Windows 7 - I seriously mucked up permissions -can't access C:

This may be simple to fix or I may (probably) be up the creek.

I have done something in my stupidity to my permissions for my C drive. I was having problems getting my homegroup to work (2 Windows 7 computers) so I thought maybe it was a permissions issue so i went mucking around with them, now I can't move, copy or delete anything from my C drive. I can use all of it. The apps work fine and i can even use the network to see the laptop.

I know that my best bet is to format and reinstall Windows so I want to copy all of my latest games saves and homework documents that are not backed up in the last week. But I can't.

I can't even fully describe what I've done that messed it up so bad. I have been taking a course in Windows 7 administration and there are some labs in there having to do with sharing etc. so I did something wrong. I just know enough to screw it up, not enough to fix it.

So I'm wondering if there is some temporary fix I can make just so I can copy the files and folders I want to keep from the C drive to a backup so I can reformat and reinstall? At this point I don't care what I did wrong. I will never muck with permissions again if I can just get my files backed up.

BTW I can't get an elevated command prompt. I can get a regular one but when I right-click and run as administrator it says "...you may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."

And please don't abuse me. I've done enough of that myself. I know I'm stupid for messing with stuff I don't know about. I know I'm a noob who should leave this stuff to the pros. I know I'm probably not giving enough information for anyone to give me a reasonable answer. But if you want to try anyway it will be a great deposit in your Karma bank!

If you scrwed up system permissions a System Restore may solve the problem
System Restore

Take ownership and grant all. The fastest way is to open an elevated command prompt and issue the takeown and icalcs commands. To do this open Start, type "cmd", press shift+ctrl+enter, and issue the following commands exactly as shown save replacing "mike" with your user id:
You MUST then get all the files you need off the drive and REINSTALL WINDOWS FROM SCRATCH. Windows is not designed to run with these permissions and will likely fail randomly and you will be wide open to many virus attacks.

rich, I failed to metion that I did try the system restore but it told me there were no restore points created.
I will google takeown and icalcs since I've never heard of them. Thanks!

It might also work to use the take ownership shortcut which should override any previous restrictions you placed on your C drive.

Take Ownership Shortcut

I tried the code provided by baarod and it gave me an error saying that \f option was not allowed more than 1 time. Am I supposed to type in the commands each separately then hit return?
I googled it but I don't really understand it.

Oh and I tried the download that chev65 posted but it did not download anything. Nothing happened when I hit the download button.

I'm thinking I'll just be blowing all this away and writing off the game saves. I can print out the homework and just type it again. Luckily my photos and music are backed up. Just such a PITA setting things up again.

Can you back up your Game Saves to a CD or USB drive?

Nope, when I try it says C:\ is not accessible. Access is denied.

See if this tutorial will help you take ownership with an elevated command prompt
Take Ownership - Allow or Prevent Users and Groups To

Sorry! Edited the command. Should have been a /d option for the second /f