file property 'read-only'

[Norvin Gordon]

I was trying to delete some old files and XP home won't let me because
the files are 'read-only' and when I try to change, it won't let me.
Any suggestion?

TIA

 

[Barry Schwarz]

I was trying to delete some old files and XP home won't let me because
the files are 'read-only' and when I try to change, it won't let me.
Any suggestion?

Log on to an administrator account to perform the deletion.

 

[Tim Meddick]

Further to "Barry Schwarz" 's brief reply; to login as "Administrator"
first log-off your current profile ("Start Menu" > "Log off" ) then type
"Administrator" into the log-in dialog box.

Or, if you are not using the log-in dialog box, but are using the "Welcome
Screen" instead, then, since you are using "XP Home", you cannot,
unfortunately, use the "press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice" "trick" to summon the
log-in box.

You will therefore need to either [re]set the following registry value;

------------------- copy between lines -------------------

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList]
"Administrator"=dword:00000001

------------------- copy between lines -------------------

(You can use the above text to create a [*.reg] registry file so all that
you have to do is double-click on it to import the setting automatically).

....doing this will make the "Administrator" account's icon appear in the
user-list on the Welcome screen, making it available to click on to log-in
to that account. Or, you can disable the Welcome screen altogether and
use, instead, the more versatile log-in dialog box. Do this by opening;

"Control Panel" > "User Accounts" > "Change the way users log on or off"

....and "uncheck" the "Use the Welcome screen" box.


*N.B. When logging into the "Administrator" account, you won't need to
use a password. It will not require one, unless you have purposely set-up
a password for the Admin account.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Norvin Gordon]

I was trying to delete some old files and XP home won't let me because
the files are 'read-only' and when I try to change, it won't let me.
Any suggestion?

TIA

Thanks Barry and Tim, hopefully this will help. I will give it a try as
soon as I can figure out what is wrong with the computer now.

 

[Tim Meddick]

Well, you could always post a description of the symptoms here and we'll
try and figure it out together....

We will also need to know ;

PC make/model
Service pack number (SP2, SP3, etc.,)
Any error messages (exact text and any accompanying error-codes)
What [exactly] you were doing when the error occurred...

You will find the service pack number on the "General" tab of the "System"
Control Panel (press the [WinKey] + [Pause/Break] keys together to bring up
"System Properties" ).

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.


P.S. Regarding the "previous problem" of the file you couldn't delete - you
could also start the PC in "Safe-Mode" which will also cause the
"Administrator" account to automatically appear on the Welcome Screen, so
that you will be able to delete your file from there.

You could also consider changing your current user-profile to give it
Administrator-level rights by going into "Control Panel" > "User Accounts"
, clicking on your profile and then click on "Change my account type" and
change from "Limited" to "Computer Administrator". Click on the "Change
account type" button to make the change.

 

[Twayne]

In

I was trying to delete some old files and XP home won't
let me because the files are 'read-only' and when I try
to change, it won't let me. Any suggestion?

TIA

I don't understand why people are trying to give you instructions on
changinig that. ALL folders are read-only in XP but they are read-only does
NOT mean you; it's something else I forget exactly right now but you could
find easily enough with a search engine. You can still delete them.
Sometimes there is a quirk in the system which won't allow you to delete
the folder until all the files in it are deleted; I've never figured that
one out and haven't seen it happen to me in years.

Any one of these links should help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081
http://winhlp.com/node/39
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13582142
They're fairly short and cover almost all the bases for the problem you're
having.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[Twayne]

In

I was trying to delete some old files and XP home won't
let me because the files are 'read-only' and when I try
to change, it won't let me. Any suggestion?

TIA

I don't understand why people are trying to give you instructions on
changinig that. ALL folders are read-only in XP but they are read-only does
NOT mean you; it's something else I forget exactly right now but you could
find easily enough with a search engine. You can still delete them.
Sometimes there is a quirk in the system which won't allow you to delete
the folder until all the files in it are deleted; I've never figured that
one out and haven't seen it happen to me in years.

Any one of these links should help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081
http://winhlp.com/node/39
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13582142
They're fairly short and cover almost all the bases for the problem you're
having.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[Norvin Gordon]

Well, you could always post a description of the symptoms here and we'll
try and figure it out together....

We will also need to know ;

PC make/model
Service pack number (SP2, SP3, etc.,)
Any error messages (exact text and any accompanying error-codes)
What [exactly] you were doing when the error occurred...

You will find the service pack number on the "General" tab of the
"System" Control Panel (press the [WinKey] + [Pause/Break] keys together
to bring up "System Properties" ).

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.


P.S. Regarding the "previous problem" of the file you couldn't delete -
you could also start the PC in "Safe-Mode" which will also cause the
"Administrator" account to automatically appear on the Welcome Screen,
so that you will be able to delete your file from there.

