What Will Happen If You Delete System32 on Windows

First of all, we need to tell you that do not attempt to delete System32 on Windows. Otherwise the normal running of Windows will be influenced.

What Is System32 on Windows

System32 folder first came into sight since Windows 2000 release. It is a necessary system directory consisted by a lot of important system files that guarantee the normal function of Windows. In general, it is located in C:\Windows\System32 or C:\Winnt\system32.

Then, what kinds of files are there in System32 folder? Access the directory and we can see the folder as below. There are many .dll and .exe files in it. Also, other kinds of files are included, like MS-DOS applications, DAT files and Control Panel applets.

How important is System32 on Windows? Put it this way, when you use Command Prompt, the cmd.exe from System32 directory is running. Except that, running other programs also need to use files from this folder, such as Disk Management, Task Manager, and so on.

Do not Delete System32 on Windows Computer

“Should I delete System32 and what will happen if it is deleted?” Some people may raise this question.

We tell you seriously: DO NOT delete System32 folder, as System32 folder contains many essential files that enable computer to run normally. And in theory, you can’t delete it when the computer is running.

On Windows 10, we tried deleting the System32 folder but got the message Folder Access Denied. Then, we tried several times with the same error message. However, to help you realize the significance, we used another method to delete the System32 – deleting it with CMD forcefully.

Then, what is going to happen after that?

What Will Happen If You Delete System32 on Windows

According to our test, after deleting System32 folder, Windows began to go abnormal obviously. For example, Task Manager failed to work and the Settings app couldn’t be accessed. We were even not able to shut down the computer as nothing happened when pressing the Start. Eventually, the computer was closed forcefully.

Then, when we tried to restart the computer, Windows was stuck as automatic repair process and then a blue screen with message Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC. Advanced options failed to help us, too.

So, what will happen after System32 was deleted? It is clear: the computer can’t start normally and becomes unbootable.

Rescue Data from an Unbootable Computer

Since the computer can’t boot normally, we need to resort to some technical recovery tool to recover data from an unbootable computer. MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a nice choice. It is specially developed to recover data from various kinds of storage devices like local hard drive, SD card, USB drive, and more.

This program has a bootable edition, with which you can rescue the important data from unbootable computer. If you are a personal user, choosing the Personal Deluxe edition can perfectly meet your requirements.

You can download and install MiniTool on a normal computer after getting the license key. And then use the software to create a bootable disk, with which boot the unbootable computer to recover your data.

After accessing the computer by booting from the bootable disk, MiniTool will show you all detected drives on the interface. Additionally, an external drive is needed to save the recover files. Then, follow these steps to restore files from the unbootable computer:

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive with the unbootable pc with a cable.

Step 2. Select the drive (in which saves the data you want) to scan.

Step 3. After the full scan ends, you can choose the needed files. Open each path to look for what you need. To quickly locate them from a plenty of scanning results, you can also use Type, Find and Filter features.

Step 4. After selecting the needed ones, click Save to store them in the external hard drive that is connecting to the computer.

After these steps, the files you just recovered are kept in the external hard drive, so that you have backed up the computer data, and you can check them any time. Then, you can feel free to reinstall Windows.

Reinstall Windows on Your PC

In the end, you can feel free to reinstall Windows. Follow the tutorial of Windows installation from Internet, you can make it easily.

Now, we know the seriousness of deleting System32 on Window. We should take care when operating our computers and should not perform it. Even though the System32 folder is likely to be infected by viruses, you need to use anti-virus software to kill the viruses instead of deleting the System32 folder.