Access Denied while trying to delete file from python script

[Jay Loden]

kyosohma at gmail.com wrote:
> On Jul 14, 3:39 am, "Viewer T." <dtgead... at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> I am trying to write a script that deletes certain files based on
>> certain criteria.
>>
>> What I am trying to do is to automate the process of deleting certain
>> malware files that disguise themselves as system files and hidden
>> files. When I use os.remove() after importing the os module is raises
>> a Windows Error: Access denied probably because the files have
>> disguised themselves as system files. Is there anway to get adequate
>> privileges under windows to be able to delete system files from within
>> a python script. I know it is probably a windows security feature but
>> is there anyway to gain such privileges.
> 
> You'll need to use the PyWin32 package (AKA win32all). There's a
> win32security module. These links might help:
> 
> http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2006-February/367441.html
> http://www.thescripts.com/forum/thread28850.html
> http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/docs/ActivePython/2.5/pywin32/Windows_NT_Files_.2d.2d_Locking.html
> 
> Sometimes you can beat windows over the head using its own delete
> commands:
> 
> os.system('DEL /F /S /Q "%s"' % item)
> os.system(r'RD /S /Q "%s"' % item)
> 
> I know there's a cookbook recipe on it, but I can't seem to find it
> right now. Hopefully this will help you some though.

I think what you want is this one: 
http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python/Recipe/303343

I wrote/maintain an Win32 antivirus tool written in C and it uses the same Win32 functions to unset any hidden/system attributes on files before attempting to delete them. In the same vein, you'll find that some files are locked and unable to be deleted, so you're probably want to look into the following also: 

* killing processes to remove currently running files
  http://www.answermysearches.com/how-to-kill-a-process-by-name-in-python/57/

* scheduling files for removal on reboot using MoveFileEx
  (you'd have to use win32 extensions to access the MoveFileEx function)
  http://msdn2.microsoft.com/En-US/library/aa365240.aspx

Hope that helps, 

-Jay