Robocopy - Access denied Error 5 Real Directory

Hello folks,

I know similar questions have been asked but I "might" have a unique one. What I have been trying to do is to copy the "C:\Users", "C:\Program Files", & "C:\Program Files (x86)" to another clean hard drive "D:\".

I'm doing this to make more room for the OS in the C: drive while date will be in the D: drive. Now I have successfully robocopy Program Files & Program Files (x86). I also have copied most of the Users directory but for this stubborn Real\update directory. This is I think the real player program. I get this Access Denied and "Error 5" error. I am in elevated command prompt. I achieved this via the Repair your computer prompt on the Windows install DVD.

I also have rmdir for Program Files & Program Files and have made a mklink for both of them so windows knows where they will be. But I have not did a full boot because I don't think windows will access my Users directory because they have been moved over to the new drive. What I can only do will have to be via the command prompt.

I can't make a mklink for Users because I get an error saying something about duplicate areas? What I was trying to do is go to this Real\update directory but even trying to access that directory via cd commands will not work, giving me a access denied. Again I am in elevated command prompt "Administrator:X:\windows\system32\cmd.exe How can I get to that directory. I just want to delete it now since I have all the files I need. I just want to create a junction point for Users directory linked to the D: drive.

I used the following command: mklink "D:\Users" C:\Users" /J
Grant it the D and C are turned around but in Windows Recovery Console it mixes up the drive letters but I know what is the source drive and destination drive. I verified this via the Volume Drive Titles.

Any help would be most grateful. I don't have any screen shots due to I am at work and I probably don't know how to do it and it would not work due to I have not fully booted up for fear that windows might have errors.
Thanks

You probably just can't move your program files due to the possibility of config files and registry entries that are looking for your programs on the c drive since that's where they where installed. They should be reinstalled if you want to move them. Also if you move the profiles folder (under c:\user) it will break your profiles and you will need to change the location in the registry. I suggest that you put everything back and just move your personal files, music, pics, & videos on another drive. That should free up a lot of space.

townsbg said:

You probably just can't move your program files due to the possibility of config files and registry entries that are looking for your programs on the c drive since that's where they where installed. They should be reinstalled if you want to move them. Also if you move the profiles folder (under c:\user) it will break your profiles and you will need to change the location in the registry. I suggest that you put everything back and just move your personal files, music, pics, & videos on another drive. That should free up a lot of space.

I understand what your saying but if you use Junction points you can "trick" windows into seeing where those files are located. I got this info from the following website.
How To Move Your Apps and User Files to a Secondary Drive - Tested

Ok I didn't know about that. Check the permissions on the source folder and make sure that you have full permissions.

townsbg said:

Ok I didn't know about that. Check the permissions on the source folder and make sure that you have full permissions.

Hmm, ok how would I go about that? I thought being in elevated command prompt was all that was needed. I thought administrator mode was all that was needed to access the full scope of the computer.

Permissions - Allow or Deny Users and Groups

I haven't tried robocopy so I really don't have any idea but I do know that even with admin privileges both vista and 7 have denied me access to files/folders or to even move files/folders that I have created. You might try scanning the hard drive because there could be a problem with the files or you could uninstall real player (if you are sure that's what that folder is for) and delete the folder. Afterwards reinstall real player.

After searching out the access denied problem I found out there is a bug with robocopy and the NTFS copying. There was a quick fix but since I can't load windows because the users folder was in a different drive. I thought if I installed right over it might fix it. No dice. So I formatted the drive and starting fresh. I have the data backed up. Figure it was time for a "Summer" cleaning.

Thanks anyways for your help.

No problem.