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Thread: Denied permission to access folders

  1. #1
    Jack K Guest

    Denied permission to access folders

    I recently purchased a new external hard drive and I set about transferring
    files from my old XP computer to my new hard drive that I then connected to
    my Sony Vaio laptop. Most files on the new hard drive are accessible on my
    Vista laptop, but a large group (100 Gig) of video editing folders and files
    are not accessible. I get these messages:

    "You don't currently have permission to access this folder. Click "continue"
    to gain access."

    Then "You have been denied permission to access this folder - To gain access
    you will need to use the security tab."

    I have tried to follow the instructions on the help file: "Take ownership of
    a file or folder", but although I have at least managed to get the video
    files visible, Windows Media Player cannot play them. I can't do anything
    with these files, not even delete them or copy them!!

    Can anyone give me some advice please, this unexpected problem is driving me
    nuts!

    Thanks, Jim


  2. #2
    Jimmy Brush Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    Hello,

    This is a common problem with files that you created from another
    installation of Windows.

    This has to do with the security settings that Windows XP applied to
    these files. Since they were created from your user account in XP,
    they do not apply to your user account in Vista, and so you are denied
    access in some circumstances.

    To fix this, you can follow these steps:

    - Click Start
    - Type: cmd
    - Right-click cmd when it appears
    - Click Run As Administrator
    - Change location to the folder you need access to (e.g. cd e:\folder)
    - Type: takeown /F . /R /A /D Y > NUL
    - Type: icacls . /grant USER:(OI)(CI)(F) /L /T /Q
    (Where USER is your username - you will only have access from your
    XP and Vista machine in this case)
    (Or, replace USER with Users if you want anyone [on any computer
    your hard drive is plugged into] to have full access to these files)

  3. #3
    Jack K Guest
    Thanks very much Jimmy for this information, I will give this a method a
    try, but I'm a bit nervous about doing this! Is there a method that can be
    used without resorting to programming techniques? The folder and files are
    still accessible from the external drive on my old XP computer, even though
    I can't get access to them on my Vista laptop.

    Incidentally, I tried copying one of the folders again from my XP computer
    to a new folder on my external hard drive, and this time it was accessible
    on my laptop Vista machine. So it seems that it's just one particular folder
    that Vista has problems with, it's not a consistent problem, so this is
    rather odd.

  4. #4
    Jack K Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    Thanks Jimmy for your help with this frustrating problem. On this occasion,
    I have taken the "easy" way out, which was to open a new folder on my
    portable hard drive and redo the whole copying job from my XP computer into
    this folder. Fortunately, my Vista laptop has recognised all the files in
    this new folder on the portable hard drive without any problems so far. But
    I can see that, if you understand, and are confident using your direct
    programming method, you would get the permission altered faster than using
    the explorer interface, which I found most difficult to work with. However,
    if you use this programming method, will you have a problem when you connect
    your portable hard drive to an XP computer?

    I am now wondering whether my Vista computer somehow corrupted just one
    folder on my portable hard drive, even though my XP computer could still
    access the portable hard drive without difficulty. It was time consuming to
    recopy all the 100 gig of files into a new folder, but at least it has
    worked.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    3
    The Vista computer did not corrupt the folder. The problem is that XP set
    the permissions on the folder to only Administrators. That works well on XP
    because virtually every user is member of Administrators and so can access
    it. On Vista, even if you are a member of Administrators you cannot actually
    access resources as them without jumping through certain hoops. Jimmy's
    work-around basically just jumps through the hoops for you. This is how Vista
    is designed. if you are interested in why, Mark Russinovich's UAC article is
    a good, although very technical, read:
    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tec...C/default.aspx.
    You may find the book below useful too.my alley.

    I'm having similar issues similar to this. I created my own topic since all scenarios that I've looked up are different and don't seem to work. This one might work, but I think I'm doing something wrong. I'm using Windows XP Pro SP2.

    I formatted my C: and 3 of 7 folders on my F: are now giving me issues, says Access is Denied. I used to fix it in the Security tab but there isn't one showing. I'm the only user and I'm logged in as the admin. The folder says that there's 0 files and 0 bytes, I only have 70gb free on a 465gb HDD but the folders only add up to 174gb. So there's a couple hundred gigs that are on the drive but are not counting.

    I tried the solution given here by going to the cmd prompt, switching to the F: (by typing F: and hitting enter. When I try the commands listed it says that 'takeown' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file. The folder in question is at this path: F:\desktop. I cannot access that folder through the command prompt either. I can access other folders on the drive, just not the 3 in question.

    There is another thread at Access is Denied - No security tab that I created originally. Any help is appreciated.

  6. #6
    Steve C-R Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    Hi, I had the exact same problem after importing my files and settings from
    an old XP install, now, I find after resetting permissions, I can no longer
    download emails, I am assuming this is an off-shoot of this, as it happened
    right at the same time as sorting permissions.

