Entire drive turned into Read-Only

I am using Windows 7 Pro 64bit. Until today, I was able to run Excel 2000 with no problems, and without setting it for Compatibility Mode.

I accidentally changed the permissions for the folder where I store my user documents (c:\a). I changed the permissions back, but now when I try to save anything in Excel, I get the message: "cannot save, the folder is marked as read only."

I tried to remove the read-only attribute by right clicking the folder, Properties and blanking the read-only box, apply changes to this folder, subfolder and files. The system seemed to go through every single file, but then instantly reverted back to read-only, and I was still unable to save files in Excel.

I cleared out the c:\windows\temp directory.

I went to the command prompt and typed "attrib -r c:\a" but received a message: Access denied.

Oddly, I am able to save Excel files to a flash drive, which also seems to marked as Read-only.

Excel does allow me to save when I "Open as administrator", but this seems to put the program into compatibility mode which I'd rather avoid. I'm also having this problem with several other older programs, all of which were running fine before I accidentally changed the permissions.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Thanks, Maguscreed. That seemed to work. Much appreciated!