Question

I am new to PowerShell. When trying to write a simple script that deletes the contents of a folder and then fills it with files copied from a different folder, I always get a PermissionDenied error.

Details:

+ remove-item <<<<  D:\path\* -recurse
    + CategoryInfo : PermissionDenied: (save.gif:FileInfo) [Remove-Item], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : RemoveFileSystemItemUnAuthorizedAccess,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.RemoveItemCommand

Where is the problem? I am able to manipulate both folders through Explorer.
The error occurs both when running from a script file and from shell (using Windows PowerShell ISE).
The ISE process runs under my account.
I’m running Windows 7 Professional and am a local administrator.

Edit:
After Richard’s suggestion, I tried the verbose mode (which seemed to have no effect).

PS Z:\> $error[0] | fl * -force

PSMessageDetails      : 
Exception             : System.IO.IOException: Not Enough permission to perform operation.
TargetObject          : D:\path\file.txt
CategoryInfo          : PermissionDenied: (D:\path\file.txt:FileInfo) [Remove-Item], IOException
FullyQualifiedErrorId : RemoveFileSystemItemUnAuthorizedAccess,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.RemoveItemCommand
ErrorDetails          : Cannot remove item D:\path\file.txt: Not Enough permission to perform operation.
InvocationInfo        : System.Management.Automation.InvocationInfo
PipelineIterationInfo : {0, 1}

I don’t see anything of much use there (but thanks for the tips anyway).

Edit 2:
Okay, here’s the script source:

remove-item D:\path_A\* -recurse
copy-item D:\path_B\* D:\path_A\

That’s it. The remove-item seems to throw at every file.

Answer 1

Is UAC enabled? If so try running your PowerShell session as ‘Administrator’. It really looks like you don’t have permission to delete the objects.

We have very restrictive security policies where I work and users not familiar with UAC get burned all the time.