Administrator Account Issue

[Mark M Morse]

I'm a first-time Vista user. I installed the full version of Vista Home
Premium onto a wiped hard drive.

I have only the default user account (Administrator).

The OS will not allow me to access certain folders or open certain files.
How do I get access to all folders and files?

Folder examples: Start Menu and Local Settings. (I'm thinking that maybe
these are not folders anymore because their icons look like shortcuts.)

File example: I copied a text file from an external hard drive to this
Vista laptop. When I double-click the file icon, Notepad opens with "Access
is denied" message. If I try to open the same file from the external hard
drive using Windows Explorer, then I get the same result. If I plug the
external hard drive into a Windows XP laptop, then the file opens normally.

Thanks for helping me with my first Vista issue.

~ Mark

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Mark,

I have only the default user account (Administrator).

Actually, the "administrator" account is hidden and you likely have an
admin-level account. In Vista, even an admin account will not have full
access rights throughout the system unless the user intentionally elevates.
This is to prevent malware from obtaining sufficient privileges to install
on a system without the user's knowledge. When initially setting up, you
will probably frequently encounter the UAC prompt as applications are
installed and you customize to your liking. Once the bulk of this is done,
you will find it rare to see it any longer.

The OS will not allow me to access certain folders or open certain files.

System folders will not be accessible under normal operation by design. The
user should be operating within their own user environment, and applications
run in virtual directories under the %userprofile%\appdata directory. Any
user will normally only have access to their own and public data folders.

How do I get access to all folders and files?

You alter permissions, but that is not recommended. Or, when it is needed
temporarily, you self-elevate by right clicking the application you want to
use and select 'run as administrator'. This would include the command prompt
(CMD) and Windows Explorer.

Folder examples: Start Menu and Local Settings. (I'm thinking that maybe
these are not folders anymore because their icons look like shortcuts.)

Correct. Not shortcuts but junction points. Some software will be hardcoded
to seek certain folders whose name has changed. These junction points
redirect the application to the appropriate folder. For instance, the old
"My Documents" is now simply "Documents". If you set folder options to see
hidden and system files, you will see these juntion points as shortcuts.
There is nothing actually in these junction points, they are merely
redirects to aid in backwards compatibility for older applications.

File example: I copied a text file from an external hard drive to this
Vista laptop. When I double-click the file icon, Notepad opens with
"Access is denied" message. If I try to open the same file from the
external hard drive using Windows Explorer, then I get the same result.
If I plug the external hard drive into a Windows XP laptop, then the file
opens normally.

This is probably because the files are "owned" by the XP system user that
created them. To resolve this, take ownership of the files from Vista. Right
click the root folder and choose properties. On the security tab, you can
either edit permissions or use the advanced functions to take ownership
under your new account.

Thanks for helping me with my first Vista issue.

Hope this does.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Guest]

I went to the Security tab on the Properties dialog boxes for both a file and
its folder. Each of the Advanced Security Settings dialog boxes list three
'Permission entries': SYSTEM, Administrators, and my account. The
permission for all entries is 'Full control'.

Why am I still unable to open this text file?

~ Mark



Rick Rogers wrote, in part:

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Because those are account levels described by XP. Take ownership in the
advanced properties.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Mark M Morse]

Huh? Heh-heh. Are we talking about the same thing?

When I click the Advanced button on the Security tab of a file's Properties
dialog box in Vista, I get the Advanced Security Settings dialog box.

I can certainly highlight my administrative-level account on this dialog box
and click the Edit button, but none of the three dialog boxes that result
from that click display anything about giving my account more permissions
(i.e., at the end of the day, all of the Allow check boxes are already
checked).

I regret that I need step-by-step instructions because I cannot see how to
try your suggestion of taking "ownership".

If screen shots would help, then I am willing to look for a place to upload
them for you to see what I see. It's perplexing enough for me to realize
that there are going to be files created by software running under Vista
that I cannot view without first convincing the OS that I'm authorized to
view them, but to go through seven dialog boxes or tabs and still not see
how to get authorization is worse!

I know that I'm unfamiliar with Vista, so I appreciate your patience.

~ Mark

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

On the security tab, click advanced. Then go to the owner tab and click on
edit. Locate your account and replace the owner with it. Enable the box to
allow this to propagate to all subfolders and then apple/ok. When complete,
close all dialogs and then retry accessing them.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Mark M Morse]

Thanks for the fast turnaround, Rick. (Too bad this evening turned out to
be one of those where I actually leave the computer for awhile to stumble
around trying to have what I think should be a life. In hindsight, I wish
that I'd stayed home; I'm having better luck with Vista.)

