Remember needing Cygwin back in the day, but after using it for my only occasion forgot the software-libraries completely? That happened to me. I have installed Windows 7 again and found my C:cygwin folder with all the files. Wanted to get rid of it, but no way – a mysterious “permission denied” when deleting the files. It seems there’s no way to remove it. Cygwin protects the files with some security stuff. That’s just idiotic, having no access to my own files!
I’m always logged in as native Administrator – no other users present. What I tried next was to navigate to that folder through my Linux machine (CIFS mounted filesystem), but got “permission denied” error there as well, even with the magic command:
sudo rm -rf /media/windows/cygwinHere’s how to remove Cygwin once and for all.
You will need
- Cygwin
- cmd.exe
- 2 minutes
Run cmd, navigate to C: (or another disk, if you have installed it in a different path).
This command takes ownership recursive of the folder, without asking anything:
takeown /r /d y /f cygwinThis command gives Full Access to Everyone recursively in the folder:
icacls cygwin /t /grant Everyone:FAnd finally, the command which deletes it all and removes Cygwin:
rmdir /s /q cygwinGood bye, Cygwin!
Thanks for reading! I need your attention for a moment.
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Nguyen Vo
Thank you. Can you tell me how to come up with this solution?
Roni Laukkarinen
I usually find every solution by experimenting, this was no different. 🙂 I trust in the power of command line!
Xavier
I do the same. Unlikely so, your method did not work for me because Cygwin was no longer working on my PC (my PC has crashed several times after I left it), So instead of all those 3rd Party apps, I experimented.
What I did was, I used the inbuilt system of Windows (properties). Then the Security tab, and I found that I could not change the permissions for now. Then I went to Advanced, then to Owner tab, to find that the ownership was set to my previous account (one that I used before my system crashed). I clicked on my current account and clicked apply.
Then I went to Permissions tab, and then I found that I could grant myself Full Control over the folder. Yay!
Then I deleted it, once and for all.
I feel you should also add this method to the list, for the needy. Even though the post is about an year old.
Paul
This worked perfectly!!!! Well Done and Thank You.
Artem
Awesome! Thanks man!
Roni Laukkarinen
Glad you liked it!
Francis
Hi:
I tried it but the bin and etc directories remain. I can’t even open the etc directory.
Francis
Hi, I got rid of them once I killed the bash process that was running. Thanks for the great information. Much appreciated.
Roni Laukkarinen
No probs! Great that you got it solved!
Leo
Good job. What I need is the procedure.
needizTeam
Hi, we had trouble with “takeown” and Administrator rights, so we fund this workaround:
– connect with an account which is Administrator (no need of Super Administrator): for example, my-windows-account
– open cmd with the option “execute as admin”
– execute: takeown /A /r /d y /f cygwin (/A gives ownership to admin group)
– execute: icacls cygwin /t /grant:r my-windows-account:F (:r to force/impose new ownership)
– execute: rmdir /s /q cygwin
Thx Roni for your post.
AG
Nice one. It completly removed CYGWIN from my windows 7
no thanks
just stop the sshd.exe windows service
Rizwan
I haven’t run the takeown command but did run the last two commands. Is it still hiding inside my registry (win7)?
Yearlync
Thanks you , it work like a charm and it’s not even 2 mins!! hehe
Dude
Thanks, it deleted all the files except for the “7-Zip.dll” in the 7-Zip folder. except for that, all worked well
Simon
didn’t work for me, but found another way:
takeown /F “path of the folder where cygwin is” then hit ENTER. it gives a full access to that specific folder
then go to that folder right click and DELETE it,
Robotnik
Awesome. I had this huge cygwin folder that I was fighting to get rid of for several months.You solution solved in a few minutes. Thanks!
has same problem.
run cmd, go to the parent directory of cygwin, run command ” rd -s cygwin”
dorit
thank you! your solution worked great for me!
2 things though, for others who try it – it takes more than 2 minutes, so if you run the command and it seems not to stop – just wait…also you should open the cmd as administrator
Alex
I deleted this with Unlocker. http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/
Xavier
Frankly, your method did not work for me. Mainly because Cygwin was no longer working. I had installed it long ago, with a different account on my XP. But then my System crashed, and I had to recover my OS. But now the account did not exist anymore, neither the Cygwin.bat worked (tried running it through cmd too, but no success).
I thought of trying Unlocked and Long Path Tool. None worked, as Unlocker hanged and stopped responding, whereas LPT asked for a Key (I don’t like spending money on stupid things).
So I used my own brain. i am not even sure of what I did, I just kept trying till I succeeded.
1- I right-clicked it and opened up the Properties. I clicked the Security tab, to find that I could not change the permissions here (I could not grant myself full control).
2- Clicked “Advanced” and then in the “Owner” tab, I clicked my own account and then checked some box “Replace owner…”. Clicked Apply. I could not grant full control still.
3- Went to Permissions tab. Clicked on my account name, and then ticked both boxes below, and then clicked Apply.
Finally, I granted all accounts full access from the Security tab. Then I deleted the folder.
That folder was taking 4 GB of space from my HDD! Phew!
So guys, just remember to use your own brain and not to depend on 3rd party softwares. Windows has its own features, and most of the time you won’t require all those things.
Roni Laukkarinen
Yeah, this tutorial is for those who had it on the same machine. Cygwin acts by default leaving files behind… you did practically more advanced version of my technique but using UI instead of cmd. 🙂 thanks for the advice!
equatorlounge
hey bro, you officially are HISTORY
I mean it, probably the guys who invented cygwin are goddam pissed right now LOOOL
no seriously I think that’s cool cos there seems to be no other way to install node.js (something I need badly) without using cygwin
fake
YOU. ARE. A. BALLER!
blue_floyd
wracked my brain on this for 2 days.. tried so many things finally used your process and IT WORKS. Thanks a Lot !!
David Hicks
the process in the article worked for me too; excellent, thank you. The first time I tried it, I accidentally overlooked the iacacls step and it didn’t work until I went back and did it as instructed
alisson menezes
I can not run this command icacls cygwin / t / grant Everyone: F give error mapping between account names and security IDs who can help me? email me with a solution alissonmene@gmail.com
341464
Still doesn’t work for me 🙁 http://i.imgur.com/pxuMY5Y.png
Prievidza
if u have cygwin64:
takeown /r /d y /f cygwin64
icacls cygwin64 /t /grant Everyone:F
rmdir /s /q cygwin64
Roni Laukkarinen
Thanks for the tip!
Tirthadeep Roy
i am never going to install cygwin again
akhil movva
thanx. But check your cywin folder name in localdisk (like cygwin64). Use that one in the place cygwin in the above code.