Cannot access folders and files even with Administrator rights
Hours& days gone trying to solve niggling issues that Microsoft cannot fix (using the built-in diagnosis tools/compatibility options/MS promises to advise when solutions found). But I amstopped from progress by restrictions to folder & file access preventing self-diagnosis. Whyare administrator rights not effective? How do I as Administrator give myself access rights? If not available how do I return to XP and retrieve the cost of Windows 7? Note that the PC compatibility test tool for Win7 upgrade from XP noted no significant problems!
November 18th, 2009 2:15pm

What are you trying to achieve, which folders and files are you referring to? By default User Account Control prevent certain actions even though youactually have anadministrator account.
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November 18th, 2009 3:04pm

This is total ____... so from what I can assume from your post Andreas is that, even though we have Admin Access, we are STILL unable to get to files that are on OUR system? To top it off, it's the 'Default' setting? So is this just another Microsoft fail? Further, what does it matter 'what' Stumbl5r is look at/for, it's THEIR machine, apparently they have admin rights on their account and they should have any access they want. Epic Fail Microsoft, Windows 7 has proven to be just Vista's Lite, 1/2 the processor usage and 1/2 the access. Thanks for nothing MicroStuff.
November 19th, 2009 9:48am

Hi Stumbl5r, Does the computer has another OS?If answer is yes,the problemshould be caused bythe ownership of those files/folders belongs to the user account on the other OS. Please try to take ownership of files/folders to test the issue. 1. Please navigate to the target file/folder. 2. Right-click on the file/folder and choose Properties. 3. Click the "Security" tab and see if your current user is listed in the "Group or user names" list. If not, please click Edit-> Add button, type the name of your current user in the "Enter the object names to select " box, then click "OK" to add this group. 4. Select the user from the list and then check the "Allow" checkbox next to "Full Control".5. Click the Advanced button and click the "Owner" tab. Then, press "Edit" button. 6. Select current user from the list and check the "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects" checkbox. 7. Click "OK" to save changes and wait for Windows 7 to transfer the ownership of all the objects on the partition. 8. Click OK again to save changes and exit the Properties window.9. Test the issue again. Does it work? Hope it helps.
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November 19th, 2009 11:47am

Hey Robinson, Better approach than Andreas, but seriously... why do you folks answer questions with questions? Take Stumbl5r at what he posted. I understand that you don't want to assume, but I really would expect more from an MVP and MSFT Moderator. You would think that you could provide a straight answer to what was asked. Does MS purposefully make things complicated and expect you all to follow suit and complicate things even more. Seriously "Does the computer has another OS?"... aside from the poor grammar (which I am certainly guilty of at times), why would you assume this and start with this fix? ... sigh... Hey Stumbl5r! Control Panel > System and Security > Change User Account Control Settings You'll get a popup... read! Pull the slider all the way to the bottom... do what you need to do (i.e. install/change/remove files) ... put the slider back to the setting YOU want (that is, IF YOU WANT to). Hope that works, it did for me. Hey Robinson and Andreas! Go collect another little badge under your name to show how a power user can complicate a simple question more.
November 20th, 2009 5:27am

To be able to be help out we must narrow down the problem and therefore we need to gather as much information about the problem as pssible, which results in questions back at you. We could of course talk in general terms but that does not help anyone I suppose. In general Windows Vista and Windows 7 have what is called User Account Control activated by default. When UAC ias activate even though you are using an useraccount which is a part of the administrators group it is by default running with standard user priviliges. When you want to for instance install an application you will be asked to approve it, whereafter the installation process alone gets the higher priviliges. The same thing applies to certain files and folders and you might see these "approve" dialogue boxes from time to time when working with files. UAC is there a security boundary and you can turn it off if by searching for "Change User Account Control settings" in the startmenu.
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November 20th, 2009 10:28am