Okay, so back at the farm, I was focusing on the Permissions tab before
because the other three tabs do not look promising.

Now I'm staring at the Owner tab. It shows the following information.

Current owner: MarkBot

Change owner to: MarkBot

No other account names display anywhere on this tab. There are no check
boxes on this tab, either.

There is a link on this tab titled, 'Learn about object ownership'. I tried
it, despite apprehension that it would take me to a Microsoft help file.
(After 20+ years of experience, I still cannot seem to get on the same level
as the people who development Microsoft help and support). I read in the
information at that link:

"... The owner can always change permissions on an object, even when
denied all access to the object ..."

On the Owners tab, I read:

"You can take or assign ownership of this object if you have the required
permissions ..."

Let's see if I've got this right, so far. The owner can change permissions;
if you're not the owner, then somebody else has to give you the
"permissions" in order for you to take ownership.

All of the dialog boxes that I've seen so far for this particular example
list my account as the owner. My account is currently the only account
under which anybody can use this laptop, as far as I know, because I did not
create any accounts after I installed Vista on the wiped hard drive. I'm an
administrator -- or, as you explained before it, my user account is at the
administrative level. My computer. My program. My data. My
administrative-level user account. Vista will not allow me access because I
do not have the required "permissions". (At least I get to enjoy some
satisfaction; Microsoft's help file validates my perplexing thoughts.)

The next help file gives step-by-step instructions on how to change (grant,
allow, assign, transfer) "ownership" that closely mirror the information
that you just gave me, but my account is already listed as the owner, so
these instructions seem moot. The fact that there is only one account
listed makes these instructions inapplicable to this particular example.

Got any other instructions before I nuke the hard drive again and reinstall
everything in an attempt to rule out corruption?

~ Mark

 

[Leo]

Step by step instruction on how to take ownership of a folder



Run CMD (as administrator) and type: takeown [path] /f <filename or folder>



OR



- Right-click the file/folder you want to own, click properties

- Click Security Tab

- Click Advanced

- Click the Owner Tab

- Click Edit

- Select the Administrators group from the list

- Click OK

- Click OK

- Click OK

You have now taken 'Ownership' of the file and you can close the property

Windows



Now again



1) Right-click on the file

2) Select Properties

3) Go to the Security tab again, click the Advanced button

4) Now Press Edit, then double-click 'Administrators' in the list and tick

the 'allow' box for 'Full control'



You have now taken 'Full control' of file


--
Leo

Dante: "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those
who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."

 

[Guest]

, in part:

Run CMD (as administrator) and type: takeown [path] /f <filename or folder>

The result of this command is, "SUCCESS: The file ... now owned by user
'P100-ST9612\MarkBot'." I regret that you're not aware of this thread's
contents because I stated in this thread that Vista already lists
P100-ST9612\MarkBot as the owner, that I am P100-ST9612\MarkBot, and that
there are no other user accounts.

OR

- Right-click the file/folder you want to own, click properties

- Click Security Tab

- Click Advanced

- Click the Owner Tab

- Click Edit

- Select the Administrators group from the list

- Click OK

- Click OK

- Click OK

You have now taken 'Ownership' of the file and you can close the property

These steps were already posted by another user. Also, I've already posted
the results of these steps. They take me to a tab which states that MarkBot
is the owner, and that I may change the owner to MarkBot.

Now again

1) Right-click on the file

2) Select Properties

3) Go to the Security tab again, click the Advanced button

4) Now Press Edit, then double-click 'Administrators' in the list and tick

the 'allow' box for 'Full control'

You have now taken 'Full control' of file

Now, again. I've already posted that Vista displays that I have "full
control" on these files.

Despite all attempts thus far, which have been documented in this thread
since before you posted, Vista will not let me open this and other files.

"I'm sorry Dave. I can't allow you to do that. Access is denied."
2007 A Vista Oddity

I always appreciate the time that people take to post in my threads. I'll
certainly read additional posts by you in this thread, but I will not respond
to any more posts by you in this thread that repeat what others have
previously posted in this thread.

~ Mark

 

[Guest]

Here's another piece of information. I've since noticed the following
difference between files to which I have access and those I do not. In the
Folder column in Windows Explorer, the path is displayed.

If Vista refuses me access to a file, then the path has this form (the
file's folder in this example has name, 'Saved'):

Saved (C:\Users\MarkBot\AppData\MyApp\MM)

If Vista gives me access to a file, then the path has this form:

C:\Users\MarkBot\AppData\MyApp\MM\Saved

Perhaps this fact is a clue for somebody. Perhaps it's a feature, and I do
not see the distinction for Windows Explorer to display paths in different
formats -- in which case it's not relevent to this thread.

~ Mark

~ Mark