BleepingComputer.com: Folders Read Only

Hi everyone,

I'm new to Vista like millions of others. So far I like it. However I noticed that when attempting to rename a folder I get access is denied. I tried unticking the read only attribute but it just re-applies after closing the properties dialogue. I was on a network at the office but that doesnt seem to matter as i still cannot change the attribute.

All advice is much appreciated, I do have administrator rights last time i checked.

ThanQ all for your time and expertise.
Darren

More than likely you do not have the permissions to make this change - and that's why it goes back when you try to change it. Vista is much more secure than XP - so the changes are that much more difficult.

I'd suspect that you'll have to take ownership of the files/folder - and then you'll have to give yourself permission to use/work with the files. The procedure is essentially the same as with XP - but it's pretty long, so I'll just link to the XP mini-guide on Access Denied and will let you take it from there. If it's unclear, please post back with questions.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic42756.html

I have some thoughts here.

First of all, are you trying to rename a System file? If so, you may recieve the "Access Denied Error" due to settings in the ACL.

ACL: Access Control List
This is an additional piece of info attatched to a file to delegate control of the file

I have some thoughts here.

First of all, are you trying to rename a System file? If so, you may recieve the "Access Denied Error" due to settings in the ACL.

ACL: Access Control List
This is an additional piece of info attatched to a file to delegate control of the file
ACL's may be accessed in Two ways typically.

1) Simply right clicking on a file or folder, choose properties, and select the Security TAB.
When you do this, you should see a link at the bottom of that Dialogue box to Learn more about File and Access permissions. Make certain you understand what you are doing before you do it as changing Permissions can have Undeseriable effects. ESPECIALLY WITH SYSTEM FILES Use extreme caution.
You may need to give yourself the Write Permission in order to do this. DO NOT TAKE Ownership unless you
understand what the effects will be.

2) You may also access the ACL by clicking the Start button, followed by typing cmd in the Search Bar and hitting enter. This is the command line interface for the ACL. make sure that you Enter the name of the File you want to change. that is, you must Enter the Exact, or Absolute File name

Example: cacls C:\Users\Owner\Documents would show you the permissions for your documents folder

To find out more about CACLS Command, visit "http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/ntcmds.mspx?mfr=true"

This may be slightly different in Your Version of Vista. I'm currently running A pre-release RC1 until my final copy arrives, but I have seen no differences in final release versions.

An Easier Option here would be to boot your computer into Safe Mode, Tapping the "F8" Key while starting the machine and select Safe mode. Here you should Have Full administrative Rights, and if you don't

Simply Enter Control Panel: Click User Accounts, And Activate the Administrator account, which is Off By Default. Then log on as Administrator to Rename the File.

The read only folders are "my documents" folders created by myself...its bizzare to have to go through such rigmarole to change read only attribute...bloody annoying actually...

thanks for all your help everyone,
Darren

What it sounds like here is that, some files in my documents are "read only" due to the fact that they are Inheriting permissions from the Parent "Documents " folder.

What type of files are you referencing? IE, Folders, Office documents, Music? etc

Actually, I believe it has to do with how you access them. At times I can access mine without issue - but at other times I get the same sort of errors.

FWIW - there's several ways to get to the MyDocuments folder - through either shortcuts or exploring - and by going through the C:\Users folder or the C:\Documents and Settings shortcut. It's the differences between these that result in my errors. Still haven't nailed it down to which one it is yet - but I'm working on it!

Thanks for your replies,,,we will figure this out...I knew there would be a long learning curve involved with Vista...but its an enjoyable one in some parts,,,Most of my documents folders contain open office odt files and a few pics here and there.
Darren

Darren,


please open control Panel. Click on classic view, open Admin Tools, the click on Event Viewer.

after that, please check you security log for Failure Audits.

if you find one that details the Access Denied Errors that you are recieving, please post the info here.

That way, we may be able to determine what's wrong.

Your documents (My files: My music etc.) in Vista, are now contained in your User/name Documents directory.
You will find, also, in spite of a suggestion above, that you do not have permissions in the "Documents and Settings" directory either. Whilst those files are inside (They can be unlocked, but it is unwise), the directory is there for backward compatibility reasons only. As software producers catch up with Vista, I suspect the directory will be abandoned, possibly as soon as SP1. To "unlock " it you would find it neccessary to unlock, also, all the individual directories inside.
If you are still keen to have a go, this is the best way to take ownership of folders or files:
To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:

Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message:
You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?

All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.

where folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.

Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

To take ownership of a file, follow these steps:

Right-click the file that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click Administrator, or click the Administrators group, and then click OK.

The administrator or the Administrators group now owns the file.

Quote

First off, you said the same thing I did in a different way. Secondly, I didn't detail the steps to Darren, in the hopes of a continuing dialogue, so as not to confuse him too much right away.

Further more, the Docs and Settings file is a system variable as of yet. Is it not? It is protected for several reasons. The two most common being prevention of use from a virus or hacker, and the other regarding DRM with the users' documents.

I guess by knowing what Security Events Had Failed, we may have been able to only change the appropriate permissions rather than open the folder up to threats and possibly cause music and video to become unuseable. I've had that happen with Commercial Music stores installed, shortly after changing perms on the folder.

I try to take only the necessary steps rather than perform one very drastic measure to help.
your suggestion, is the Networking equivalent of someone unable to access a remote PC so turn off the firewall Completely.

"First off, you said the same thing I did in a different way. Secondly, I didn't detail the steps to Darren, in the hopes of a continuing dialogue, so as not to confuse him too much right away."

I appear to have offended you. For that I should apologise.My intention was to offer Darrel the way to open up a little of Vista's "secrets", so that he could explore further. He appears to be computer savvy enough to know the perils, and, as he states, he is on a Vista "learning curve"
I felt that to show him, as I said, the alternative way to dig deeper into Vista, would help him along that road.

The fact that he can see the "Documents and settings " folder reveals that he has an enquiring mind. As I said, it is redundant, and opening and playing with it could lead to misery in his true, and new folder which has superseded it.
I am sorry for your reaction. My main inention is to help posters requesting such, and not become involved in non-related squabbles on such postings.

It's about any folder, no matter where is located. I also have this problem. I couldn't rename or move any of my folders. I'm trying to solve this problem for 2 days. It came from nowhere, after it has done an update. After that, when I restarted my machine, it was there, the problem. I still have this abnormal behaviour, now. The files are OK, I can rename them, the renaming of folders is the problem. That's what is all about. I read every post from above & none of them are to the point. Anyway, thanks for trying. When I solve this, I will tell you.
Thanks again. See ya.
Well, after being tired of looking to solve this, I start thinking to an alternate solution & I remember the good old days when we use Norton Commander, a welcomed folder manager. I was start looking & I founded Total Commander. Remeber from it? For short I took TC ver.7.01, it's working excellent on Vista and I could rename & move my folders as I wanted with this jewel. It's working until you discover the problem or those idiots from Microsoft will put a patch to solve their own mess. I noticed that this apeared after it made some updates. I know how to uninstall them and I didn't want to. I wanted to solve this s..t. And they want to charge us for every m....r f....r soft they throw us in the eyes, not to see the deficiencies. I would give them the finger.
Good night. I spoke to much already.