cannot copy specific file from usb

robin77 · 17 Dec 2009

hi,
since two days i am trying to copy a exe file from a usb stick to my machine.

i tried everything... completely disabled uac, logged on as "superadmin", gave all permissions that i could think of.... but still..

the strange thing is that explorer does not even display the icon correctly. it shows only the "generic" exe icon.

everytime i try to copy the file windows tells me that i do not have the permission to make changes to the file.

btw:
- the file is not broken, nor is the usb stick. i tried it on another win7 machine and it works just fine.
- tried to copy it on D: drive too... same problem.
- zipped the file. copied the zipped file successfully to the drive but when unzipping it the folder is empty without an error message.
- turned off defender and AV.... just in case it thinks it's a bad file.

well, i never had this problem before. any ideas?

edit: i forgot to mention that this file on the usb is in the same folder with several other files which i can copy without any problems.

Jacee · 17 Dec 2009

What's the extension?
If you can copy the other files in the same folder, can you just copy the folder to your desktop and take "ownership"?

robin77 · 17 Dec 2009

Jacee said:

What's the extension?
If you can copy the other files in the same folder, can you just copy the folder to your desktop and take "ownership"?

it's an .exe
i would like to give you the exact error message, but this is a german 7 so i'll try to translate...
this is what happens when i try to copy the folder:
- it copies the other files fine... (two text files and two other .exe files)
- when it comes to the file in question -> access denied, you need to specify admin privileges -> when i click continue it opens the next dialog box which tells me again I do not have the required permissions and that i need permissions from "everyone" to make changes to the file.

darkassain · 17 Dec 2009

can you give the User group everyone complete access (add the user group everyone and give it full permissions in the permissions window...) and try it then also before you try to move can you unplug and replug and then try to move?

robin77 · 17 Dec 2009

darkassain said:

can you give the User group everyone complete access (add the user group everyone and give it full permissions in the permissions window...) and try it then also before you try to move can you unplug and replug and then try to move?

in the properties for the stick i went to sharing>>advanced sharing > checked - share this folder>permissions> highlighted "everyone"> checked -full control,change, read,>apply>unplugged the stick>replugged>checked if permissions for everyone is still there> tried to copy again> same result.
what really puzzles me is that I don't even see the correct icon of the exe in explorer. it looks like windows completely blocks this file so that i cannot even "read" the icon information.

edit: btw, this is a machine with a preinstalled win7 home premium.

darkassain · 17 Dec 2009

robin77 said:

darkassain said:

can you give the User group everyone complete access (add the user group everyone and give it full permissions in the permissions window...) and try it then also before you try to move can you unplug and replug and then try to move?

in the properties for the stick i went to sharing>>advanced sharing > checked - share this folder>permissions> highlighted "everyone"> checked -full control,change, read,>apply>unplugged the stick>replugged>checked if permissions for everyone is still there> tried to copy again> same result.
what really puzzles me is that I don't even see the correct icon of the exe in explorer. it looks like windows completely blocks this file so that i cannot even "read" the icon information.

you should also check the permissions for the executable itself...

robin77 · 17 Dec 2009

darkassain said:

you should also check the permissions for the executable itself...

looks like this is going to get embarassing ; )
...how do I do that? if I rightclick i only get the general, compatibility and details tab. on none of them i could find anything about permissions.
please enlight me ; )

Uber Philf · 17 Dec 2009

Does the file run fine on the other W7 machine?

robin77 · 17 Dec 2009

Uber Philf said:

Does the file run fine on the other W7 machine?

yeah, no problems on other machines. if i plug the usb in another machine i can copy it and execute it just fine.

Dzomlija · 17 Dec 2009

What is the full filename of the file you are trying to copy?

Also, because you only see a generic icon for the exe, it is likely that your anti-virus software has locked the file and is preventing it from being executed or copied. Run a full scan of the flash drive just to be sure.

Because the file is located on a usb flash drive, which is usually formatted as FAT32 (or some variation thereof such as FATeX), you won't have the ability to adjust security permissions (which are not supported by any version of the FAT file system)

And if you still can't acces it, have you tried going back to the original source of the file and copying it back to the USB? It's also reasonable to believe that the FAT filesystem has become corrupted, and it's your bad luck that this corruption is interfering with this one specific file...