Program Files

[RogerJ]

I have a Dell running windows XP sp2 with two user accounts. Everything had
been working fine for a long time. Suddenly I am having a problem with one
account. Both have Admin priviledges:
- One account can NOT access the Program Files. Gets "Access Denied" error
if I try to open it. Cannot install new programs from this user. Cannot
start most pgms via desktop shortcuts however seems to be able to open
modules via "startup" folder.

I checked the ownership and it is "Administrators". Since this happened
suddenly I thought it might be a virus but I have run my anti-virus and
spyware software with no luck.

Roger

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have a Dell running windows XP sp2 with two user accounts. Everything
had
been working fine for a long time. Suddenly I am having a problem with
one
account. Both have Admin priviledges:
- One account can NOT access the Program Files. Gets "Access Denied"
error
if I try to open it. Cannot install new programs from this user. Cannot
start most pgms via desktop shortcuts however seems to be able to open
modules via "startup" folder.

I checked the ownership and it is "Administrators". Since this happened
suddenly I thought it might be a virus but I have run my anti-virus and
spyware software with no luck.

Roger

Use System Restore to return your machine to a couple of days before
this problem started.

 

[R. McCarty]

XP Home or Professional ? - reason being Professional provides for
policies that may have been inadvertently enabled that affect access.
I'd take a look at the System Event log and see if any errors are being
logged for the user account with issue(s).

Have you recently made any changes related to Sharing or making a
profile's data "Private" ?: