Access Denied to C: drive

I cannot access my one and only hard drive C: on my Vista Home Ed laptop. I
attempted to change permission on a file and subsequently locked mysel out of
the laptop. I cannot do anything. I cannot change user controls, install or
delete any program, switch users or anything. Access is totally denied to the
harddrive. I am the only user with only one user account, my name as
administrator. I cannot access or add an administrator account. Can anyone
help me or offer any suggestions? Please do not recommend changing
permissions because I cannot write to or delete from the hard drive. Thank
you in advance.

Michael

Have you tried these operations running in safe mºde?

It really shouldnt be possible to lock out everyone including the main admin
account by changing NTFS permissions on a single folder. To be honest it
sounds more like a Windows activation issue. IF you didnt activate the
software within 30 days of installation, it takes away all write permissions
to the system partition. At my firm we experienced some authentication key
issues where activation was performed but later the system thought it hadnt
been. I would check the computer properties and see if it is activated. If
you had been "locked out" of the drive you wouldnt be able to navigate
through it at all.

That must have really started the Wow for you guys. =)

I have tried accessing the drive in safe mode and through a DOS prompt. To no
avail.

I am the only user of my laptop and I amnot sure what I did exactily. I was
trying to find a folder that was not showing, I think it was a hidden or
system folder, and I tried to give myself permission to see the folder when
this happened. Should I take the laptop to a repairman and will he be able to
access the C: drive and allow me back in?

Hi
even i have faced somewhat the same problem.....i cannot access my one and only one C: drive in VISTA even being the Admin..
I cannot install any programs...cannot restore the system as it returns the error code.
Resolution:
The other solution i got from sites is that if you have the original installation CD--the same copy installed on the system, then u can repair the OS by using that CD.

I am sure the above link will solve your problem.