Need a simple utility to access and delete folders on an NTFS drive - must fit on a few floppies or less.

[Jeff7]

I pushed my proc a bit too far. Now my WinXP Administrator profile is damaged, and it won't let me back in. And of course, without admin access, I can't create new admin-level accounts. Something like that - basically, I need to reinstall XP, but I want to do it WITHOUT formatting the disk. The drive was converted to NTFS.
What I want to do is my own "mini-format" - delete the Program Files and Windows folders. However, I am unable to access the drive to do so. Using Recovery Console is useless - the delete utilities there don't allow use of Wildcards, and they won't let me delete Program Files or Windows - Access Denied. Is there maybe a tiny version of Linux that will give me command line access to the NTFS drive?
The instructions out there to create an NTFS boot disk (like those on MS's website) just seem to be to boot to Setup - can get there with the WindowsXP CD, which doesn't help.

 

[Jumpem]

I'm afraid I don't really have anything helpful to offer, but why don't you want to simply reformat?

 

[Jeff7]

Too much stuff saved, not enough HD space elsewhere to put it.

 

[jarsoffart]

Why don't you make that drive a slave on another system and access the files that way?

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Here ya go

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: jarsoffart
Why don't you make that drive a slave on another system and access the files that way?

Well, I might just have to do that, except I'll have to assemble a system and install WinXP on it - all the systems in hte house are Win98SE - no NTFS reading ability.

Originally posted by: LuDaCriS66
Here ya go

Says on the page that the freeware version has some pretty important limitations:
"Full read/write capability for NTFS from DOS is available with NTFSDOS Professional. Full read/write capability for DOS from Windows 95/98 is available with NTFS for Windows 98."

NTFSDOS Pro costs $300. The freeware version lets you read files; you can't do anything else though - I tried it already.

 

[astro]

Why not just install to a directory other than the default? Something like C:\windows_2 . Always worked ok on NT/2000....I assume it would work on xp. Once you boot into it you should be able to do whatever you want to the files on the drive.

 

[Jeff7]

Perhaps, but that just leaves yet another Windows folder. Anytime I install Windows with an existing installation anywhere on the drive, it seems to find it and import old settings (which I want to get rid of and start clean.)
I'm just quite surprised that there isn't a simple boot disk or even CD that gives a basic command line interface to an NTFS drive.

 

[CTho9305]

boot form the XP cd, use the repair console?

MAYBE if you rename the "documents and settings\administrator" folder, it will create a new one from the default, then you can copy any data you had in the administrator folder before back over.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: CTho9305
boot form the XP cd, use the repair console?

MAYBE if you rename the "documents and settings\administrator" folder, it will create a new one from the default, then you can copy any data you had in the administrator folder before back over.

The repair console is too limited - the delete functions don't allow wildcard characters - can't delete directories unless I delete each file one-by-one. And Renaming system folders isn't allowed - Access Denied.
Right now, I'm compressing as many files as I can and putting them on my secondary hard drive, and sticking some on my dad's computer over the network. I'm going to format then. So far this seems to be the only way of doing it. I do kind of miss FAT32's simplicity, but I would like to stick with NTFS now and learn its ways.