Can't delete duplicate personal files

[Guest]

I'm running Vista Home Premium on a new laptop. I've copied my personal files
across from my old laptop which was running XP Pro.

With some applications I'm having trouble saving or deleting files. I can
open a file, make changes but if I try and save it it says it may be read
only or open by another user. I can save it to a different folder / name but
then cannot delete the original - it says it is already in use. I've tried
shutting the application, restarting etc but still can't delete it.

I'm logged on as the administrator with full rights. I've taken ownership of
the file and the file is not read only. I've attepmted to change the folder
which is read only but the changes do not 'stick' even though messages are
coming up implying that read only is being removed.

The files I'm changing are large and there are lots of them so it's a
problem having duplicate copies.

I would appreciate any help or suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Jimmy Brush]

Hello,

When copying files from another windows installation into Vista, you will
need to change the security settings to give yourself full access to it. The
first step is to take ownership of the file, which allows you to change
security settings for the file, but nothing more. The second step is to add
a permission granting yourself full control, which will then let you modify
the file. (Note: If you are dual booting and you are accessing files in
another windows installation, I DO NOT recommend that you take ownership of
the files first; instead, just add the permission).

Changing the "read only" attribute on a folder does not affect the folder at
all, it is just an easy way to change the read only attribute on the files
inside of that folder.

In this case, the read only attribute is not what is causing your issue, but
the security permissions.

 

[Guest]

Hi JB

Thanks for your response. I'm copying the files to one machine which is the
only one that I will use it on so I guess I can take ownership and have ful
permission.

However, am I doint this correctly?

I right click the file to properties, go to the security tab and edit the
permissions, and giving evryone listed full access (it's only ever me and the
flie will be deleted anyway!). I can never assign special permissions though,
it's always greyed out.

I then click on advanced and select the owr tab, assiging myself as the
owner which it accepts.

But when I try and delete it, it says the file is open in another programme.
It's not, it hasn't been on that session and the properties box is closed. If
I restart, the ownership reverts back to a string of numbers but permissions
remain full.

Perhaps the permissions need to be changed at a different level?

Thanks for your help. . .

 

[Jimmy Brush]

It is odd that the owner would change after you reset it... It should not.
It is also odd that you would be receiving a file is in use message.

There is no other level of permissions - what you see in the security tab is
the exclusive list of who is allowed to access the file and what they are
allowed to do.

'Special permissions' is never checkable. It refers to more granular
permissions than what the basic editor will display.

If you are comfortable in a command prompt, if you could go to the location
of a file that you are having problems with, run the command 'icacls
filename' (where filename is the file you are having trouble with), and post
the output, it may be helpful.

Are you running antivirus or antimalware programs? Those may be
accessing/scanning the file and taking a long time about it. You might try
temporarily disabling security software and seeing if that helps.

You might also try rebooting into safe mode and seeing if you can delete the
file from there, where it should not be in use.

 

[Ching]

JB,

What you wrote is what I found working, after trial-and-error.
However, I found that I cannot select many files and change the
ownership this way. When I do this on a directory, it tried to
propagate to files within, but told me I don't have permission to
do that. Is there a utility or some SUPER-user mode to apply the
ownership setting to a directory and everything in it?

I am in a bad situation now. I replaced an old XP PC with a new Vista PC.
To move the users' files over, I unplugged the old hard drive and put
it in the new PC. To my dismay, I cannot get to the users' files without
going through changing ownership/permission one file at a time.
Luckily it's my kids' computer, but still there are school papers, music files
they want.

I put the hard drive back to my old XP PC, thinking that I will copy the
files to an USB hard drive. To my horror, I found that the old PC would
not boot up; it complained some missing Windows file...

I gave up and put the hard drive back to my new PC again. Upon boot-up,
check disk found errors and repaired them. I don't know if I really lost
data
files; I can only cross my fingers and hope for the best.

So here I am; messed up big. I don't really care about getting my old XP PC
to work. I just need to get to the user files. Please help.

Ching