Windows 10: Folder On External USB Drive Suddenly Requires Admin Privileges To Delete Files

Windows 10 64 bit Version 1803 build 17134.407


I have two Western Digital external USB drives attached to my main computer. One has drive letter E: and the other is M:. They are identical in content and directory structure and I use them to store the majority of my files. (The C: is used for the OS). I rebuilt the machine about 2 mos ago. Then about 3 weeks back, I tried to play some mp3 music via Windows media player. The Music Library settings are pointed to a folder that resides on E:, although I have the same files backed up on the M:.


WMP reported that it could not access the mp3 file because the file might be in use, I might not have access to the computer where the is stored or my proxy settings might be incorrect. Then I opened the folder up via Windows Explorer and tried to delete one of the many album art files in the same folder. I right-clicked on the file and am getting the pop-up menu shown on the left screenshot below. Notice it requires Admin privileges. Once I click on Delete, I'm getting File Access Denied alert. (This doesn't happen if I try on the M: drive - it just says Delete without the shield).


Another problem that has started within the past few days with this drive is I'm seeing instances where I can't save files that I've opened in a particular app. Earlier I opened up an Adobe Illustrator file, did some editing and then tried to save the file. It wouldn't let me save the file. I had to close without saving. I looked at it in Explorer and it's now at 0 bytes. I can't even copy a file to this particular folder where this Illustrator file was. The whole directory is corrupt now. I've run Error Checking to check for errors but no errors are being reported.

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:)

 

Trouble deleting a folder

Download norton commander for windows and try it. I`m using it for deleting those autorun.inf virus files that stuck to the USB drives or second non system partition. If no file is used from windows folder NC should erase it easy. And there is Hiren`s boot disk that you can download it is bootable and has volkov commander on it similar to NC and it runs in DOS and it will delete windows folder 100%. Or you can make USB stick bootable and use deltree command.

 

Admin folder

Thanks for the suggestion, however when I rclick on the folder I don’t get the option to see “properties”. I tried to delete this folder but I got a message saying that I needed admin privileges to delete. I was afraid to delete this because it seemed
to be the actual folder rather than a shortcut. I’ve checked location on the drive and it shows the admin file in the desktop area of the hd. Still need help.

Original post was that I had some way put the admin folder on my desktop and wanted to get it where it belongs.

 

Unable to delete a folder - Invalid folder name


Suggestion:

1. Run chkdsk x: /r to make sure that there's no HD corruption.
   x: is the drive containing the folder you want to delete.
2. Try to delete the folder again. If still does not work, go to step 3.
3. Download: Download - Linux Mint and create a bootable USB using: Rufus - Create bootable USB
4. Boot up with Linux Mint and try to delete the folder again.
   NOTE: Unlike WinPE. Linux does not have any Windows permission imposed to it so it is easier to delete.