Delete file from C:\Program Files (x86)\"Folder Name"\"File Name" is Denied

Question

Hi All,

Please help.

I want to delete a file and an error message appears: Some or all identity references could not be translated.

 Dim UserAccount As String = System.Windows.Forms.SystemInformation.UserName
        Dim FolderInfo As IO.DirectoryInfo = New IO.DirectoryInfo("C:\Program Files (x86)\FastCodeSDK")
        Dim FolderAcl As New DirectorySecurity
        FolderAcl.AddAccessRule(New FileSystemAccessRule(UserAccount, FileSystemRights.Modify, InheritanceFlags.ContainerInherit Or InheritanceFlags.ObjectInherit, PropagationFlags.None, AccessControlType.Allow))
        FolderInfo.SetAccessControl(FolderAcl)

        File.Delete("C:\Program Files (x86)\FastCodeSDK\Data1.cab")

        MsgBox("the file has been deleted")

Answer 1

Hi @Frangky Bunga ,

This error is usually caused by trying to set an access control list using incorrect user identifiers (identity references).

You can try converting the user name to a security identifier (SID) and then passing it to the FileSystemAccessRule constructor.

This ensures that you are using a valid security identifier, regardless of whether the current user is a local user or a domain user. Using SIDs avoids errors caused by incorrect user name formatting or non-existent users.

Also as RLWA32 mentioned, make sure that the current user has permission to modify ACLs.

Dim UserAccountSid As SecurityIdentifier = New NTAccount(UserAccount).Translate(GetType(SecurityIdentifier))

Dim FolderAcl As New DirectorySecurity
FolderAcl.AddAccessRule(New FileSystemAccessRule(UserAccountSid, FileSystemRights.Modify, InheritanceFlags.ContainerInherit Or InheritanceFlags.ObjectInherit, PropagationFlags.None, AccessControlType.Allow))

Best Regards.

Jiachen Li

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