drtre,

Click Start-All Programs- Accessories,

Right click CMD.EXE and select Run As Administrator,

Type CD\ to drop into the root directory.

Change to the external drive letter and type the following;

ATTRIB -S -H -R *.*/S and hit Enter.

Good Luck,
Badger


"drtre" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> I just got a new HP desktop with 64bit Home Premium. My external, which
> I loaded from my Dell laptop (with Windows XP), now is all read-only.
> (The read only box is filled, rather than checked.) I cannot modify any
> files in he drive, but can access them all.
>
> I have already tried the following proposed fixes with no success:
>
>
> - Right-click on drive; properties; tools tab; check now; unchecked
> both boxes and started and completed the check with no errors
> - Changed drive ownership to administrator
> - Changed drive ownership to my personal account
>
> After each of these I tried to clear the read-only box, but the files
> still can't be modified, and the filled box is back when I re-open the
> properties on folders inside the drive.
>
> Any help would be appreciated!
>
>
> --
> drtre

Hi, drtre.

You didn't bother to quote Badger's message - and the "forum" to which you
posted your messages simply relayed them to the Microsoft public news
server - with NO context - so I've pasted his instructions here, with my
comments inserted:

> Click Start-All Programs- Accessories,
>
> Right click CMD.EXE and select Run As Administrator,

This opens an "elevated Command Prompt", officially known as an
Administrator:Command Prompt. See the Title Bar in the Command Prompt
window. You must furnish Administrator credentials to open this window.
Once here, any command or application you launch will run "elevated" - as
Administrator.

The Command Prompt window, elevated or not, is an emulation of MS-DOS, the
operating system that many of us used for years before the first Windows
arrived back in the 1950's. Even though the GUI (Graphical User Interface)
puts a pretty, friendly face on the operating system, under the hood, many
jobs can only be done by using the more-powerful "DOS" commands. Those of
us who grew up with these commands use them as second nature and don't
remember that they are a new idea to some users.

> Type CD\ to drop into the root directory.

CD is for Change Directory and \ is the symbol for the Root, or top-level
directory for a drive; "directories" are now called "folders" but the
command is still CD, not CF. In the Command Prompt window, type CD /? to
see a "mini-Help" file listing all the parameters and switches that you can
use with that command. This /? trick works with just about any command;
read on...

> Change to the external drive letter and type the following;
>
> ATTRIB -S -H -R *.*/S and hit Enter.

Again, type attrib /? to see a list of switches and parameters with this
command. Attrib is for Attribute. Each file or folder may have one or more
of several attributes: System, Hidden, Read-only, etc. This command can
turn those Attributes on or off. The wildcard *.* applies it to all files
in that directory, and the /s extends the command to all subdirectories
(subfolders). Badger's command will remove all those attributes from all
the files and folders in the directory where it is used.

> Good Luck,
> Badger

If you have more questions, you might want to "cut out the middleman" and
post directly to the Microsoft public news server, which is free and does
not require you to log on. Just click here to start up your default
newsreader and connect to THIS newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...rdware_devices

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(E-Mail Removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100

"drtre" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Thanks a lot! It works just fine now...
>
> Could you possibly explain what exactly those commands did? I am just
> curious as to what needed to be changed and how you came up with this
> particular solution
>
>
> --
> drtre

Oops!

> The Command Prompt window, elevated or not, is an emulation of MS-DOS, the
> operating system that many of us used for years before the first Windows
> arrived back in the 1950's.

That's the 1980's, of course. Windows is not THAT old! :^}

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(E-Mail Removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100



