I am trying to uninstall Apache 2.2 on Windows XP. The original installation was from the binary msi distribution. The uninstall function of the msi ran successfully, but it failed to remove a couple of folders:
- C:\Apache2.2\conf
- C:\Apache2.2\logs
I am unable to remove these folders manually because they contain files for which I do not have ownership. And this is the source of my confusion: why if I installed the program do I not have permission to remove it? To be clear, I do not have local admin rights (nor can I request them), yet the files in these two remaining folders are owned by Administrator.
How is it that Administrator created these files (and how can I possibly remove them)?
UPDATE: I may have some insight into how this happened.
When I originally installed Apache 2.2, I created the folder C:\Apache2.2 from within the msi "Custom Install" dialog. I chose this as the destination folder instead of the default. On a second attempt, I created the folder "C:\Apache2" before running the msi (and then chose it as the destination folder). The result was that my local account was the owner of the destination folder, not Administrator as in the first attempt. So now, even though files under my Apache root are being created by Administrator, my local account owns the folder they are in so I have full permissions.
Also, see this related question: Windows Admin Privileges Required After Install
