Access Denied, Access Denied- like a broken record!

[Sam]

Yesterday I installed Vista to setup a dual-boot with XP. I can't gain
access in folders like 'Document & Settings', 'All Users' and even folders
under my own account like 'App Data', 'Start Menu', 'local settings' and a
few others without getting Access Denied. I even tried viewing those folders
from within XP and still get ACCESS DENIED! It's like a bad song that never
stops.

I installed it from within XP instead of booting from the disc. I found a
couple of articles in MS KB about this but they all refer to upgrading from
XP to Vista and nothing on a dual-boot setup.

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881/en-us

Error message when you try to access the My Documents, My Music, My
Pictures, and My Videos folders in Windows Vista: "Access is Denied"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930128/en-us

Neither were any help but they did describe the problem I'm having. Anyone
know how to fix this? I wonder if this happened because I started the
installation within XP; although technically one would think that wouldn't
have made a difference.

 

[DosFan]

My documents etc in Vista do not actually exist as real folders anymore.
Vista has a different filesystem than XP now.
it's now C:\users\yourname\documents etc.
look up about it on google.

 

[Jack]

These folders do not work in Vista.
Use c:\Users folder instead.
Jack

 

[Sam]

Thanks for both replies, but I don't have access there either. Within my
user folder, these are the directories I'm denied access to:

Application Data
Cookies
Local Settings
NetHood
PrintHood
SendTo
Start Menu
Templated

Shouldn't I have access to these?

The other strange things is, there are 2 'My Doc' folders under my User
folder. One I have access and the other I don't. The one that I do have
access has 'My Pics, Music & Videos' but when I try to open them, it comes
back with access denied. My User Root {C:\User\Username[Root]} also lists
'My Pics, Music & Videos' and here I do have access. I don't get it. This
layout does not make any sense.

Why does Vista even create a Doc & Settings folder if it doesn't use it any
more?

in message
| These folders do not work in Vista.
| Use c:\Users folder instead.
| Jack

 

[Mark Veldhuis]

on 02/03/2008, Sam supposed :
My User Root {C:\User\Username[Root]} also lists

'My Pics, Music & Videos' and here I do have access. I don't get it. This
layout does not make any sense.

That's where your files really are. The other "directories" are just
junction points:
http://windowsconnected.com/blogs/joshs_blog/archive/2006/09/28/Windows-Vista-Junction-Points.aspx

 

[Bruce Sanderson]

All of these are "directory junctions" that point to the "real" place for
this stuff in Vista. The default security on these "directory junctions"
is:

Everyone, this folder only, List folder/read data; Deny

Apparently, this is done to prevent possible endless recursion by "legacy"
applications that might use this path and to protect against accidental
deletion of content in the target.

If you know the name of a sub-folder or file, you can still access that
through this path. For example, lets say you have a user account (and thus
a profile folder) called abc. Then, you can access, for example:

c:\documents and settings\abc

e.g. using the command

dir "c:\documents and settings\abc"
or

in Start, Run, key
explorer /e,"c:\documents and settings\abc"

but you can't navigate through c:\documents and settings in Windows Explorer
becuase of the Everyone, Deny permission I mentioned earlier.

I'm not aware of the reasons that the user profile folder structure in Vista
and Windows Server 2008, but I expect there are several "good reason".

One only sees these "directory junctions" if you change the "Folder Options"
in Windows Explorer, Tools, Folder Options View (Show "Hide protected
operating system files (Recommended)").

Each one has a corresponding folder path that you can use instead to get at
the contents by navigating through Windows Explorer. It's a new operating
system, with a different folder structure for user profiles, so it's a
question of getting used to it's differences.

Old New
Documents and Settings Users
Application Data AppData\Roaming or AppData\Local or
AppData\LocalLow
Cookies
AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies
NetHood
AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
PrintHood
AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts
SendTo
AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
Start Menu
AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
Templates
AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/205524/ for information about Junction
Points.
--
Bruce Sanderson
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders

It is perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.

Thanks for both replies, but I don't have access there either. Within my
user folder, these are the directories I'm denied access to:

Application Data
Cookies
Local Settings
NetHood
PrintHood
SendTo
Start Menu
Templated

Shouldn't I have access to these?

The other strange things is, there are 2 'My Doc' folders under my User
folder. One I have access and the other I don't. The one that I do have
access has 'My Pics, Music & Videos' but when I try to open them, it comes
back with access denied. My User Root {C:\User\Username[Root]} also lists
'My Pics, Music & Videos' and here I do have access. I don't get it. This
layout does not make any sense.

Why does Vista even create a Doc & Settings folder if it doesn't use it
any
more?

in message
| These folders do not work in Vista.
| Use c:\Users folder instead.
| Jack

 

[Sam]

Thanks for the detailed explanation, it helped a lot. Is there a place
within the registry or the OS that lists a table of these junctions so I can
resturcture the look? Or better yet, is it possible to turn them off all
together so only real directories are present? I rather not turn off the
setting 'show hidden folders'. Appreciate your help.

"Bruce Sanderson" wrote in message
| All of these are "directory junctions" that point to the "real" place for
| this stuff in Vista. The default security on these "directory junctions"
| is:
|
| Everyone, this folder only, List folder/read data; Deny
|
| Apparently, this is done to prevent possible endless recursion by "legacy"
| applications that might use this path and to protect against accidental
| deletion of content in the target.
|
| If you know the name of a sub-folder or file, you can still access that
| through this path. For example, lets say you have a user account (and
thus
| a profile folder) called abc. Then, you can access, for example:
|
| c:\documents and settings\abc
|
| e.g. using the command
|
| dir "c:\documents and settings\abc"
| or
|
| in Start, Run, key
| explorer /e,"c:\documents and settings\abc"
|
| but you can't navigate through c:\documents and settings in Windows
Explorer
| becuase of the Everyone, Deny permission I mentioned earlier.
|
| I'm not aware of the reasons that the user profile folder structure in
Vista
| and Windows Server 2008, but I expect there are several "good reason".
|
| One only sees these "directory junctions" if you change the "Folder
Options"
| in Windows Explorer, Tools, Folder Options View (Show "Hide protected
| operating system files (Recommended)").
|
| Each one has a corresponding folder path that you can use instead to get
at
| the contents by navigating through Windows Explorer. It's a new operating
| system, with a different folder structure for user profiles, so it's a
| question of getting used to it's differences.
|
| Old New
| Documents and Settings Users
| Application Data AppData\Roaming or AppData\Local or
| AppData\LocalLow
| Cookies
| AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies
| NetHood
| AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
| PrintHood
| AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts
| SendTo
| AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
| Start Menu
| AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
| Templates
| AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
|
| See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/205524/ for information about Junction
| Points.
| --
| Bruce Sanderson
| http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders
|
| It is perfectly useless to know the right answer to the wrong question.