Windows 7: Cannot open PDFs from a specific network folder / must copy to desktop

Very strange problem that has our IT staff stumped:

In one particular network drive I cannot open any PDFs.

* PPT - opens fine
* JPG/TIFF/etc - opens fine
* DOC - opens fine
* XLS - opens fine
* ACCDB - opens fine
* PDF - Acrobat Reader opens and then I get a pop-up "Error: Access denied."

To open any PDF I have to drag it from the network folder onto my desktop and open it from there.

I can open PDFs from any OTHER network folder; it's just one specific path and subdirectories thereof where they won't open. Doesn't matter which office computer I use, I get the same error anywhere. I have R/RX/W/M (everything but full control) on the network folder. Same permissions as everyone else in my office.

IT has
* Reinstalled Acrobat reader (no help).
* Disabled offline files (no help because I didn't even know what that feature was for and never used it.)
* Double-checked permissions on the directory.

Any idea what we're missing here? Thanks!

Check the permissions of one of the problematic PDFs - not the permissions of the folder.

If your account is a member of a group (like Office-staff) and that group has R/RX/W/M, then you could still be denied access at the file level based on your actual account. Deny permissions override access permissions.

If you cannot find the "deny" setting, request that IT copy the problematic folder structure to another server - without copying the permissions. Then have them apply the permissions. If things work on the new server, then either leave them there or delete the old share and move the files back.

Hm. No joy - I *think*.

I checked a few sample PDF file permissions and there are no "DENY" boxes checked. Neither are any DENY boxes checked in folder permissions. I was even able to give myself Full Control over the PDFs somehow. (But not the folders.)

I can create a PDF, save it to my desktop. Open it in Reader.
Move it into the problem network folder and get the "Access denied" error.
Then I can move it to any other folder (or back to my desktop) and it opens fine again.

Did that fit with what you told me?

I'm also considering asking for "Full control" over the directory (even temporarily) to see if that makes any sort of difference.

Did you see any group accounts?

No, it's all individuals with the same permissions as me.

None of whom, as far as I know, are having the same problem.

^^^did you try this^^^

Couldn't get them to bite off on that, but they adjusted my permissions, reboot, and had me try something else.
Get this: (simplifying the path)
My O:\ drive is mapped to //flower/a/

My problem is with O:\b\c\d\*.pdf

If I put in the address bar: //flower/a/b/c/d I can open the PDFs just fine.

I tried un-mapping and re-mapping O: to no avail.

So I mapped //flower/a/b/c/d as "F:\" and all is well.

I just have to make sure that I use my F: path when accessing those folders rather than the O:\ path.

Still annoying but not TOO bad of a work-around I guess.

Just to be clear: In your original post, you stated, "Doesn't matter which office computer I use, I get the same error anywhere." I took that to mean that you logged on to another computer using your credentials and the problem is still there. If so, then that puts all of this on the server permission settings barfing.

Yes, that is correct. I have logged into several office computers and I have the same problem with all of them.

I can use the O:\ drive for any files I want, except when I get into O:\a\b\c\d and then I get the weird .PDF issue.

But, like I said, I mapped \\flower\a\b\c\d\ as the F: drive and no problem like that. So I'll just have to get used to accessing those folders as F:. Particularly annoying since MOST of the files in that directory are PDFs...

Thanks for all your help!