Admin is locked out of All Users' "Documents" subfolders

[Ol'' Peculier]

I (Administrator) cannot access the subfolders of C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Documents: \microsoft; \My Music ; \My Pictures ;\My
Projects ;\My Videos. Consequently I am being prevented from installing an
app suite that wishes to write to "My Projects" but cannot. This is a one
user system and has never been prevented from any installation before now.

I am running XP Pro SP3 and I have tried SAFE mode; creating another user
with Admin privs; and even trying to delete the directories (with Windows
Explorer and the command line) to no avail. Same popup message: "C:\.... is
not accessible. Access is denied."

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I (Administrator) cannot access the subfolders of C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Documents: \microsoft; \My Music ; \My Pictures ;\My
Projects ;\My Videos. Consequently I am being prevented from installing an
app suite that wishes to write to "My Projects" but cannot. This is a one
user system and has never been prevented from any installation before now.

I am running XP Pro SP3 and I have tried SAFE mode; creating another user
with Admin privs; and even trying to delete the directories (with Windows
Explorer and the command line) to no avail. Same popup message: "C:\....
is
not accessible. Access is denied."

You need to seize ownership of these folders. Click Start / Help and look
for help on "ownership" if unsure how it's done. You must, of course, log on
as "Administrator" to do this.

 

[Jim]

I (Administrator) cannot access the subfolders of C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Documents: \microsoft; \My Music ; \My Pictures ;\My
Projects ;\My Videos. Consequently I am being prevented from installing an
app suite that wishes to write to "My Projects" but cannot. This is a one
user system and has never been prevented from any installation before now.

I am running XP Pro SP3 and I have tried SAFE mode; creating another user
with Admin privs; and even trying to delete the directories (with Windows
Explorer and the command line) to no avail. Same popup message: "C:\....
is
not accessible. Access is denied."

Something or somebody has changed the permissions for the administrator
account.
I would suspect malware of some kind because this is definitely unexplained
behavior.
What is the malware state of your computer?

However, surely you realize that a member of the administrators group can
change permissions back to what they should be.
Jim

 

[Ol'' Peculier]

Pegasus - THAT WAS IT (but you knew that). Thank you.
How the ownership got away from Admin I can only guess. I've malware,
adware, and virus cleansed with no hits, so... 'tis a puzzlement.

Thanks again!

 

[Ol'' Peculier]

Jim - Pegasus put me on the "reclaim ownership" path and that was the ticket.
How the ownership got away from Admin I can only guess. I've malware, adware,
and virus cleansed with no hits, so... 'tis a puzzlement.

Thank for the help!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Pegasus - THAT WAS IT (but you knew that). Thank you.
How the ownership got away from Admin I can only guess. I've malware,
adware, and virus cleansed with no hits, so... 'tis a puzzlement.

Thanks again!

Thanks for the feedback.