http://www.ntcompatible.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=14060&highlight=wfp

That helps with files, but not folders - anyone know how to get rid of "protected" folders?

FYI...
yes...please see the artice at URL: http://www.overclockersclub.com/disablesystemfilechecker.shtml
 
***WARNING***
Use at your own RISK!!!
***WARNING***

Thanks, but thst totally disables SFC - I only want to change what files & folders it protects.

There is an exclusion file for WFP that you can list files and/or directories in to keep WFP from replacing files at startup.
 
It's located in C:\WINDOWS\system32\Restore. The file name is filelist.xml. In order to modify you will need to first goto Tools Folder Options>View and uncheck 'Hide protected operating system files'.
 
Then in the properties of the file uncheck 'read only'.
 
Edit the file with notepad. So for exmple, or in your case. Your default filelist.xml would look like this:
 
<PCHealthProtect>
<VERSION>1.0</VERSION>
<DEFTYPE>E</DEFTYPE>
<FILES>
<Exclude>
<REC>%windir%\system.ini</REC>
<REC>%windir%\tasks\desktop.ini</REC>
<REC>%windir%\win.ini</REC>
<REC>*:\AUTOEXEC.BAT</REC>
<REC>*:\CONFIG.MSI</REC>
<REC>*:\CONFIG.SYS</REC>
</Exclude>
<Include>
<REC>c:\placeholder\ph.dll</REC>
</Include>
</FILES>
<DIRECTORIES>
<Exclude>
<REC>%cookies%</REC>
<REC>%favorites%</REC>
<REC>%History%</REC>
<REC>%internetcache%</REC>
<REC>%nethood%</REC>
<REC>%personaldocuments%</REC>
<REC>%ProgramFiles%\WindowsUpdate</REC>
----------------------------------------------------
 
Your changes would make it look like this:
 
<PCHealthProtect>
<VERSION>1.0</VERSION>
<DEFTYPE>E</DEFTYPE>
<FILES>
<Exclude>
<REC>%windir%\system.ini</REC>
<REC>%windir%\tasks\desktop.ini</REC>
<REC>%windir%\win.ini</REC>
<REC>*:\AUTOEXEC.BAT</REC>
<REC>*:\CONFIG.MSI</REC>
<REC>*:\CONFIG.SYS</REC>
</Exclude>
<Include>
<REC>c:\placeholder\ph.dll</REC>
</Include>
</FILES>
<DIRECTORIES>
<Exclude>
<REC>%windir%\Help\tours\</REC> <---your custom line here.
<REC>%cookies%</REC>
<REC>%favorites%</REC>
<REC>%History%</REC>
<REC>%internetcache%</REC>
<REC>%nethood%</REC>
<REC>%personaldocuments%</REC>
<REC>%ProgramFiles%\WindowsUpdate</REC>
---------------------------------------------------------------
 
It has to go in that section as you are trying to exclude a directory and not just a single file. Don't forget the <REC></REC> tags on each line you add.
 
Now just save your changes, re-check read only in the file properties and you should be able to delete the stuff in C:\WINDOWS\Help\tours\ without Windows replacing the files at next boot.
 
I haven't used this file to keep WFP from restoring anything except uxtheme.dll(so I can use 3rd party visual styles)so I can't tell you how Windows might react if you get crazy with tons of additions in there. The best thing about doing it this way is that it's not permanent and leaves WFP enabled for the things you want to remain protected.
 
Hope this helps.

Thanks, but it didn't work. I added the necessary lines to that file & saved it & even made it Read Only again, but it still wouldn't let me delete it. I don't mean it deleted it then put it back, I mean it wouldn't even let me delete it in the 1st place. It just gave me an error message saying that it couldn't delete it as it was in use by another program!?!
 
I tried rebooting to see if that was required for the contents of that .XML file to take effect, but it made no difference, so I tried deleting it in Safe Mode & that time it deleted without any bother....until I got back into normal Windows & there it was again!

Sorry it didn't work, but it was worth a try. It's a bit odd that those files would even be considered as 'needed'. So much so that they just won't go away.

LOL, in this case it's just a couple of empty folders that I've managed to delete everything out of, it just bugs me that I can't delete the folders as well.