Access denied administrator

[John Laird]

I am using XP as the System Administrator. When I try to
perform certain computer management functions such as
Device Manager, I get this error message:

Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or
file. You may not have the appropriate permission to
access the item.

How can I perform these computer management functions
when I get this message?

 

[Craig Wilson]

Ive got a similar problem to this when doing the same thing on a remote PC
via computer management, but only affects one PC
*see "Cannot Manage other XP Pro PC's " Thread in this newsgroup*