Windows 7: Windows 7 Dual Boot Can't Access Inactive Partitions C: Drive

Is this only the case with the installer which restricts the installation to C? These types of installers still exist and are one reason why it's best to do a booted install to C. I would just let it install to the same partition as it's written to do.

OK, at this point I believe I may have lost you or at least we are not talking apples to apples. The problem plain and simple is I no longer have write access to the root folder of the secondary partition. Before the re-install, it worked fine. I re-installed Windows 7 on the PRIMARY partition only, and left the secondary partition alone, yet for some reason now I have no write access to the root folder of the SECONDARY partition from anywhere on my laptop, go figure.

I try to manually create a folder in the root folder from either the primary OR secondary partition - "Access Denied". I try to create a folder in another folder anywhere on my laptop (which I can still do), and then copy it to the root folder on the secondary partition - "Access Denied". I attempt to change Security on that folder from either the primary or secondary partition and the options are grayed out. The secondary partition's root folder seems to be totally write protected, and I don't know why?

Where you may have gotten confused is where I asked about installing to the primary partition's root folder (I have complete access to it) and copying to the secondary partition. This question was probably amiss anyway in that I couldn't copy the folder to the root folder of the secondary partition anyway. I would have to try to run it from the secondary partition when booted to it, and attempt to create needed registry entries - well this is a bad idea no matter how I look at it.

The whole problem is that I need access to the root folder of the secondary partition which seems to have become write-protected after I re-installed Windows 7 on the primary partition.

Thanks again.

- Jim

You still have OS's on both drives as shown in your screenshots, correct?

You also installed using the default Administrative-level account and are running under an Admin-level account? Check in Control Panel>User Accounts.

From the primary OS, in Computer rightclick on the secondary, select Properties. Under Security tab highlight your User account under which you are currently operating, click Edit and check all boxes, Apply, reboot.

Yes, still the same.

Yes, installed using user account which had/has admin rights.

No can do. As I said in previous post, all options to change rights under the Security tab are grayed out (I click the Edit button, see and select my user account [or Administrators or SYSTEM for that matter] on the next screen, all checkboxes in the "Permissions for User" group box are grayed out). Trying to edit using the Advanced button yields same results.

- Jim

So you can confirm that Full control and Modify authority is unchecked in Admin permissions?

Did you make any changes to permissions before or after reinstall?

Then try it running as Built-in Administrator Account - Enable or Disable - Windows 7 Forums

Well, very interesting solution. I enabled the built-in Admin account and went to properties and found the checkboxes were still all grayed out. Not to be discouraged, I went into the advanced settings and found that from the built-in account I was now able to take ownership. Once I had ownership, the checkboxes became enabled and I was able to change permissions.

When I check the problem as being solved, do I need to do anything special to ensure you get credit?

Thank you sir for all of your help.

- Jim

Glad to help, Jim. Your responsiveness and good work are plenty reward.