You could also consider changing your current user-profile to give it
Administrator-level rights by going into "Control Panel" > "User
Accounts" , clicking on your profile and then click on "Change my
account type" and change from "Limited" to "Computer Administrator".
Click on the "Change account type" button to make the change.

Thanks Barry and Tim, hopefully this will help. I will give it a try as
soon as I can figure out what is wrong with the computer now.

Tim, I appreciate the offer of help, so here goes.

PC make/model IBM/ThinkCentre 8195-e9u
Service pack number SP3 with current updates

It started about a week or two ago when I kept getting pop-ups about XP
security problems on my computer. After a day or two of trying to
resolve myself I took my computer into the shop and had a virus removed
(my anti-virus didn’t do the job). Everything seemed OK until I needed
to search for a file. I clicked on start, then search, and then I
clicked on All files and folders.

The computer becomes busy and I get the “Windows Explorer has encounter
a problem” and the data in the error report is:

EventType: InPageError P1:c000009c P2:00000003

I click on either “send/don’t send” and the monitor goes to the desktop
image and then back to the desktop with the exception that I now am
missing two icons in the “notification bar”. If I reboot, everything
will appear to be normal again.

At the search screen, I did try all the other options (pictures, Docs,
etc) with no problem. I would hate to take it into the shop again.

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Tim Meddick]

All I can tell you is that this sometimes happens on my own desktop PC (XP
Pro SP3) - What happens when Windows Explorer "runs over it's own tail" and
encounters an "exception", is it terminates the original instance of
Explorer.

This original instance of Explorer is the one that creates and draws the
desktop in the first place, (you can see this "original instance" Explorer
process, by right-clicking on an empty area of the taskbar and choosing
"Task Manager" - under the "Processes" tab you will notice that
"explorer.exe" is always there - even when you have NO Explorer windows
open - this is the "base" desktop process).

When this original Explorer process has to terminate due to the rare
occurrence of an "exception", you will see the taskbar and desktop icons
disappear for a brief moment, then Explorer should normally restart
automatically - redrawing the desktop (icons and taskbar) including the
system tray (Notification Area).

I can't explain why it is, that, at this point, quite often not all the
system tray icons are re-drawn when Explorer re-initializes the desktop,
and just which icons, and how many are missing, may vary from time to time
after an exception happens with Explorer.

There are certain operations that set Explorer into a conflict with itself
and cause an "exception", and you will find that if you avoid asking
Windows Explorer to do certain things, you also avoid the likelihood of an
exception occurring.

On my own system, an Explorer exception sometimes happens if I view to many
sub-directories on the "Start Menu". On average, I guess I can expect one
or two per month.

You might think it quite unusual that this is considered within the
boundaries of normal, acceptable operation, but XP, or any PC Operating
System for that matter, is far from being perfect and is always going to be
vulnerable to the odd "glitch", usually resulting from the fact that most
machines are going to differ in the hardware they employ.

All I can say is that I see it happen on many systems and it is, for want
of a better word, "normal" Windows behaviour.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.


P.S. If you are getting Explorer exceptions EVERY time you start your PC or
it happens when you try to begin another instance of Windows Explorer -
without you doing ANYTHING, then the problem is something more than what
you would normally expect.

In the case you are receiving "exception" error notices EVERY time in this
way, the most likely causes are a recently installed piece of software or
the addition of recently connected hardware.

Either uninstall the most recently installed software, remove the latest
addition to any hardware you may have recently connected to the system, or,
if neither, try conducting a "System Restore" back to a time when you did
not get the persistent error messages.

Well, you could always post a description of the symptoms here and we'll
try and figure it out together....

We will also need to know ;

PC make/model
Service pack number (SP2, SP3, etc.,)
Any error messages (exact text and any accompanying error-codes)
What [exactly] you were doing when the error occurred...

You will find the service pack number on the "General" tab of the
"System" Control Panel (press the [WinKey] + [Pause/Break] keys together
to bring up "System Properties" ).

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.


P.S. Regarding the "previous problem" of the file you couldn't delete -
you could also start the PC in "Safe-Mode" which will also cause the
"Administrator" account to automatically appear on the Welcome Screen,
so that you will be able to delete your file from there.

You could also consider changing your current user-profile to give it
Administrator-level rights by going into "Control Panel" > "User
Accounts" , clicking on your profile and then click on "Change my
account type" and change from "Limited" to "Computer Administrator".
Click on the "Change account type" button to make the change.

Norvin Gordon wrote:
I was trying to delete some old files and XP home won't let me because
the files are 'read-only' and when I try to change, it won't let me.
Any suggestion?

TIA
Thanks Barry and Tim, hopefully this will help. I will give it a try as
soon as I can figure out what is wrong with the computer now.

