Under Windows 8.1 64-bit, I have an application installed in c:\program files.   The administrator account does not have access to the folder, and what is worse the administrator account is unable to take control of the folder.   When you go into Advanced Security Settings and try to "Change" ownership, you get:

"You do not have permission to view or edit this object's permissions settings."

I looked at the cacls.exe utility that comes with Windows and from the command line tried to give the local administrator account Full access to the folder.  I get an "Access Denied" message.  This was executed from a command window that was elevated permission, so it's strange.

I tried these commands as well, which also failed with access denied when executed in an elevated privilege command line:

icacls foldername /reset

icacls foldername /inheritance:e

How can I regain control of the f

Hello,

Try the ways mentioimed here and see if they helps:

http://www.kapilarya.com/manually-take-ownership-windows-8

Hope this helps, Good luck :)

Hi westes,

Have you tried to create a new administrator account to have a check ?
The present administrator account profiles may have corrupted.

If create a new administrator account will work ,we can refer to the following link to recover the corrupted account.
Fix a corrupted user profile (Windows 8.1 takes the similar step)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-hk/windows/fix-corrupted-user-profile#1TC=windows-7

We may need to enable the built-in administrator account and then login with it then take ownership of this folder to have a check .To do this :
net user administrator /active:yes
It is recommended to disable the built-in account again.
net user administrator /active:no

As for using icacls command.
Here is a link for reference :
 Icacls
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753525.aspx

Best regards

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

• Edited by MeipoXuMicrosoft contingent staff 31 minutes ago

I found the problem, but maybe there is a feature request here.

I had tried to upgrade an application, and apparently it had tried to delete the folder and had not finished doing so.   I ran the installer a second time and somehow the folder ended up in a limbo state where there was an instruction to delete it, but some process was holding onto it, so it could only be deleted by logging out.  I logged out and back in and the folder was gone.

Can such situations be detected by Windows?  If yes, a more informative error message telling us the folder is pending deletion would be nice.  If not possible today, perhaps Microsoft could add a flag to the file system to indicate such situations so that applications can report the situation?

The error message I received told me I did not have authority to view information.  In fact that was false.  The problem was the object was in some pending deletion state and probably many Windows functions simply refuse to work with such an object.

Hi westes,

I am glad the issue has been resolved and thanks for sharing the troubleshooting experience here .It will be much helpful as a reference for the people who will come across the similar issue in the future .

"Can such situations be detected by Windows?"

Actually the machine has detected the error ,if the application is in use ,the process has been locked and we can not make modification to it .After all ,it is just an machine and it is not intelligent enough to clarify the detailed information.

Much appreciation again !

Best regards

Hi westes,

Have you tried to create a new administrator account to have a check ?
The present administrator account profiles may have corrupted.

If create a new administrator account will work ,we can refer to the following link to recover the corrupted account.
Fix a corrupted user profile (Windows 8.1 takes the similar step)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-hk/windows/fix-corrupted-user-profile#1TC=windows-7

We may need to enable the built-in administrator account and then login with it then take ownership of this folder to have a check .To do this :
net user administrator /active:yes
It is recommended to disable the built-in account again.
net user administrator /active:no

As for using icacls command.
Here is a link for reference :
 Icacls
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753525.aspx

Best regards

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

• Edited by MeipoXuMicrosoft contingent staff Friday, March 06, 2015 7:43 AM

If Windows is telling the application that the file is in use, then the application needs to be improved to give a more meaningful error message to the user.    The error message it gives today that you "do not have permission to view" is incorrect, in the bigger picture.