    Thanks.

    0x80070005 report from windows mail

  7. #7
    Jesper Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    It has to do with the permissions on that folder. XP set them to allow only
    Administrators full access. That works on XP, but not on Vista.

    Without going into a very long explanation, this has to do with how
    permission inheritance works. Any new file you add to the folder gets the
    permissions the folder specifies to put on it, which is usually, but not
    always, the same as the permissions on the folder. The longer description is
    in the book.

  8. #8
    Guest
    I am having a similar problem to the OP but with one difference.

    I am trying to run an exe file from a CD. I tried running it from the run
    window but receive the message "you don't have permission to open this file.
    Contact the file owner or administrator to obtain permission".

    I have full admin rights and the CD is a standard commercial program (i.e. I
    purchased it).

    I tried using explorer and am unable to even right click on the file (i.e. I
    right click on it but the menu does not appear). I am able to right click on
    other files (non-apps) but not on the exe file.

    I tried the commands in your post but:

    1. There was no choice to "run as administrator" when right-clicking on the
    box. However, the title on the cmd box did indicate "Administrator c:\...

    2. I could not get the drive to change to d:\setup (the directory the file
    is in) but assume this is because the CD is read only.

    Any suggestions as why Vista won't let me run the file?

  9. #9
    Seth Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    That's because none of the commands you typed tell the machine to go to
    drive E:, just to change the current directory on drive E:.

    Try simply...
    E: [Enter]
    ....to change your current drive to E: Then you can "cd" around the E: drive
    all you want.

  10. #10
    remon Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    Just wanted to drop by to say that the instructions and commands worked
    beautifully.

    I restored the primary [C:] hard drive from an old computer running
    Windows XP to a new one as a secondary/additional hard drive on Windows
    Vista, and got a "You have been denied permission to access this folder"
    message.

    Code
    --------------------

    - Click *Start*
    - Type: cmd
    - Right-click cmd when it appears and select *Run As
    Administrator*.
    - Change location to the folder you need access to (e.g. cd
    e:\folder).
    - Type: takeown /F . /R /A /D Y > NUL
    - Press the Enter key and wait for the command to complete.
    - Type: icacls . /grant Users:(OI)(CI)(F) /L /T /Q
    - Press the Enter key.
    --------------------
    Should come in handy for future visitors. :)

  11. #11
    gjgerber Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    I just tried Jimmy Brush's suggestion and it worked fine, except for the
    little error created by the insertion of the sad face in the command
    string.

    I tried every combination of letters and characters I could think of
    until I googled the search string and saw that it should read:

    Type: icacls . /grant USER:(OI)(CI)(F) /L /T /Q

    So, since my user name was owner-pc, the correct string to type in the
    command line would be:

    icacls . /grant owner-pc:(OI)(CI)(F) /L /T /Q

    Once I typed in that string, it immediately granted me access to all
    the files in the folder.

    Another trick is to find your real user name. I always assumed it was
    my screen name, but it wasn't. To find your user name in Vista, click on
    Start, Control Panel, User Accounts and Family Safety. Then click on
    User Accounts again.

    You will see your screen name, user type and picture on the far right.
    On the far left, you'll see a list of options. Click on Configure
    Advanced User Profile Properties and a new window will open showing your
    "official" user name. In my case it was Owner-PC

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    1

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    i have the same problem. occured while trying to set up a network. now i cant access drive c i keep getting access is denied. but i cant run cmd prompt as administrater as it wont let me. i get the message c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe the parameter is incorrect. i dont think anybody knows how to cure this as ive been trying for days. i just seem to get stupid questions like is your copy of vista legal.

  13. #13
    fogjuice Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    Just wanted to say this worked perfectly for me. I had a bunch of old
    folders on an old hard drive that I needed to regain permissions to. I
    plugged it into my Windows 7 x64 machine, ran this command, and it
    worked! :)

    Now the scary part is, if this can regain permissions to folders that
    users aren't supposed to have perms on, how can one truly prevent users
    from gaining access to a windows folder?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    1

    Re: Denied permission to access folders

    Didn't Work For Me...

    I've attatched an image of what I typed; i cant see anything wrong, i've re-checked a few times.
    I amy have done the 'change location of the folder' part as i was unsure. i tried as many ways as i could think of.

    Thanks for any help; all my backed up important files are locked away in there lol.

    im on Windows 7 Home Professional

    Thanks
    Jethro
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails untitled-png  

  15. #15
    acesilver Guest

    Re: Denied permission to access folders


    easy fix for when I needed to delete a folder that I could not because
    of permission problems.

    This is for people who still need help with this, I'm kinda late on
    helping the original person but here it is....

    Run cmd prompt as administrator, then type in....
    net user administrator /active:yes

    that opens up a new admin account and gives you access to everything. I
    was able to delete the folder then =) i hope this helps!:D


    --
    acesilver

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