"R. C. White" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:#(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi, drtre.
>
> You didn't bother to quote Badger's message - and the "forum" to which you
> posted your messages simply relayed them to the Microsoft public news
> server - with NO context - so I've pasted his instructions here, with my
> comments inserted:
>
>> Click Start-All Programs- Accessories,
>>
>> Right click CMD.EXE and select Run As Administrator,
>
> This opens an "elevated Command Prompt", officially known as an
> Administrator:Command Prompt. See the Title Bar in the Command Prompt
> window. You must furnish Administrator credentials to open this window.
> Once here, any command or application you launch will run "elevated" - as
> Administrator.
>
> The Command Prompt window, elevated or not, is an emulation of MS-DOS, the
> operating system that many of us used for years before the first Windows
> arrived back in the 1950's. Even though the GUI (Graphical User
> Interface) puts a pretty, friendly face on the operating system, under the
> hood, many jobs can only be done by using the more-powerful "DOS"
> commands. Those of us who grew up with these commands use them as second
> nature and don't remember that they are a new idea to some users.
>
>> Type CD\ to drop into the root directory.
>
> CD is for Change Directory and \ is the symbol for the Root, or top-level
> directory for a drive; "directories" are now called "folders" but the
> command is still CD, not CF. In the Command Prompt window, type CD /? to
> see a "mini-Help" file listing all the parameters and switches that you
> can use with that command. This /? trick works with just about any
> command; read on...
>
>> Change to the external drive letter and type the following;
>>
>> ATTRIB -S -H -R *.*/S and hit Enter.
>
> Again, type attrib /? to see a list of switches and parameters with this
> command. Attrib is for Attribute. Each file or folder may have one or
> more of several attributes: System, Hidden, Read-only, etc. This command
> can turn those Attributes on or off. The wildcard *.* applies it to all
> files in that directory, and the /s extends the command to all
> subdirectories (subfolders). Badger's command will remove all those
> attributes from all the files and folders in the directory where it is
> used.
>
>> Good Luck,
>> Badger
>
> If you have more questions, you might want to "cut out the middleman" and
> post directly to the Microsoft public news server, which is free and does
> not require you to log on. Just click here to start up your default
> newsreader and connect to THIS newsgroup:
> news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...rdware_devices
>
> RC
>
> "drtre" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> Thanks a lot! It works just fine now...
>>
>> Could you possibly explain what exactly those commands did? I am just
>> curious as to what needed to be changed and how you came up with this
>> particular solution
>>
>>
>> --
>> drtre

:-)

"R. C. White" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:#(E-Mail Removed)...
> Oops!
>
>> The Command Prompt window, elevated or not, is an emulation of MS-DOS,
>> the operating system that many of us used for years before the first
>> Windows arrived back in the 1950's.
>
> That's the 1980's, of course. Windows is not THAT old! :^}
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> (E-Mail Removed)
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100
>
>
>
> "R. C. White" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:#(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hi, drtre.
>>
>> You didn't bother to quote Badger's message - and the "forum" to which
>> you posted your messages simply relayed them to the Microsoft public news
>> server - with NO context - so I've pasted his instructions here, with my
>> comments inserted:
>>
>>> Click Start-All Programs- Accessories,
>>>
>>> Right click CMD.EXE and select Run As Administrator,
>>
>> This opens an "elevated Command Prompt", officially known as an
>> Administrator:Command Prompt. See the Title Bar in the Command Prompt
>> window. You must furnish Administrator credentials to open this window.
>> Once here, any command or application you launch will run "elevated" - as
>> Administrator.
>>
>> The Command Prompt window, elevated or not, is an emulation of MS-DOS,
>> the operating system that many of us used for years before the first
>> Windows arrived back in the 1950's. Even though the GUI (Graphical User
>> Interface) puts a pretty, friendly face on the operating system, under
>> the hood, many jobs can only be done by using the more-powerful "DOS"
>> commands. Those of us who grew up with these commands use them as second
>> nature and don't remember that they are a new idea to some users.
>>
>>> Type CD\ to drop into the root directory.
>>
>> CD is for Change Directory and \ is the symbol for the Root, or top-level
>> directory for a drive; "directories" are now called "folders" but the
>> command is still CD, not CF. In the Command Prompt window, type CD /? to
>> see a "mini-Help" file listing all the parameters and switches that you
>> can use with that command. This /? trick works with just about any
>> command; read on...
>>
>>> Change to the external drive letter and type the following;
>>>
>>> ATTRIB -S -H -R *.*/S and hit Enter.
>>
>> Again, type attrib /? to see a list of switches and parameters with this
>> command. Attrib is for Attribute. Each file or folder may have one or
>> more of several attributes: System, Hidden, Read-only, etc. This
>> command can turn those Attributes on or off. The wildcard *.* applies it
>> to all files in that directory, and the /s extends the command to all
>> subdirectories (subfolders). Badger's command will remove all those
>> attributes from all the files and folders in the directory where it is
>> used.
>>
>>> Good Luck,
>>> Badger
>>
>> If you have more questions, you might want to "cut out the middleman" and
>> post directly to the Microsoft public news server, which is free and does
>> not require you to log on. Just click here to start up your default
>> newsreader and connect to THIS newsgroup:
>> news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...rdware_devices
>>
>> RC
>>
>> "drtre" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>
>>> Thanks a lot! It works just fine now...
>>>
>>> Could you possibly explain what exactly those commands did? I am just
>>> curious as to what needed to be changed and how you came up with this
>>> particular solution
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> drtre
>