For Vista Ultimate Edition 32bit Just last night I started to receive the following error message for everything that I try to open: Explorer.exe (or file/folder name path) "Windows cannot acces the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item." The thing is I am the only user of the computer and I am the administrator. The only thing that works are some programs that are on my Sidebar Task Launcher and of course Internet Explorer. I have tried running a virus scan with Bitdefender Total Security 2008 and have found nothing. I havealso turned off the firewall. I have also used SFC (sfc /scannow). Itstopped at 98% and said: "Verification 98% complete.Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For exampleC:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log" Of course I cannot access that cbs.log. ANy help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sid Can you give us an example, such as the path to some of the folders/files that you are trying to open? In Vista, even though you arelogged on with an Administrator account, by default, you are still using a Standard User token and you must elevate whatever process you are using toinvoke your administrator privileges. If this post helps to resolve your issue, click the Mark as Answer button at the top of this message.By marking a post as Answered, you help others find the answer faster. Ronnie Vernon Microsoft MVP Windows Desktop Experience

Ronnie, Thanks for replying. I am unable to open any FOLDER, or basically anything that requires windows explorer to open it seems. For example, there are some folders on my desktop that I can see. Folders that I myself created and were able to access until last night for some reason. There are pictures on my desktop that I can open. More examples, for instance, are when I click on the buttons in the Start Menu (Vista Orb): Computer:Error Message Insidious (My User Name): Error Message Documents: Error Message Pictures: Error Message Music: Error Message Games: Error Message Recent Items: Works Search: Error Message Network: Error Message Connect To: Works Control Panel: Error Message Default Programs: Error Message Administrative Tools: Error Message Help and Support: Works Run...: Works Where Error Message is the message in my original post,most of the time fromexplorer.exe. Also I cannot open any path using Run command. I can rename the folder but not open it. This is true for ALL folders. If I want to open a folder and see its contents, I have to do so from the mini browser from any program. But of course I can do nothing productive this way. Thanks Again.

Sid You definitely have something going on there that has effected the permissions on the system. The first thing you need to do is think about any new software that you may have installed just prior to the problem being manifested. If there was any, try touninstall the application to see if this resolves the problem. Have you used any utilities, such as registry cleaners lately? These programs have been shown to cause many problems in Vista. If you have used one of these, hopefully the program makes backups before changing any settings. Use the backups to revert the changes. Run a complete virus scan, using whatever antivirus application you have installed. If no joy, use System Restore to go back to a point just prior to when you firstnoticed this behavior. Here is a linkthat showshow to use SR in Vista. How to use System Restore in Windows Vista:: http://bertk.mvps.org/html/restoresysv.html Let us know what you find. If this post helps to resolve your issue, click the Mark as Answer button at the top of this message.By marking a post as Answered, you help others find the answer faster. Ronnie Vernon Microsoft MVP Windows Desktop Experience

Actually, while I was wating for a reply, I trieda System Restore. I had installed Winzip and a trial for Cyberlink PowerCinema. I chose a time before either was installed, but when my system restarted, it looked like nothing had changed, both programs were still installed, and i didnt get the usual "Your system was restored to so-and-so time." When I went back to try another time, all my restore points were gone! So there is no way to do undo what change, if any, the System Restore did. I had not used a registry cleaner for a long while, but none the less I also tried to restore a back up the registry from the last time I used it (Feburary) while I waited for a reply(I use Advance System Optimizer). In addition, I tried booting the using by Vista disc, its diagnostics found no problems. (I didn't try using the command console). I had run a full system scan using Bitdefender Total Security 2008 before posting my question. The problem remains. (Behavior is the same in Safe Mode as well) Any thing else I could try? Thanks again.

Well I'm sorry but I could no longer wait for a reply. I decided to restore from a backup image. Thanks again.

Incidently, after the restore, I found out what the problem was. Something had disabled a CLSID function for explorer. Here is what to do if anyone has this or a similar problem: *Download a program called ShellEx View from here www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html *Look for an entry named CLSID_ExecuteFolder under the Extension Name column and make sure it is enabled. You can also try looking for it manually in the Registry Editor, but it appears in multiple locations so it may be more tedious this way. Hope this helps someone in the future... Now on to see if there is a solution to my relentless Home Networking problem... http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3543448&SiteID=17 ...Nope