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!

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!

Dayzed said:

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!

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.

Jacee said:

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.