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Can't Delete File Even Though I Am the Owner/Adminstrator

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gr3gw:
Thanks, Crazy4Years. I haven't tried IOUninstaller. I think this product is directed at files installed by software installers.

I resorted to Unix. No hesitation when deleting the 'rusted on' file.

Would still like to know what characteristics of the file prevents it from being deleted from within Windows in case it happens again or is preventable.

crazy4years:
I suspect it is the location more than the name. You could always rename it and see if it uninstalls more easily to determine that. Malware can have a way of worming files inside others without it showing up for us to find where to delete them (such a waste of talent) so you are trying to delete something at a location that does not exist there. Misleading you?

gr3gw:
I did try renaming but Windows said I didn't have permission even though I am administrator.

I did think it was something to do with being zero length but I've since learned that zero length is quite legitimate and easy to create and delete, hence I was quite curious about your 'worming files inside others'. I can only speculate what change has been made to make the file un-deletable, I just don't know enough to speculate meaningfully.

Boggin:
Did you try the adware removal tools I'd posted in Reply #3 ?

gr3gw:
I  tried FileAssassin but not AdAware.

I'm now thinking it might be something to do with 'copy-on-write'. Today I saw an error message explaining that I couldn't  delete a file as it was being copied. When I found out more, copy-on-write is an OS technique for safely copying files that are open. Shadowing may use this technique. It could be that the file I couldn't delete, and finally removed through Unix, was locked for 'copy-on-write' when there was a system crash. For some reason, the 'copy-on-write' flag couldn't  be removed.

It's a guess but it's the kind of explanation that works. The fact that the file was malware is, I think, mis-direction.

Thanks for the suggestion.

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