possible to entirely remove all permission issues?

[dazco]

One thingthats just killing me with W7 is the rights issues. I supposedly have full admin rights and this is my home PC and the only other account is guest. I have run that reg file that gives you the take control option on the right click menu. But there is just no end to prompts telling me i can't do this or that or shouldn't etc etc. All sorts of things that are just driving me crazy. Is there a way to end it once and for all and give me total rights to every thing that is possible ?

 

[richc46]

Welcome
Not suggested, but you may want to try the real administrator and change the UAC
Again, I woiuld not do it. That inconvenience is for your computers safety.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/507-built-administrator-account-enable-disable.html?filter[2]=User Accounts
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/299-user-account-control-uac-change-notification-settings.html

 

[logicearth]

Are you trying to access directories that you do not need to? Those junction points that are just for combatability. Those?

 

[profdlp]

Are you trying to access directories that you do not need to? Those junction points that are just for combatability. Those?

I did that during the Win 7 Beta period and was sorry. Listen to these guys, dazco - they are saving you a bunch of trouble down the road.

 

[dazco]

I'm not sure what he meant, but i even had to jump thru hoops to get into documents and settings ! Thene there are all sorts of warnings and such. I wouldn't mind once, but i get warnings for the same things over and over. It's just that this OS never stops prompting me with a ton of warnings and denials, none of which are anything i would hesitate to do. I'm not a programmer or anything like that, but i've been playing with operating systems at this level for 12 years and i haven't screwed anything up yet ! I can't give you the examples because i have been feverishly trying to get my new PC configured as my old one which is a months long pursuit with as tweaked as my last one was, so my mind is swirling and i haven't kept track of just what things have been in my way. All i want is to maximize my rights. I'll refrain from tring richc's first link since you all seem to believe it's not a good idea. But anything i can to to maximize my permissions and rights is what i'd be interested in.

 

[Imperfect1]

I think there's a reasonable compromise solution. I disabled UAC, however I did not set myself up as the Administrator. So I'm not bothered by more than an occasional warning message, but I can't do anything too risky that only the Administrator can do. (And if I do need to do something that risky once in a while, I can always temporarily be the Administrator for that one function, and go back to just being the User at all other times.)

 

[logicearth]

I'm not sure what he meant, but i even had to jump thru hoops to get into documents and settings !...

All those folders that give "Access Denied" are junction points. They are set that way for a reason, You do not need to access them. EVER. Those junctions are there just for old broken applications. Use the real (see signature links) locations to access them data within them.

For example C:\Documents and Settings is really a junction that merely points to C:\Users
So trying to access it is completely and utterly pointless.

 

[dazco]

Well, i can tell you that there are more reasons to need to access documents and settings more than any other folder, and i understand what i'm doing in there and need to get in there for a lot of different things. I always have and now on 7 have many times already because it's where a lot of tweaks take place for mostly 3rd party stuff, not OS tweaks. But it denied me. granted, it was no problem removing that denial, but it's the kind of thing i'm burned out on alrady trying to get this PC configured as i had my last one. Like i said, in 12 years of messing with PC's and accessing even system folders, i have yet to ruin anything. It just takes some common sense and understanding when you are at the limit of your understanding as far as wht may or may not be fatal.
Anyways, i just want to turn off as much of that stuff as possible. It's not like i'm playing with my life here either, and all my important files are on a storage drive. worse case scenario i reinstall.

 

[Golden]

Hi,

If you feel completely comfortable navigating about your folder structures, and are willing to live with the risk, then the quickest solution to your dilema is to turn UAC off.

Regards,
Golden

 

[profdlp]

Well, i can tell you that there are more reasons to need to access documents and settings more than any other folder...

No disagreement here. Just make sure you're actually getting at the files you think you are. Win 7, as the others have told you, places what amount to "dummy" links to things to allow older programs to find stuff where they think they ought to be. Mess with those and you are setting yourself up for that re-installation scenario. Once you've done that you'll be right back where you are now.

I'd go with what Imperfect1 said and dial the UAC back to rock bottom. I can't remember when I last got annoyed by something trivial, other than when installing or upgrading a program. Even then, it's nice to know that if something was happening behind my back I'd get a warning. That's easy enough to live with.

 

[James Colbert]

You're not really specific about what you want to get to, but I would think that you could gain access to most of what you're looking for via C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME. Here's a link to a post showing how one can access some of those folders:

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/128691-locked-folders.html#post1112065

James

 

[logicearth]

Well, i can tell you that there are more reasons to need to access documents and settings more than any other folder...

Documents and Settings is not longer what it was in Windows XP. There is nothing there that you cannot get to via C:\Users. The Documents and Settings folder is nothing more then a junction point. Whatever is in Users is in this folder. The only reason it still exists is for old applications.

Every folder that gives "Access Denied" when you try and access it, is just a junction. Each one was given a special permission to deny EVERYONE. The old locations you knew in Windows XP are not the same as they are in Windows 7.

