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Window 10 won't let me delete or rename a file in my Download folder


To the OP: Doesn't it ask you to enter your admin credentials? It should be as simple as that.

When you get the dialog box saying "You'll need to provide Administrator permission to copy to this folder" what options are you given?
I modified the registry to add "Take Ownership" and followed your instructions. I am the only user on my computer and the only administrator, but I still can't delete a file or rename it. It still says that I need to be an administrator to delete this file and my only options are "Cancel" or "Try again".

Hello dmd, and welcome to windowssh blog.

What file are you trying to delete or rename, and what is it's full path?

In addition, please post a screenshot showing the file's owner and permission properties to see if there may be an issue there.

Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in windowssh blog

I was finally able to delete it. My AV had quarantined it. It was in my Download folder and it was something like d37.tmp which I believe is malware. I tried to rename it and delete it but I couldn't. But this file aside, I would like to solve the problem of Windows 10 telling me that I can't do something because I need administrator permission, when I AM the administrator. I've had this problem multiple times where Windows 10 tells me I can't move, delete, change locations, etc. of my files, and these are not protected system files either. They are just normal files. Thank you!

Great news.

Great news.
No, it's not great news I have had that problem with many files as I explained in my last post. The problem was solved with this file, but not with the error I get almost every time I try to move, rename, etc. It's still a problem that Windows 10 doesn't seem to recognize that I'm the administrator.

An administrator account isn't "elevated" by default, so this is why you are unable to have full access by default like you would while signed in to the built-in elevated "Administrator" account.

Administrator account - Enable or Disable in Windows 10

An administrator account isn't "elevated" by default, so this is why you are unable to have full access by default like you would while signed in to the built-in elevated "Administrator" account.

Administrator account - Enable or Disable in Windows 10
So, they've designed it that every time you want to do something you have to go through a bunch of steps because it's not safe to be a "real" administrator on your own computer? I just want to make sure I understand. Shouldn't there be some kind of prompt to click on instead of the only option being to try again or cancel? Try again gives the same result as cancel, because you still can't do what you need to do without jumping through hoops.

It's been this way starting with Vista.

Actions that require elevated rights (aka: Run as administrator) will give you a UAC prompt to get the elevated rights needed.

To access an item, it depends on the permissions set for the item you are trying to access.

I used to get prompts, but now, for those same types of files, I'm not getting any options but "try again" ( which will do nothing) and "cancel". Permissions haven't changed because they are files I had in my 8.1 computer. So something is wrong and I don't know how to solve it. I should be given an option that allows me to do what I want to do, but I'm not getting it. For example, I wanted to copy a Word document from my external hard drive to my laptop. I've done this many times with 8.1. Now, I'm being told I can't copy it to the location I choose, which is not anything special. Just a normal folder. I don't think this is correct behavior.

Since the permissions were applied to the external drive on the W8.1 PC, the W10 PC will not automatically have full access.

If the external drive was formatted using FAT32 instead of NTFS, then permissions would not be applied on the external drive.

If you like, take ownership of the external drive with apply to all contents to have full access again for your account on the W10 PC.

Window 10 won't let me delete or rename a file in my Download folder