Don't worry, you're not the only person to have that difficulty. This an easy way to delete that directory so you can do a clean install with a one-click installer or just clean up your server. This is written for the absolute beginner. Don't worry, you don't need to download putty, get command line access or call anybody. Here's how to delete the /sites/ folder:
Step 1. Go to your file manager
Every server control panel, whether it's cPanel,or GoDaddy, or something I haven't heard of has a file manager. Using the built in file manager usually makes this easier than using FTP. I say usually because the file manager in a shared hosting environment may have different permissions for modifying files than you do with FTP.
On a server with CPanel the file manager will look like this:
Typically you can get to a cPanel server by going to http://yourwebsite.com/cpanel and logging in with your username and password. Some hosts send you to a specific port and/or a secure connection so your URL will look like https://yourwebsite:2082. You got this information when you signed up for hosting.
On a GoDaddy server the file manager will look like this:
On a GoDaddy server, after you've launched the Hosting Dashboard, go to the Content section or there may be a quick link.
Step 2. Go to the directory you want to empty and expand the sites directory
Step 3. Change the permissions for the folder
Choose the "default" folder and then click the Permissions icon. On a GoDaddy type server, the Set Permissions box will open up and you will see three tabs.
Go to Advanced Permissions.
You will see the web user permissions and the owner permissions. Make sure all the boxes are checked. The boxes you see in this screen show that the permissions are set to 555 ( if you don't understand that, don't worry). The permission needs to be changed to 777 or 775. All you need to do is make sure all three boxes are checked, then save the result.
This will reset the permissions on the folder. You want the permissions to be 777 or 755.
Choose "default" again and click delete.
Return to top level of this directory. Choose "sites" and repeat the process. Do it again for any other files or folders remain.
The sites folder should now be permanently deleted and you can reinstall drupal from a one-click installer.
The directory should be completely empty.
Alternative: On cPanel
On a cPanel file manager you can see the actual permission settings. The process is the same. Select the default folder, then click the Change Permissions icon in the toolbar.
