Cannot remove "Read Only" from folder

B

Bob S

I have XP Media Center Edition with SP2 and have a folder which is read only
on my C: drive. I want to change the name of the folder, so went to
properties of the folder and removed the dot from "Read Only".
Unfortunately, it did not seem to stick, since when I tried to rename the
folder, it denied access. So, I checked properties again and found that it
was Read Only again. How can I remove the "Read Only" attribute? Thanks in
advance.
Bob
 
T

Terry R.

The date and time was 5/29/2008 9:19 AM, and on a whim, Bob S pounded
out on the keyboard:
I have XP Media Center Edition with SP2 and have a folder which is read only
on my C: drive. I want to change the name of the folder, so went to
properties of the folder and removed the dot from "Read Only".
Unfortunately, it did not seem to stick, since when I tried to rename the
folder, it denied access. So, I checked properties again and found that it
was Read Only again. How can I remove the "Read Only" attribute? Thanks in
advance.
Bob

Hi Bob,

What is the current folder name? It's possible it was created by
Windows or a program and can't be renamed.

The "read only" issue you are seeing is normal. You can't change it.
But that wouldn't prevent you from renaming the folder it was a user
created folder. You may have to take ownership of it.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.
 
B

Bob S

The current folder name is "Box 2". It has 6 sub-folders in it, 2 of which
have subfolders themselves. They all have pictures in them. The folders
originally were on my son's computer. We copied them across the home LAN to
my computer. How do I take ownership of them.
Bob
 
J

John Wunderlich

I have XP Media Center Edition with SP2 and have a folder which is
read only on my C: drive. I want to change the name of the
folder, so went to properties of the folder and removed the dot
from "Read Only". Unfortunately, it did not seem to stick, since
when I tried to rename the folder, it denied access. So, I
checked properties again and found that it was Read Only again.
How can I remove the "Read Only" attribute? Thanks in advance.
Bob

See:

"You Cannot View or Change the Read-Only or System Attribute of Folders"
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549/en-us>

HTH,
John
 
B

Bob I

Open Help and Support, and look up "take ownership". You will find the
instructions at the "take ownership of file or folder" link.
 
B

Bob S

The instructions told me to find (in Win explorer) the folder to get
ownership of and right-click properties, then click the security tab.
Unfortunately, I cannot find a "security" tab there.
 
T

Tim Slattery

Bob S said:
I have XP Media Center Edition with SP2 and have a folder which is read only
on my C: drive. I want to change the name of the folder, so went to
properties of the folder and removed the dot from "Read Only".
Unfortunately, it did not seem to stick, since when I tried to rename the
folder, it denied access. So, I checked properties again and found that it
was Read Only again. How can I remove the "Read Only" attribute? Thanks in
advance.

There is no read-only attribute for a directory. What you're seeing is
a shortcut to allow you to set or clear the attribute for all files in
the directory.

Each time you display this tab of the properties dialog, you're
looking at a 3-state box in its third state: neither set nor unset. On
my computer that shows as a green blob in the box. Click it once, and
the box is empty, that's the NO state. Click it again and a check
appears, that's the YES state. If you click OK or Apply when the box
is in the YES or NO state, the read-only attribute is set or cleared
(depending on whether you're in YES or NO state) for EVERY file in the
directory. But when you bring the box up again, you will again see it
in the third state.

If you bring up the same box for the individual files, you'll see the
result of what you've done.
 
B

Bob S

Thank you Tim. I understand it now. Earlier, I tried to change the name of
the folder and was denied access to change its name. This happened several
times even after changing the state of the "Read Only" state of the files
beneath it to not read-only. I also moved some files around within the file
structure under this folder and moved a few folders out from under this
folder. Then a few minutes ago I tried renaming it again (on a lark) and it
took it this time. Do you have any idea why the system would NOT allow me
to change the name earlier, and/or why it would allow me to do it now?
Bob
 
B

Bob I

This is from the Help two links down from the Take Ownership link

Change a file or folder's permission

To display the Security tab
Open Folder Options in Control Panel.
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click Folder Options
..
 
B

Bob I

You may not change the name of a folder while something has files or
folders open that are contained within it.
 
B

Bob S

Thank you Bob I. That certainly did the trick. I now can see the security
tab and "take ownership" of the folder as you suggested below. Thanks for
your patience and help.
 
B

Bob S

Bob I., thank you for your help. I have run into that many times with files
too. That is, I have tried to delete them or rename them and been told that
some other program or process has control over them or has them open.
However, in many of those cases, and definitely in this case, I have not
been able to see anythng (process or program) that had control over the file
(or in this case folder). I have a practice of closing all programs which I
do not have to have running at the time. I may have found the culprit
through experience. In this case, although I did not have any of the
pictures open at the time in which I was trying to change the name of the
folder, I HAD used "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" (which comes with Win
XP) to view some of the pictures earlier. In fact, this has been the case
in many of the instances with trying to delete or rename individual pictures
in the past as well. Do you have any experience with this or have a
suggestion of what to do to get "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" to release
control of the picture? Thanks again.
Bob S.
 
B

Bob I

Most welcome, have a great day!.

Bob said:
Thank you Bob I. That certainly did the trick. I now can see the security
tab and "take ownership" of the folder as you suggested below. Thanks for
your patience and help.
 
B

Bob I

Patience? <grin> It seems more of an issue if the folders reside in/on
the desktop, and sometimes in the My Pictures folder if the pictures are
being added to the listing for screen savers and backgrounds. Seems the
more "automatic cutesy/pretty up" stuff the computer has enabled the
worse the problem. I generally kill most of that "fluff", and have few
issues.
 
B

Bob S

Thanks again Bob.
Bob
Bob I said:
Patience? <grin> It seems more of an issue if the folders reside in/on the
desktop, and sometimes in the My Pictures folder if the pictures are being
added to the listing for screen savers and backgrounds. Seems the more
"automatic cutesy/pretty up" stuff the computer has enabled the worse the
problem. I generally kill most of that "fluff", and have few issues.
 

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