Can not open folders

[Bquinn]

I am using Vista Ultimate on my home stand-alone computer. No network other
than my internet connection and I am the only user.

When I try to open some folders I get a notice "Access Denied" "Not
accessible". An example of these folders are:

Local Disk C:\Documents and Settings
Start Menu
Favorites
Cookies
Application Data

They appear to be Not Shared for some reason. I did set the system to show
Hidden Files and Folders using the Control Panel Folder Options.

How does one set these Access Denied Folders so that I can open and read
them?

Bquinn

 

[Bob]

Add "Take Ownership" to right-click menu in Vista

http://www.petri.co.il/add-take-ownership-context-menu-vista.htm

 

[Malke]

Add "Take Ownership" to right-click menu in Vista

http://www.petri.co.il/add-take-ownership-context-menu-vista.htm

Bob - In this case the Take Ownership right-click context menu addition you
like will not help the OP at all.

BQuinn - The reason you are getting "access denied" errors is that the
folders you are trying to access don't really exist. They are virtual
folders only (called "junctions"), there for backwards compatibility with
older software that expects "Documents and Settings" to exist.

Documents and Settings and the folders found under them in XP and older
NT-based operating systems have been replaced in Vista by:

%systemdrive%\Users\Your-User-Account\[Documents] [Favorites] [Music]
[Pictures] etc.

Malke

 

[Bob]

Funny that I can access folders that don't really exist.

Add "Take Ownership" to right-click menu in Vista

http://www.petri.co.il/add-take-ownership-context-menu-vista.htm

Bob - In this case the Take Ownership right-click context menu addition
you
like will not help the OP at all.

BQuinn - The reason you are getting "access denied" errors is that the
folders you are trying to access don't really exist. They are virtual
folders only (called "junctions"), there for backwards compatibility with
older software that expects "Documents and Settings" to exist.

Documents and Settings and the folders found under them in XP and older
NT-based operating systems have been replaced in Vista by:

%systemdrive%\Users\Your-User-Account\[Documents] [Favorites] [Music]
[Pictures] etc.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

 

[Bquinn]

Bob and Malke thank you. I guess I don't understand why these virtual
folders would appear since this Vista 64 bit software was installed on a
clean hard drive with no older software. If I install some other older
software will these folders then become accessible?

Bquinn

Add "Take Ownership" to right-click menu in Vista

http://www.petri.co.il/add-take-ownership-context-menu-vista.htm

Bob - In this case the Take Ownership right-click context menu addition
you
like will not help the OP at all.

BQuinn - The reason you are getting "access denied" errors is that the
folders you are trying to access don't really exist. They are virtual
folders only (called "junctions"), there for backwards compatibility with
older software that expects "Documents and Settings" to exist.

Documents and Settings and the folders found under them in XP and older
NT-based operating systems have been replaced in Vista by:

%systemdrive%\Users\Your-User-Account\[Documents] [Favorites] [Music]
[Pictures] etc.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

 

[Dave]

Some of them are not real folders, they are junction points. (the first &
last ones, at least)
They are used by older software, designed for earlier operating systems, and
redirect files to the new Vista locations.
Leave them alone.

 

[Malke]

Bob and Malke thank you. I guess I don't understand why these virtual
folders would appear since this Vista 64 bit software was installed on a
clean hard drive with no older software. If I install some other older
software will these folders then become accessible?

The virtual folders such as Documents and Settings are there because that's
the way Vista was written. As I already told you, they exist only for
backwards compatibility with older software which was programmed to use
Documents and Settings. It is the same whether you use Vista 32 or 64-bit.
The folders will *never* "appear". They will *always* be virtual and
inaccessible - because they aren't a *real* location.

What are you ultimately trying to do? If you are trying to set up sharing,
either use the Public folder to share data between users on the same system
or share folders in your *real* User directory.

Malke

 

[Bquinn]

Thanks again Malke. I have just finished reading Que's book "Using MS
Windows Vista" all about junction points. It finally sunk-in ... grin

Bquinn

 

[Malke]

Thanks again Malke. I have just finished reading Que's book "Using MS
Windows Vista" all about junction points. It finally sunk-in ... grin

No prob and you are most welcome.

Malke