cmd window, can't run any programs, access is denied

[rd]

Hi,

I think I've done something to my computer, but I'm not sure what. I
can no longer execute any command line programs from a cmd window. I
get "Access is denied". That applies to find, more, help, etc.,
everything, including cmd itself, which should open up another window.

I have no trouble starting a cmd window from the Start menu, though.
And if I type "more" in the Start menu I get a window with more.com in
the title.

It's just that nothing works from a cmd window itself.

Desperate for any ideas. Thanks.

rd

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

A) What were you doing prior to this problem?

B) Were you messing with permissions or associations?

C) Have you tried the simplest solution, ie: System Restore?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

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

 

[rd]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

A) I was trying to fix the unbelievably annoying "Open File -
Security Warning" dialog window that suddenly starting popping up
repeatedly any time I tried to open a file I had downloaded from the
Internet. Why this new, debilitating, non-removable function (can you
tell I hate it?) suddenly started, I have no idea. My research showed
that it was implemented in XP SP2, but I'm running Vista and have been
for a year, and don't recall a recent update this past week. Research
on the web led me to the topic of Alternate Data Streams and two
programs, one called "streams" and the other was a small bit of
javascript code that I saved to a file. I ran streams from the cmd
window, and it worked fine. It both showed me the ADS's (no -d
option) and removed them (with -d). I also ran the javascript to see
what it would show me, but I didn't see anything returned. As I
recall it may have been shortly after that that the "Access is denied"
message started showing up, but I'm not 100% of the time sequence.

B) Not that I know of.

C) I have not. That seems like overkill.

Thanks,
RD