Need to delete files in Program files using c#, files wont delete

Question

Why wont the files in the test folder delete?? How can i get admin access??

namespace Delete
{
    using System;
    using System.Windows.Forms;
    using System.IO;

    public class Delete
    {
        public Delete()
        {
            if (Directory.Exists(@"C:\Program Files (x86)\test\"))
            {
                string[] filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\Program Files (x86)\test\");
                foreach (string file in filePaths) { File.Delete(file); }
            }
        }
    }
}

well this will be injected into a program that runs from an exe, ill have to look into what your saying, the exe would have to be run as an admin then no? — jitsuin, Apr 24 '12 at 18:37

Chuck Savage · Answer 1 · 2012-04-24T19:12:17.230

You need to rethink your strategy.

If you are adding/removing files programatically from within your application, they should be stored in a separate location (that won't need admin privs to elevate for writing/deleting, etc.):

like the user's data directory/your company/your application, or
the user's documents/your company/your application

The Program Files directory is for application specific files (DLL's, etc) that are installed with the program but don't change once installed/updated.

Here's an example of the User's Data directory by application:

public static DirectoryInfo ApplicationVersionDirectory()
{
    return new DirectoryInfo(System.Windows.Forms.Application.UserAppDataPath);
}

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:29

2

This is due to the UAC. So either run your executable as admin by right clicking -> "Run as Administrator" or if you want to do it programatically refer to other posts like Windows 7 and Vista UAC - Programmatically requesting elevation in C#

edited May 23 '17 at 12:29

Community

1
1

answered Apr 24 '12 at 18:40

banging

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 24 '12 at 18:44

In order to delete files from "Program Files" folder you need to start application as an administrator. Otherwise you will not be able to get an access to %PROGRAMFILES%.

Here is the sample code to restart current app and run it as admin:

ProcessStartInfo proc = new ProcessStartInfo();
proc.UseShellExecute = true;
proc.FileName = Application.ExecutablePath;
proc.Verb = "runas";



try
            {

                Process.Start(proc);

            }

            catch

            {

                // The user refused the elevation.

                // Do nothing and return directly ...

                return;

            }

            Application.Exit();  // Quit itself

ah cool, i guess no way to bypass user choice as it is a security feature in windows? — jitsuin, Apr 24 '12 at 18:49

Need to delete files in Program files using c#, files wont delete

3 Answers3