How to delete SYMLINKD files in Windows 7

I am trying to manually remove Microsoft Security Client from Windows 7 (64 bit).
(The installation got buggered up when I was removing some malware, I tried to reinstall it - wouldn't work, I tried to uninstall it but it was not listed in Programs,  I ran a FixIT, which crashed...)

All I have left in the Microsoft Security Client folder are 3 symbolic links:

 Directory of c:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client
2013-07-01  20:25    <DIR>          .
2013-07-01  20:25    <DIR>          ..
2013-04-02  13:21    <SYMLINKD>     Backup [c:\windows\system32\config]
2013-04-02  13:21    <SYMLINKD>     Drivers [c:\windows\system32\config]
2013-04-02  13:21    <SYMLINKD>     en-us [c:\windows\system32\config]
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

Now I want to remove those 3 symbolic links, so that I can then delete the "Microsoft Security Client" folder.
I have tried DEL, RMDIR, and Delete from Windows Explorer (after backing up the config folder!)  In each case I am told that the directory is not empty.  So Windows thinks I am trying to delete the target directory, not just the link.

So how do I remove the symbolic links?