"In general Windows Vista and Windows 7 have what is called User Account Control activated by default. When UAC ias activate even though you are using an useraccount which is a part of the administrators group it is by default running with standard user priviliges. When you want to for instance install an application you will be asked to approve it, whereafter the installation process alone gets the higher priviliges. The same thing applies to certain files and folders and you might see these "approve" dialogue boxes from time to time when working with files. UAC is there a security boundary and you can turn it off if by searching for "Change User Account Control settings" in the startmenu." THAT is a much better response than u'r first post. The other jibberish about needing more info... No, take a stab at actually ANSWERING a question 1st, this allows for self exploration and trial and error learning. IMHO.
November 21st, 2009 12:44am

Like many, I opted to avoid an upgrade to Vista and have left XP on my home desktop. My wife recently purchased a laptop with Windows 7 Home pre-installed (so there's no "other OS" to deal with). Having Windows experience dating before 3.1, I felt secure enough to try and make a few changes (like deleting those obnoxious "Free Trial This..." and "Free Netflix" icons from the "All Users Desktop". After finding out how to '"activate" the Administrator account, it seems that MS doesn't trust that user account to do something that simple. So, if I wish to do such things to my computer, how do I go about doing that?
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December 2nd, 2009 8:17am

Good call Dapperman. However, when I put the slider all the way down in UAC and restarted my system, I still could not access certain files and folders in Windows Explorer even if I have administrator access. I am doing Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit btw. This is irritating me to no end, that I cannot access files and folders in my own computer - including the folder 'Application Data', 'Local Settings', 'PrintHood' and so forth. Does anyone have a workaround, please?
December 3rd, 2009 5:03am

I found the extremely labor intensive workaround. For every folder misbehaving that way (including 'SendTo', 'Startup' and so forth), one needs to right-click on the folder, and go into its properties. In the security tab, the advanced option enables the user to claim ownership of all those folders, whose default owner is SYSTEM. Once the user claims ownership, then the contents can be seen. However, this needs to be done individually on each folder. Gaah!!!
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December 3rd, 2009 5:37am

How to Take Ownership in Windows and access locked files and folders<br/>1. Locate the file or folder on which you want to take ownership in windows explorer 2. Right click on file or folder and select Properties from Context Menu 3. Click on Security tab 4. Click on Advance 5. Now click on Owner tab in Advance Security Settings for User windows 6. Click on Edit Button and select user from given Change Owner to list if user or group is not in given list then click on other users or groups. Enter name of user/group and click ok. 8. Now select User/group and click apply and ok. (Check Replace owner on subcontainers and objects if you have files and folder within selected folder) 9. Click ok when Windows Security Prompt is displayed 10. Now Owner name must have changed. 11. Now click Ok to exist from Properties windows Once you have taken the ownership of file or folder next part comes is Granting Permissions to that file/folder or object. How to Grant Permissions in Windows 7 1. Locate the file or folder on which you want to take ownership in windows explorer 2. Right click on file or folder and select Properties from Context Menu 3. Click on Edit button in Properties windows Click ok to confirm UAC elevation request. 4. Select user/group from permission windows or click add to add other user or group. 5. Now under Permission section check the rights which you want to grant i.e check Full Control under the Allow column to assign full access rights control permissions to Administrators group. 6. Click Ok for changes to take effect and click ok final ok to exit from Properties window. Now you can access files of folder in windows 7 with full permissions and take full control
December 4th, 2009 3:23am

Good job, Michael, in detailing the steps. However, perhaps it ought to be mentioned as well that this needs to be done for EVERY single folder for those folders that Windows 7 considers system folders (some of which are frankly ridiculous). Even if the user checks the box asking it to inherit the permissions from the folder to subfolders, it does not always work out. Sometimes, one has to take ownership of subfolders separately. This is highly irritating to say the least.
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December 5th, 2009 6:58am

This is interesting - could it also be "Does this computer 'think' it has another OS installed"?I have a Vista Home Premium machine and I used the provided Windows backup prog to secure all my files. Then a catastrophic virus attack hit.No matter,I thought, just reinstall Vista, my applications and then my files. Hah! Reinstalling Vista and the apps was tedious but do-able.Re-creating Vista accounts of a flavor that would allow a proper file restore simply proved impossible. I have had endless hassles of not being able to access this, not having permissions to do that,etc. etc.I believe that the lack of aFULL SYSTEM backup and restore application, together with the maddeningly complex ownership and privileges is what makes the Vista Home OS'es not fit for purpose.(In fact, I bought a Mac, and that has problems of its own, of course.)I really hoped that Windows 7 would have fixed this, but this discussion shows that is simply not the case. What a pity.Steve.
December 5th, 2009 10:21am

