Stuck in a loophole; Locked myself out of C:\

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  1. Posts : 11
    Windows 7
       #1

    Stuck in a loophole; Locked myself out of C:\


    While configuring user accounts permissions and noticing that there were 4 different kinds of users, one being the administrator user and another being me, i deleted all user accounts bar the two stated, now my main windows partition containing the OS is labeled as 0 bytes and i'm no longer granted access to anything in the partition itself, however i can view the files if i go indirectly to a shortcuts file location.

    I've tried going through properties>security>advanced>owner>exit>clicking my username>check replace owner on sub containers and objects >apply but doing so only provokes more "You are not permitted to perform these actions" pop-ups.

    I really do not know what to do, i'm the only user of this computer thus the only user account, and an administrator account at that, such is why i deleted the extra users i saw listed, although now i wish i didn't try to fix what wasn't broken.

    Is there anybody who can help me? My windows partition is a 30gb part on a 750gig, the rest is another partition which i can access as normal, aswell as programs on a second 500gig HDD that work perfectly fine, but anything on the C:/ drive will not load, for example system restore will not permit me to load it, and CMD is being very picky with what i can and cannot do with it.

    Can anybody please help me?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 17,796
    Windows 10, Home Clean Install
       #2

    What are the 4 user accounts that your refer to. There is administrator, guest and standard. Which is the fourth? Are you referring to an adminsitrator account, in addition to your administrator account?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 11
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Authenticated Users
    SYSTEM
    Administrators(NEVADA-PC\Administrators)
    Users(NEVADA-PC\Users)

    These were the original four, but i cannot remember correctly,

    I deleted the first two and now administrators and users remain.

    This was not under Windows 7's default user account creation window, I deleted them under the list from the properties> security on the c:/ drive
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 17,796
    Windows 10, Home Clean Install
       #4

    Easy to fix Just do this several times if errors are found

    Go to your ADmistrator account. Type CMD in search. Then right click on cmd, to install as ADM. Then in cmd type sfc /scannow. This will find and fix corruption. If that does not work, there is another way. dont worry this is an easy problem.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 11
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #5

    When i set CMD to run as administrator i get the Network Error:

    "Windows cannot access C\Windows\System32\cmd.exe"
    Error code: 0x800704b3

    If i click "Diagnose" I get another error "There was a problem troubleshooting"

    Typing in sfc /scannow prompts cmd to write "You must be running an administrator console session in order to use the sfc utility".
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 274
    Windows 7
       #6

    5674 said:
    Authenticated Users
    SYSTEM
    Administrators(NEVADA-PC\Administrators)
    Users(NEVADA-PC\Users)

    These were the original four, but i cannot remember correctly,

    I deleted the first two and now administrators and users remain.

    This was not under Windows 7's default user account creation window, I deleted them under the list from the properties> security on the c:/ drive
    Ughh, this is why people shouldn't mess with their computers unless they know what they are doing.

    Authenticated users group is for networking purposes. The SYSTEM account is what all SERVICES processes use to access the files.

    Users is also important, because if you use UAC, by default, all executed processes under your account, whether you are an admin or a standard user, is only given User rights unless explicitly elevated by UAC. This was in response to malware abusing the old XP model.

    It is going to take some work to redo all your files, because some files you won't be able to change since they will be locked cause they are in use. I'm surprised you were able to boot into Windows in the first place.

    At the very least those four accounts should exist. What rights they should be granted is another matter. SYSTEM and Authenticated users should have full control. Admins also. Users should have the ability to modify files.......



    You should think about wiping that partition as it is possible the changes are irreversible.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 274
    Windows 7
       #7

    5674 said:
    When i set CMD to run as administrator i get the Network Error:

    "Windows cannot access C\Windows\System32\cmd.exe"
    Error code: 0x800704b3

    If i click "Diagnose" I get another error "There was a problem troubleshooting"

    Typing in sfc /scannow prompts cmd to write "You must be running an administrator console session in order to use the sfc utility".


    To get an admin CMD console, hit the WIN key, type CMD and then hit CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.

    You might be denied because of your changes to the NTFS ACL.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 11
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Considering that i only have one account set as the administrator account I would not have assumed 4 different variants of the same account with varied policies would be necessary, If I'm the only user of this computer then i don't require an extra profile that has exactly the same permissions as the admin account, at least that is what i would naturally expect.

    I really don't want to have to format my OS partition, Would it be possable to create another administrator account and through that grant my current "broken" account full control? Or am i just talking wishful thinking.

    Also, i still get the same error message using your method.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 17,796
    Windows 10, Home Clean Install
       #9

    Do this and save a lot of time.

    Repair Install
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 11
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Is there no other alternative?

    I am grateful for you trying to help regardless.
      My Computer


 
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