folder, and select Properties.
   
3. Turn to Security tab and click on Advanced.
   
4. Click on Change and then type Users in Enter the object name to select area.
   
5. Click on OK, then click Apply > OK. You can also add the TrustedInstaller to the users list and check if it takes effect.
   

However, you might be still not able to access the files. The workaround is to go inside the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\, and repeat the same way with the Microsoft.WindowsStore* folders.

 

Deleting the WindowsApps folder on secondary drive?

Hmm, which is faster. I attempted a Live Linux Drive already but it was very slow and would not boot, not to mention I don't know a thing about using linux.

Would option 2 be easier? I looked at Macrium, but the install steps themselves are confusing me, and I fear not knowing how to navigate it once I boot to it.

EDIT: I installed Macrium Reflect Free, went through these steps to create the media.
Don't forget to check the UEFI/MBR box if you are attempting this yourself.
I then booted to it, "browsed my files for an image", but for real, navigate to the WindowsApps folder on your secondary drive, and delete it. It doesn't disappear instantly, but when you exit the drive, and log back into windows, the folder will be gone.

Thanks for the suggestion cereberus!