I have not read all the reply’s the question but enough. Depending of the edition of windows, the simplest but not so available way is to domain the pc and the as administrator take ownership of the folders and all below it,
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January 23rd, 2010 3:40am

Nice thread dredge. ;)One thing, though, that wasn't mentioned here is the 'problem' of some of the posters trying to access folders that don't really exist.Example: suiraqua wrote:... that I cannot access files and folders in my own computer - including the folder 'Application Data', 'Local Settings', 'PrintHood' and so forth. ...Those aren't real folders. Note the 'shortcut' arrow on them (and, the fact that the're hidden/system folders.) They're actually shortcuts, placed there for 'legacy' app compatibility. Nothing is in there. ;)-Chris[If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]
January 25th, 2010 4:29am

This is all good info if the user is not already listed, or not already listed as having control of the problematic folder/file. However, what if the user IS already listed as the owner with administrator priveledges and still can't copy/delete/edit the folder/files? I understand the properties differences associated with the same username on different operating systems, however following all of the above instructions are not solving our problem.We have a domain server (2003 SBS). All of our users have administrator accounts. We've even logged onto the machine as domain\administrator, taken ownership of the folder (and subdirectories in question), and still can't copy/delete/edit the folder/files in question. We can't copy/delete/edit the folder in question from safe mode, regardless of which user (or administrator) logs on. We can't copy/delete/edit the folder in question by attaching the hard drive to another machine and taking control of the files. We can't log onto the local machine as adminstrator and copy/delete/edit after taking ownership of the folder/files.No matter who we log on as (EG: domain\administrator) we take control, and that works (changes owner to domain\administrator), but when we try to copy/delete/edit the folder we get the error "must have permission from administrator\domain", which is who is logged onto the system (domain\administrator) and just took ownership. This is not a shortcut, its a folder with a few files including a .jpg. We've tried doing the entire folder and individual files including the .jpg. None of it can be accessed in any way other than reading. We have the same problem with various folders/files on several machines with Window 7 Ultimate 64bit on each of them, all dual booting with XP Pro. Taking ownership from XP fails to work in exactly the same manner.Its really a pain as we're trying to backup data before doing a format, but can't copy a particular folder. I haven't seen this issue addressed here yet. I'm wondering how many people are having the same problem, rather than just not understanding how to take ownership. This seems to be a serious Windows 7 glitch that all the experts are walking around rather than addressing (not that I'm suggesting they are doing so intentionally). It appears to me that Win 7 is corrupting the ownership information for some folders/files, and as I said, we've seen this on more than 1 machine with Win 7 Ultimate 64bit.
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January 31st, 2010 8:57am

I HAVE THE EXACT SAME ANNOYING PROBLEM WITH A Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS.I found the solution! (3rd party, until Microsoft takes care of some changing ownership problems, because it seems we have to do the same annoying thing for every folder, why doesn't the command apply hierarchically??????????)So here it is, it is a kernel mode driver filter that bypasses NTFS security. It does NOT exploit a security hole, it's a filter driver. It enables you to delete ANYTHING REGARDLESS OF WHO'S IT IS......... (ya can even open the System Volume Information folder and delete it! of course, DON'T DO THAT! :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) )It is hosted on http://www.hobeanu.com/blog/accessgain-tool/ and it is called the Access Gain Tool.PLEASE NOTE THAT IN ORDER TO USE IT CORRECTLY on Vista and Winodws 7, you'll need to press F8 at boot time and then select Advanced Boot Options -> Disable Driver Signature Enforcement.PLEASE MVP's and everybody else don't complain that this driver is not signed, it's not made by Microsoft, so it ain't signed, don't invoke irrational fearing motives in regards to non-signed drivers......This bypasses ALL NTFS SECURITY!!!!!PRAISE GOD THIS FINDING MADE MY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!For everybody else, add this to a text file and modify it's extension to a .reg and you'll get a right-click context Take Ownership button, to SPARE YOU THE ANNOYING CLICKS........... (without the HALLELUJAH of course)Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]@="Take Ownership""NoWorkingDirectory"="" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas\command]@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F""IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]@="Take Ownership""NoWorkingDirectory"="" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas\command]@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t""IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!
March 3rd, 2010 1:53pm

