Need help gaining administrator rights.

Hi.

I installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 Ultimate x86 a few hours ago. I needed to replace a dll file in the system32 directory, but to my surprise I found out I have no access, which is strange because my account is listed as administrator.

"Destination folder access denied.
You need permission to perform that action"

I google-ed the problem and whatever I try I'm stuck at a dead-end. Here is what I did so far.

- Disabled UAC.

- Went to disk C: (system) properties and tried to change the user permissions from the security tab. But when I click apply I get a similar error message "Error applying security information to C:\Boot Access is denied". The same thing happens when I try to do it for each folder individually. Changing owner doesn't help either.

- I've red that I need to un-tick "read-only" option to a folder and try again. Nope, it won't let me do that either. "You need to provide administrator permission to change these attributes".

- I also tried takeown -A -F C: and then takeown -F C: in cmd. No change.

I usually try to solve problems myself but I've already spent few hours and I'm getting tired and frustrated, this is the reason I'm asking for help. Any suggestions?

EDIT: Forgot to mention I have all the latest Windows updates installed.

It could be malware causing this. You can try a thorough virus scan or attempt to make a new user account with Admin rights (you may need to do this from the built in Windows Administrator account), then see if you are able to use said Admin privileges in the new account.

ProstarComputer said:

It could be malware causing this. You can try a thorough virus scan or attempt to make a new user account with Admin rights (you may need to do this from the built in Windows Administrator account), then see if you are able to use said Admin privileges in the new account.

It's a fresh install, so no malware.

But thanks for the other advice, I`ll try that.

decho said:

Hi.

I installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 Ultimate x86 a few hours ago. I needed to replace a dll file in the system32 directory, but to my surprise I found out I have no access, which is strange because my account is listed as administrator.

"Destination folder access denied.
You need permission to perform that action"

I google-ed the problem and whatever I try I'm stuck at a dead-end. Here is what I did so far.

- Disabled UAC.

- Went to disk C: (system) properties and tried to change the user permissions from the security tab. But when I click apply I get a similar error message "Error applying security information to C:\Boot Access is denied". The same thing happens when I try to do it for each folder individually. Changing owner doesn't help either.

- I've red that I need to un-tick "read-only" option to a folder and try again. Nope, it won't let me do that either. "You need to provide administrator permission to change these attributes".

- I also tried takeown -A -F C: and then takeown -F C: in cmd. No change.

I usually try to solve problems myself but I've already spent few hours and I'm getting tired and frustrated, this is the reason I'm asking for help. Any suggestions?

EDIT: Forgot to mention I have all the latest Windows updates installed.

You might as well start over. You should never try to change the ownership of the entire drive like that. This ruins part of the Windows security model. The easiest way for you to put things right is to wipe the drive and start with a fresh install of W7.