Tim, I appreciate the offer of help, so here goes.

PC make/model IBM/ThinkCentre 8195-e9u
Service pack number SP3 with current updates

It started about a week or two ago when I kept getting pop-ups about XP
security problems on my computer. After a day or two of trying to resolve
myself I took my computer into the shop and had a virus removed (my
anti-virus didn’t do the job). Everything seemed OK until I needed to
search for a file. I clicked on start, then search, and then I clicked on
All files and folders.

The computer becomes busy and I get the “Windows Explorer has encounter a
problem” and the data in the error report is:

EventType: InPageError P1:c000009c P2:00000003

I click on either “send/don’t send” and the monitor goes to the desktop
image and then back to the desktop with the exception that I now am
missing two icons in the “notification bar”. If I reboot, everything will
appear to be normal again.

At the search screen, I did try all the other options (pictures, Docs,
etc) with no problem. I would hate to take it into the shop again.

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Tim Meddick]

P.P.S. Other things you can do to make you Operating System run more
smoothly, and reduce the likelihood of receiving Explorer "exception"
errors, is to do some of the following regular maintenance procedures...

1). Run CHKDSK on your system drive (the drive that contains Windows). To
do this, either run CHKDSK manually by opening a Command Prompt (type
"cmd.exe" into the "Run" box on the Start Menu) and type CHKDSK C: /F at
the prompt and press [enter]
You will then be asked the following :

Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

....press [Y] to have CHKDSK scan your hard drive for file-system errors at
the beginning of the next boot.

Alternatively, you can accomplish the same thing by right-clicking on the
system drive's icon (usually the [C:] drive) in Windows Explorer, and
choosing "Properties". Under the "Tools" tab of the drive's properties
page, press on the "Check Now" button in the top "Error-Checking" section.
On the "Check Disk" box that appears, place a checkmark in the
"Automatically fix file system errors" box and press the "Start" button.
Again, you will be confronted by a message telling you it cannot run
because it is "in use" and asks if you want to run it on next boot - press
the [Yes] button.

Running CHKDSK /F on your hard-drive should be done at least once a month.


2). Defragment the files and folders of your system drive (usually [C:]
drive). To do this, start Disk Defragmenter by going to :

"Start" > "Programs" > "Accessories" > "System Tools" > "Disk Defragmenter"

or, you can type: dfrg.msc ...into the "Run" box on the Start Menu.

When the Disk Defragmenter starts, highlight the system [C:] drive by
clicking on it, then press the "Defragment" button (NOT on the "Analyse"
button) to start the defragmenting process.

This sorts out all the "split" parts of files, scattered all over the disk,
into "contiguous" whole files. Running this application alone can speed up
your PC by as much as 10-50%.

Disk Defragmenter should also be run at least once a month for optimal disk
operation.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Norvin Gordon]

P.P.S. Other things you can do to make you Operating System run more
smoothly, and reduce the likelihood of receiving Explorer "exception"
errors, is to do some of the following regular maintenance procedures...

1). Run CHKDSK on your system drive (the drive that contains Windows).
To do this, either run CHKDSK manually by opening a Command Prompt (type
"cmd.exe" into the "Run" box on the Start Menu) and type CHKDSK C: /F at
the prompt and press [enter]
You will then be asked the following :

Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

...press [Y] to have CHKDSK scan your hard drive for file-system errors
at the beginning of the next boot.

Alternatively, you can accomplish the same thing by right-clicking on
the system drive's icon (usually the [C:] drive) in Windows Explorer,
and choosing "Properties". Under the "Tools" tab of the drive's
properties page, press on the "Check Now" button in the top
"Error-Checking" section. On the "Check Disk" box that appears, place a
checkmark in the "Automatically fix file system errors" box and press
the "Start" button. Again, you will be confronted by a message telling
you it cannot run because it is "in use" and asks if you want to run it
on next boot - press the [Yes] button.

Running CHKDSK /F on your hard-drive should be done at least once a month.


2). Defragment the files and folders of your system drive (usually [C:]
drive). To do this, start Disk Defragmenter by going to :

"Start" > "Programs" > "Accessories" > "System Tools" > "Disk Defragmenter"

or, you can type: dfrg.msc ...into the "Run" box on the Start Menu.

When the Disk Defragmenter starts, highlight the system [C:] drive by
clicking on it, then press the "Defragment" button (NOT on the "Analyse"
button) to start the defragmenting process.

This sorts out all the "split" parts of files, scattered all over the
disk, into "contiguous" whole files. Running this application alone can
speed up your PC by as much as 10-50%.

Disk Defragmenter should also be run at least once a month for optimal
disk operation.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

Tim, just as a follow up, I have discovered several other problems and
have decided to reload XP. Thanks for all the suggestions.