Glad to hear it helped seseberg! I'm one of the authors of Access Gain Tool so in case something doesn't work as expected you can always ask here and we will try to come up with a solution.
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March 3rd, 2010 4:11pm

That fix is greatly appreciated Seseberg. Although its too late for me to try now (couldn't wait any longer and formatted, losing the folder I was having problems with on the last occasion) I'll be sure to save it for the next time. :)
March 4th, 2010 5:04am

Guys, I don't want to brag, but the guy who made the AccessGain Filter is a romanian, and, romanian is the second spoken language in Microsoft Corporation... At least that's what I know... Has it changed lately? I am curious as to what the culprit of this whole utterly annoying issue is.... Don't permissions apply hierarchically to all files and folders once ownership is changed and permissions are modified? what IS happening there that is preventing us from access to our files? Is the Safe Mode Administrator any diferent privilege-wise than the normal Administrator that everyone uses? This is so annoying...................
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March 4th, 2010 2:30pm

Well what do you know, exactly as I suspected.... I logged in under safe mode and I WAS ABLE TO DELETE THE FREAKIN' FILES that refused to delete under a normal administrator account. Conclusion: the safe mode administrator is MORE privileged than the everyday administrator rights account that everybody uses... fix for this? IDK...
March 4th, 2010 2:56pm

Sorry if it caused any confusion, but DKW41 is also me (can never keep track of all my MS accounts and they're no help for merging them all together).I know that safe mode as Administrator made no difference in my situation. Whether its more powerful or not, I don't know. But my problem seemed to be more of a file corruption issue than an ownership/permissions problem. Whatever account I logged into (both in safe mode and not) took ownership correctly, but still when trying to edit or move the files I got an error saying whoever just took control would have to authorise it. Was really hoping this fix would resolve that issue.So safe mode as administrator solved your problem, but Access Gain Tool did not? Curious because I know of a few users on other forums who have the same problem as I do and would really appreciate a fix. :)
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March 5th, 2010 6:58am

This entire thread is ridiculous. After I upgraded to W7 by starting with a new hard disk, I have no admin access even though I am the admin. I am not going to go through every damn file on my computer to change this by hand. I am a reasonably savvy user, but this is just a great example of why the world is moving the mac platform. Non-thinking responses aimed at computer scientists, awful software implementation with no thought to actual end users, crappy QA I should not have to stomach some lame explanation for why I can't access my own damn files. I am pissed beyond belief. This should have taken five seconds, not multiple hours. No one at MS ever accepts any responsibility for the fact that their stuff just never works. MS treats me as if my time is worth nothing. So I am still screwed and can't get at my files. What should work Right click folder Apply admin rights Propogate to all child folders Enter Any other answer is complete BS.
March 8th, 2010 9:44am

Agree completely, 2planker. If technically savvy users like us have to fight the OS like this, g*d help the regular punter. It is absolutely galling that any OS can block me, the owner and sole user, from doing whatever the ____ I like on my own computer. It feels as if a virus has taken over my machine - and its a new laptop I just bought. I should not have spend endless hours ploughing through user forums vainly trying to find somebody who knows how to fix this, nor install workarounds that hack the OS, just in order to install & customize the damn programs that I bought the computer to use in the first place.This is the last Microsoft OS I ever buy, I'm so pissed. After this, its Mac or some variety of Linux for me.
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March 8th, 2010 7:12pm