 

[MacGyvr]

I'm not sure what he meant, but i even had to jump thru hoops to get into documents and settings ! Thene there are all sorts of warnings and such. I wouldn't mind once, but i get warnings for the same things over and over. It's just that this OS never stops prompting me with a ton of warnings and denials, none of which are anything i would hesitate to do. I'm not a programmer or anything like that, but i've been playing with operating systems at this level for 12 years and i haven't screwed anything up yet ! I can't give you the examples because i have been feverishly trying to get my new PC configured as my old one which is a months long pursuit with as tweaked as my last one was, so my mind is swirling and i haven't kept track of just what things have been in my way. All i want is to maximize my rights. I'll refrain from tring richc's first link since you all seem to believe it's not a good idea. But anything i can to to maximize my permissions and rights is what i'd be interested in.

You are NOT supposed to go in "Documents and Settings"...it is NOT a folder. It is a junction point that points to "Users." If you have altered the settings on that folder, you have made a grave error that will cause you even more problems.

At this point, you MUST restore your system to a point in time before you made those changes, and LEAVE THE PERMISSIONS ALONE IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. This has been addressed ad nauseum here on the board, and a simple search would have alerted you to that fact.

 

[mborner]

There are many people on this board that are heavy into "tweaking" Windows 7. I can almost guarantee you, every one of them has had to do a reinstall because they messed things up. They understand the risks involved, and therefore, keep a system image on hand at all times. They also have to "put up" with security prompts. It's the price you pay to give the middle finger to MS. Windows 7 is not like XP or any previous OS. Having complete and total power over your entire OS is fine and all but in reality, it leaves massive security holes, not just for the user but for any malware that is on your system. With UAC disabled and complete ownership of your system folders, viruses can have an absolute hay-day on your PC without you ever knowing it. (Until it's too late). I'm all for tweaking, just know what you're doing and when your done, restore your permissions/ownership.

 

[dazco]

Ok, you guys finally did it...made it thru my thick skull. I will leave it as is or even change the docs and settings folder back. How would i do that tho after removing the deny entry in the security properties? or should i even bother with doing that?

 

[James Colbert]

At this point, you MUST restore your system to a point in time before you made those changes, and LEAVE THE PERMISSIONS ALONE IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. This has been addressed ad nauseum here on the board, and a simple search would have alerted you to that fact.

Hi Mac,

As I found out in this thread:

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/129801-permissions.html#post1121249

A System Restore will not restore permission changes. The links in the linked to post show how to use xcacls.exe to restore permissions.

James

 

[James Colbert]

Ok, you guys finally did it...made it thru my thick skull. I will leave it as is or even change the docs and settings folder back. How would i do that tho after removing the deny entry in the security properties? or should i even bother with doing that?

Have a read at the links posted in my last post to this thread. Also, for future reference, this process would be a lot easier for you if you were to keep images of your system partition on hand. I highly recommend Acronis True Image Home:

Complete hard disk recovery solution, backup, drive copy, clone and image computer software

If you had a system partition image available, you could be right back to where you were in 20 mins give or take, including permissions, and any and all changes.

You can also use Windows Backup and Restore, and there are several free programs as well. For partition imaging, you will need more than one partition or an external drive (you can't image your system partition to your system partition).

It's also important to note that if you try the Acronis TI trial and then decide to buy, before installing the 'buy' version, you must completely uninstall the trial (using the Acronis 2011 Uninstall (or cleanup) utility found in their knowledge base).

James

 

[DeaconFrost]

I have to agree with mborner. I can't possibly fathom a reason why so many people insist in mucking with settings that shouldn't be changed, and don't prevent you from doing anything with your computer that is considered normal usage.

People, we finally have an OS that works very well out of the box. The most commonly used tweaking advice found around the web is "leave it alone". It's a great OS...let it do its thing and use your computer. The moment you start tweaking things that shouldn't be touched...is the moment you start having issues. Leave it alone.

 

[dazco]

It's simple....there are uncountable things that many people aren't happy with and there are often tweaks that will give them what they want. In previous versions i could have gone on for an hour describing the 100'sf things i SUCCESSFULLY changed to make myself happy with a computer i knew i'd be spending a good 4 years with. Had i heeded this advice i would have never been happy with it. Now you say this is the first windows version that works very well out of the box, and i agree. But there are customizations that are 100% subjective, and no one can say the OS if perfect out of the box because what you like about it i may not. As for the way it runs, fast, and the stability, you're quite right. It's a great OS. But it misses a lot of features the way i like it and i am working on changing that. So far i've changed a lot of things and it still works great. I understand what they've been saying and have accepted the idea that i shouldn't dig too deep, and i won't. But i will do what i feel i can do to make it work the way i want, and i assure you i will be far far happier that way. I already AM much happier than the way it was a few days ago when i installed it.

 

[richc46]

If you want to tweek this is the way to go. It will keep the computer owner busy and improve the compter.
http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...uggestions-proper-maintenance.html#post764471