Cannot save files directly to root C:\ drive anymore

attached are 2 pics of my security settings, in win7 64-bit professional on home computer, having all windows updates accept for the win10 ones to avoid.
I have my UAC set to the lowest - never notify.
And my Administrator account is enabled.
My ron account is in Administrators group.
I also have steam installed, last week downloaded fallout new vegas, anyone who likes that needs their head examined. got rid of it and now doing modern warfare 2.
I can create new folder and text file on C:\ with no problem.

I see this kind of problem often on work computers where security folks hack gpedit and the registry.
Have seen things such as an administrator account not able edit a file like C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts in place. Have to copy that file out to the desktop, edit and save on the desktop, then copy modified file back to location and say overwrite. This is so the system is more secure. If yours is doing it you should be happy


you can try removing all folder/files under C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\
or move the contents out of that location so it's empty,
then reboot, that will clear any group policy settings that may be causing your problem.
Copy back those files/folders under the GroupPolicy folder then reboot to restore what you may have had.

these updates i have not done:
the 2 optional are KB3118401 and KB3121255.
would not surprise me if win7 updates make win7 worse to encourage people to migrate to win10.

Lord Lucan said:

logicearth said:

Stop saving files to the root of the C: drive, there I said.

We are not tyros here; so we are not talking about saving a letter we wrote to Aunt Matilda. I like to write a short note on the root of every partition (I have about 16 of them, with various OS's on them) saying what partition it is - you know, like "SATA 3 80Gb drive, 3rd Primary". This is because Windows in particular tries to confuse us by inconsistent drive lettering depending which version I boot.

There are a few ways to make this task easier. You can create a shortcut to notepad (or your favorite editor). Modify that shortcut to run as admin. When you want to add/edit files in the root (or other protected areas), open the editor with that shortcut.

I keep several text files in the root of lots of computers. Things like batch files that set static IPs to the computer or restart the computer or disconnect an RDP session while leaving the remote computer unlocked. I have to edit those from time to time. It is easy to edit them from a different computer that is connected via the admin share. That way, my text editor (or script) does not have to run as admin on my local computer.

Lord Lucan said:

logicearth said:

Do you think you have access to the system directories on Unix/Linux even with an Admin account? No you do not! That is were the "root" account comes into play.

I am not convinced you know what you are talking about. You can always name an account in Linux as "Admin" but there will be nothing special about it. The Linux equivalent of the Windows "Administrator" is "root". If you log in to the Linux "root" account you can write, delete and edit whatever you want, including writing to the root directory (equivalent to the Windows C:\) which in my case is in its own partition. Perhaps you have only experienced a dumbed-down version of Linux, like Zorin or Ubuntu? I just tried it, successfully, in Debian, as you sounded so convincing.

In fact one solution to the problem of writing to the Windows C:\ would be to boot Linux (maybe from a live disk) and do it from there.

In Windows 7, by default, members* of the group named Administrators normally start apps as if they are not an administrator [e.g. the apps are not using an admin security token]. A user logged on with an account* that is in the group named Administrators will still need to tell the operating system to start an app with admin rights.

*except the built in user account named Administrator.


By default, the built in user account named Administrator is disabled. If you enable and log on to that account**, then most apps that you start (and most infections) can write to protected file areas like the root, program files, windows and other folders without taking the extra step to elevate the editor to the admin level.

You can rename the built in user account named Administrator to any name that you wish. If you rename it before using it, then the user profile folder name will agree with the new name.


**I would not recommend enabling and using that account. You are better off learning why things work the way that they do and leaving the various Windows security models in place.

maybe you can see in my article how to fix Can not save files to drive C in Windows 7
https://goo.gl/NzSR1c :)