This has worked for me, although it is a bit cumbersome. Forgive me if this is general knowledge. It appears to be appropriate. Navigate to your directory using cmd or PowerShell (Or better yet, use the 'open command prompt here tweak :) ) You can perform the following from any location but navigating to the directory saves you a lot of typing. Take ownership: takeown /f filename takeown /f directoryname /r Take full rights: cacls filename /G username:F (I think that 'directoryname' will also work in place of 'filename' in the command above.) Close the cmd window and then delete the files. Once the files are gone, go up a level and do the same to the directory. Delete it. Usually what I will do is to use wildcards within a directory to make my life easier. So I usually simply type the following: takeown /f *.* cacls *.* /G username:F Caveats: 1. I have had mixed success with taking ownerships of directories and having it propagate throughout the directory and subdirectories. If that is the case, you might have to do this one directory or subdirectory at a time. 2. Don't forget to close cmd prompt windows that are actively in the directory you want to delete. 3. I suppose you could write a batch command for the above wildcard commands and put it in your path. That way, all you would have to do it open the command prompt to the correct directory and type "sudo.bat" or whatever you wanted to name it. 4. This worked for my problem which arose from system files on a 2nd hard drive that used to be a system disk on an xp machine. Your mileage may vary.
March 9th, 2010 12:18am

I support that wholeheartedly. As you said, it is extremely irritating that the OS can block me, the sole user and owner of the system. Besides, I still haven't been able to put my favorite programs in the startup folder - so that they start up at boot time. That includes Microsoft's own Process Explorer. It appears that the system will not allow me to run that program without showing a user access control prompt every freakin' time! In my Vista system I had promptly disabled the UAC after getting the system. In Win 7, I let it run, thinking that I shall let it do its job - but perhaps it's time to take it out altogether. What can be more frustrating and irritating than a UAC prompt that has no capacity for learning?
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March 9th, 2010 5:54am

I guess I'm a bit more patient with these things than some people. I spend half my day every day researching/fixing computer problems (my choice of work), so this is just one more for me. I agree that its aggravating, but no more for me than any other computer issue.So in MS's defense, people scream that they want security and MS implements some very good tools to remedy that situation (although still a bit buggy). If MS did nothing, people would scream at that. The thing is that security is an ongoing issue which gets more complicated every day, so not like one fix is going to be the end all for the situation. Personally, I'm more happy that they're trying new things, rather than sitting on what they've done in the past.And anyone who thinks switching to Apple or Linux OS is going to solve all their computer issues is just plain out of touch. Get ready for a whole new learning curve and a whole new set of problems. When you get tired of the limitations and problems of those OS's, you'll be back. :-)
March 9th, 2010 7:22am

I am and have been a long time MS user, and have not yet switched completely to the Dark Side. But security surely doesn't need to include idiocy? Your loyalty to MS is admirable, but your reasonings leave a lot to be desired, I'm afraid. The UAC implementation in Win7 is plain idiotic.
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March 10th, 2010 10:34pm

I am and have been a long time MS user, and have not yet switched completely to the Dark Side. But security surely doesn't need to include idiocy? Your loyalty to MS is admirable, but your reasonings leave a lot to be desired, I'm afraid. The UAC implementation in Win7 is plain idiotic. There's a lot more new security features in Win 7 than just UAC. For the recrod, first thing I do on my own system is disable UAC (I never owned Vista and very few customers asked for it), so I agree that UAC is silly as it is to an extent. However I don't recommend disabling UAC to anyone else unless they have other "trustworthy" real time protection methods installed (EG AVG 9, SuperAntiSpyware Pro, Malwarebytes Pro, CounterSpy/Vipre, Avast, etc.).As for my loyalties, I'm a system builder. My loyalty to MS is fully dependant upon what our customers want, and what works for me. Right now that's Win 7 by a land slide, and still the occasional die hard who prefers to stick with XP (I dual boot between XP Pro 32bit and Win 7 Ult 64bit). Other than a few files/folders that we couldn't move or edit, and a single customer who got the dreaded "Display driver has stopped responded and recovered" over and over (fixed by switching from Nvidia to ATI video card, and visa versa), we've seen very few problems with Win 7.I've never yet had a customer ask for a system with Linux installed on it, and we don't sell Macs (obviously). I play with Linux myself from time to time so that I'm prepared, just in case. But I find it much too limiting for my own use (games, RAID 0, etc.). I have 2 nephews who went through college with graphic arts majors and heard horror stories weekly about how they were sharing systems because the Apples (PowerMac G4s) kept dying as fast as they were repaired. Their most powerful system is still equal to our bottom of the line system, but our niche is medium-high end to high end systems.My reasonings are simple: there's a good reason MS hold a 90% market share on operating systems, because there's nothing better currently available. But frankly, if their shares drop to 85% it isn't going to break my heart nor (I suspect) theirs. :)
March 13th, 2010 6:31pm

