Windows 7: How to access denied folder?

I'm having trouble getting my Documents & Settings folder to copy into my external drive for backup purposes. The external drive already has this folder in place and the proper files and folders within D/S as I have been routinely backing it up for the last few years. However, now when I try to Copy Folder To the external drive, I get the error message that access to the J drive (external drive) is denied. As you can see from the pic below, the D/S folder on my hard drive is apparently locked. I don't recall locking it and how do I unlock it so that I can copy to to the external drive?

There is no Documents & Settings folder in Windows 7. Any folder that out rights denies you access is not a real folder.

When my "Music Folder" gets locked and Windows Media Player can't access it I do this:

1) Right click on the locked folder
2) Click on "properties" in the pop up menu.
3) Click on the "Security" tab at the top of the new menu.
4) Click on the "advanced" tab in the new menu that opens.
5) Click on the "Change Permissions"tab in the new menu that opens.
6) Check the box in front of "Include Inheritable Permissions from this objects parent"
7) Click "Apply" and then "OK"
The folder should not have a lock symbol beside it after this and be usable once again.

Already had all permissions given, except "inheritables." Made the change, and the lock on the icon changed from a lock to a blue curved arrow. However, the folder was still denied access into the external drive (J). But, I could copy some of the files folders over to J by copy/paste. Some of the folders under D/S still had the lock icon...