Comments on: Windows 7 – Can’t delete exe files on Desktop

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:29:55 +0000

TrustedInstaller is a user account that Windows uses to handle most system files (it’s also the name of the windows installer), since it is the only account that is able to edit them without taking ownership from it, it creates a (very thin) layer of security.

By: Tigger413

Tigger413 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:47:59 +0000

I’ve had this problem a few times, but more than that, Taking ownership and permission issues! Only certain files and folders! Shouldn’t you as an Admin. be able to access and take ownership of all files and folders on the main drive?? Also what and who is Trusted Installer???

By: Windows 7 Locking Executable Files « A Mind Lost

Windows 7 Locking Executable Files « A Mind Lost — Sat, 01 May 2010 03:47:35 +0000

[...] after broadening my Google search query a bit, I stumbled across a seemingly unrelated post at Tech Gremlin. Reading through the comments, one person (“F-ingannoyed” hehe) offered a link to a [...]

By: Marco

Marco — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:20:45 +0000

Just reboot it with the “Directory services restore” mode and delete-it.

By: Em

Em — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:38:19 +0000

Thanks Ben & Imazed, that worked out for me.

The problem also occurs anywhere, not just on the desktop, when trying to delete a folder that contains one or more executables and folder which has been recently browsed before deletion.

The same service made batch or command files (.cmd) to be locked. If I executed one and then tried to edit it, it would say that it’s in use and I had to pick another name… luckily and weird, I could delete it and re-save…

The link from Imazed also points out to the GPE’s entry of the service, which helps turning off some of those annoying assistants.

By: ajfenix

ajfenix — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:12:45 +0000

The problem has been solved!
Just turn ON the “Application Experience” Service, then the files could be deleted instantly.
look here for details: http://www.retrocopy.com/blog/28/cant-delete-exe-files-in-vista–windows-7-solved.aspx

By: Xtal

Xtal — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:27:30 +0000

Ben,

Thanks for your reply. I will try the Application Experience fix when I encounter this again. The thing is (as has been pointed-out here) that the problem is transient, so it may not be immediately clear if any change in behavior is due to enabling “Application Experience”.

In any case, when I have any result I will report it here.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:23:13 +0000

I haven’t seen this occur in XP, it would only lock out a file when it is being accessed. It all seems to have started with Vista, then it got worse and more common with Windows 7, although with the later builds it did mostly go away for some users.

I still haven’t experienced the bug in Windows 7 since the later builds (perhaps it is related to certain hardware or driver versions?). I have had a few times where a file would be temporarily out of bounds, but that changes only after about 30 seconds to a minute, building applications with Visual Studio works fine with no lockouts.

Have you tried the ‘Application Experience’ fix from above? I am interested to know how that works for others.

By: Xtal

Xtal — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:32:42 +0000

I support a software application and I first encountered this problem from someone that was using Windosw 7 but I have since seen it (or a very similar problem) in Vista SP1 and in WinXP SP3. In my experience it is not limited to any particular file types.

Has anyone here experienced this problem in WinXP? I’m still looking for a solution/workaround, or even simply an explanation that I can give users who experience this.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:33:11 +0000

I have the same problem. It has reduced my programming work by at least 20%. I re-enabled Application Experience service to see if this will fix it, if not, I am certainly back to Windows XP.