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------One thing, though, that wasn't mentioned here is the 'problem' of some of the posters trying to access folders that don't really exist.Example: suiraqua wrote:... that I cannot access files and folders in my own computer - including the folder 'Application Data', 'Local Settings', 'PrintHood' and so forth. ...Those aren't real folders. Note the 'shortcut' arrow on them (and, the fact that the're hidden/system folders.) They're actually shortcuts, placed there for 'legacy' app compatibility. Nothing is in there. ;)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Actually, these shortcuts do lead to the desired folders. The reason they cannot be accessed has nothing to do with object ownership - it has to do with the permissions set for the single object in question. If you (with admin rights) want to access such shortcuts as 'Application Data', 'Local Settings', 'PrintHood', etc., all you need to do is> open the Properties for the Object you were denied access to> select the Security tab> click on the Advanced button> click on the Change Permissions button> Edit the Everyone entry and remove the check from the Deny box for List Folder / Read Data> (I also usually add a check the Deny box for Delete just so the Everyone entry doesn't go away due to being left with no Permissions selected - makes it easier to reverse if so desired)> ensure the Permissions change will be Apply to: This folder only and click the OK button> click OK 3 more times (until all Properties boxes are closed).You will now have access to your desired Folder(s). If the Profile you are using is not the Object's Owner you will be prompted to make your Administrative access Permanent. To avoid such permanency you have 2 choices: 1) Log on as the Object's Owner in order to edit the Permissions; 2) Enable, use, then disable, the default Administrator account - but that's another "can of worms" to be opened.
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March 14th, 2010 3:16am

Not sure if this helps. My OS drive had an error on boot up that I couldn't get around... however all my ADMIN files and folders (C:/Documents and Settings/Admin/...)were still intact. I reinstalled Windows XP on a different drive, then went back to original OS drive to copy my Favorites, My Documents, etc. and found that I couldn't access them. Permission Denied - probably due to different boot passwords etc. After a few days of tinkering I found that I could SHARE the files, which got me into the subfolders of the ADMIN Folder, but still no access to my Favorites, etc. I decided to do a backup of the ADMIN folder incase I found a solution in the future, but I couldn't directly copy the ADMIN folder to another drive so I decided to try the free backup Utility included with XP (<START><All Programs><Accessories><System Tools>Backup). This allowed me to copy the folder to another directory. On a hunch, I used the same Backup program to restore the copy I just made - this (beautifully) gives an option to "Remove Security Settings" and to restore to a different directory (advanced settings). I restored the backup and can now access the previously "secured" files. Kind of a long way around - but hey, I'm happy I didn't lose all my files.
June 6th, 2010 6:45pm

I also have the same problem. I upgraded from vista ultimate to windows 7 ultimate and even though i am the only account on this computer and i have turned off UAC i still get the "needs administrator privileges" popup with many folders and some apps. I already had full control as "Administrators (Me\Administrator)" but right clicking on the file and selecting "open as administrator" doesn't work. I granted myself as User (me\user) full control, that didn't help. It wasn't until i granted "Authenticated Users" full control that i was able to open the file. What a hassle. There has to be a better way. Don
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June 16th, 2010 6:42pm

