The most annoying thing about Windows 2000, in my opinion, is the control the
Microsoft attempts to take away from the
users.
Under the
program files (and
winnt)
directory, there are certain
sub-directories that
win2k will NOT let you delete, such as
Netmeeting,
Outlook Express, and
Frontpage. All of which are non-critical components. I can understand protecting critical
os files, but even then, if I'm the
administrator, I should be able to screw up my
system if I want to!
Fortunately, I have found a couple ways around this file protection:
1.
Delete the dllcache
directory under winnt\sytem32. This is the
directory where all the backup files are stored. When this is deleted, not only does your
hard drive gain 200meg free space, when a "protected" file is changed/deleted, a prompt will come up asking for the win2k
cd. At this point you can simply click cancel to keep the file the way it is.
The drawback to this method is that the directories still exist, even if empty. Also, if you have installed
service packs/
patches, not all backup files will be in dllcache, and it can be a pain to find all copies of a particular file.
Alternatively, if you can get access to your
hd through an
os other than win2k (ie.
dual-boot), there is a different method:
2. Boot into the other os, and go to the parent directory of the ones you want to delete (ie. program files or winnt). Delete the offending
directory. Now, create an empty file with the same name as the directory had. Set the
attributes on this file to be hidden/system/read only. Now reboot into windows 2000, and the directories cannot be recreated, and the only side effect are empty files with the same names.