Hey Folks! I've been praising Microsoft for many years now. I am a developer by profession and have configured a great many servers and websites. After 'playing' a whole weekend with my new Win2008 Server JUST TO GET ONE F-IN WEBSITE UP, I am in a terrible mode...However when the website finally was up I just wanted to copy a .mdf and .ldf (SQL Server files) from my development computer to the server it just goes 'access denied' I mean COME ON!!! How idiotic can you get? And oh my god: 'You have to take ownership' La-di-da * 1000 What kind of people dreams up these ideas? And worse yet MS supports it! This post took about 5 minutes to put together, time well spent to let out some steam after 20-30 hours of pointless clicking just to get the easy stuff to work... Pffaaaa Really annoyed now... On a side note I am really considering moving to another development platform, I am passionate about developing applications not configuring a system that obviously has been totally screwed by some people who think its a good idea to force you to take ownership of a file that is in your computer where you are administrator. Anyway...I give the folks at MS one more chance...But you are running out of chances at an increasing rate! /Anders
July 5th, 2010 10:17pm

I had a same problem.I am using WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE 32-bit and had to re-install it. After re-installing i had no access to my muzik folder.i was not able to delete anything neither to change anything.Everything was playable but I was not able to make any changes.I then followed this link and had full control on everything.May this help you. http://www.blogsdna.com/2173/add-take-ownership-option-in-right-click-context-menu-of-windows-7.htm thanks Arslan
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August 5th, 2010 2:08pm

Run Explorer with admin rights: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=144776"A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/
August 5th, 2010 3:02pm

Andre.Zeigler, It'll be interesting to see if this helps anyone, as it doesn't work on our machines (Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit on domain server with Win 2003 SBS). "make a right click on Permissions and set your user as owner of the key and give your current user writing permissions. Next, delete or rename the value RunAs. Now the Elevated-Unelevated Explorer Factory is disbaled and you can start the Explorer with admin rights." When I try to save the new permissions I get error: Unable to save permission changes on {CDCBCFCA-3CDC-436f-A4E2-0E02075250C2}. Of course I can't delete RunAs afterwards either because of this. :-(
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August 6th, 2010 7:27am

In fact, once again my permissions have become corrupt. Programs that I've run every day without a problem are now crashing due to permissions or refusing to start at all. I have no malware on my computer according to AVG, Avast, Malwarebytes, and SuperAntiSpyware (CounterSpy is one of the programs refusing to start now). Not one of these fixes has worked to solve the problem, so I'm making a list of the "customizations" I've made to my desktop to reformat. This will be the 3rd format I've had to do because of problems with Win 7 becoming corrupt in some way. I still love the OS, but its no XP for stability. :-(
August 6th, 2010 8:04am

This thread is dangerous and a load of Ballony. Go here and find the answer in seconds! http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7security/thread/c506c825-a22f-4aff-9a75-9b83bd14ff44
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November 23rd, 2010 4:14pm

Michael, THANK YOU! Simply brilliant! I had been so very frustrated trying to access the Application Data folder on my Windows 7 PC. Tried the rest. Then, tried the best! You're da man!
April 23rd, 2011 1:35am

- Open 'user accounts control 2' from control panel. (if not available see elsewhere how to make this visible) - See the users list. Your username has probably more than 1 group(mine had, HomeUser and Administrators). - Click on your username and properties and click on 'groupmembership'. Now there are 3 options: * standard user * administrator user * other levels Mine was on other levels. I changed it to the second(Administrator) Now, when I want to delete a file or folder that has administrator rights, I get a popup, but there is a button that enables me to go on! SuccesFlorisz, WHS, XP NL/EN SP3, Windows Media Center, Win7, Pocket Loox with 2003SE and Samsung SGH-i600 with WM 6.5
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
June 1st, 2011 12:56pm

You "DA MAN"!
June 3rd, 2011 11:32pm

I have had the same problem. I had the files on another computer, and they will not work on my PC. This is truely unbelievable as I have tried all above comments regarding user settings and - nothing!I've specnt hours on this, I'm no programer, but I usually fiddle around and get things going, the above directions were great, but to no avail. I get the same exact message no matter what level of access. I swear it if this keeps happening it's the last version I'm PAYING for. What a killer
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
June 6th, 2011 6:30pm

Thank you. I tried this and worked like a wonder. Appreciate your detailed instructions.
July 22nd, 2011 2:14am

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