You need Administrator Permission to copy...

DavidtheRhino · 07 Sep 2014

I am trying to copy files off a hard drive from a deceased laptop to my new laptop. No big deal I would have thought. I have copied many files from this drive using a USB gizmo that the bare drive slots into, not sure what the thing is called, but it works. The three partitions on the old drive are listed in Explorer as I, J & K. I can see all the folders, and the files in each one. When I try to copy the file to the new machine I get a pop-up, "You will need Administrator permission to copy this file". I was foolish enough to think I was running as Administer, I am it, but it seems I am not the real thing.

I found User Account Control Settings, changed the setting to "Never notify me", made no difference, Windows is in charge, nothing can go wrong...can go wrong...can go wrong...

I am going around in small circles and am in danger of disappearing up you know where, so I decided to to search the Win 7 Forum, the fount of all knowledge. I searched for "Administrator permission" but got nothing.

However I did find how to run lusrmgr.msc. That is certainly useful. So I ran it, and sure enough Administrator is at the top of the list. But now what? How do I get to actually log-in as the real, all-powerful Administrator? Is there a tutorial that I have missed?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

David

Computer0304 · 08 Sep 2014

Are you sure it is not a system file? If you are, check the following to enable the built in admin that shohld have unrestricted access to almost everything.

Built-in Administrator Account - Enable or Disable

(Note that this should not be used for everyday means, it should only be used if doing something normal admin accounts can't do.)

DavidtheRhino · 08 Sep 2014

Thanks for your response. No, not a system file, it's music, and not an illegal copy either! The absurd thing is that I have transferred several dozen other music files from the same source to the same folder on the new machine. But 4 files out of about 50 I'm not allowed to copy, all the others transferred as I would have expected, no mention of anybody's permission.

But there is something weird about this whole "Administrator" thing. How could anyone dream up an account that's called an Administrator account, but it's not really an Administrator, only a "sort of Administrator". And "Taking ownership", what a load of bleep! Makes me wonder what they smoke in Redmond. I am the owner, not just of these files but of the whole machine, I bought it and paid for it. I've heard the argument that users do not own Windows, they only pay for a license. So what? I'm not screwing around with any MS files, these really are mine. And if I did screw up my machine by poking around in the system files what's it to Microsoft? They're not going to have to foot the bill to sort out the mess.

And thanks for the link to lusrmgr.msc. I think I've enabled the All-Powerful Admin account. Haven't had a chance to try out my new "Master of the Universe" powers yet, but it's infuriating to think of the time I've spent just trying to move 4 files. I'd switch back to XP, or even 3.11, in a heartbeat!

David

Computer0304 · 08 Sep 2014

Well, remember, it is actually good that the normal admin doesn't give you all those permissions. You would usually not even need unrestricted access to everything and not giving you full access to everything (normal admin gives access to most things) protects you from malware that can hack the system and get easier access to the important system files and mess it up.

I am not trying to go against you, but you shouldn't get mad about this. Having access to literally everything in Windows can hurt the system more if something goes wrong.

DavidtheRhino · 08 Sep 2014

Thanks again for your reply, I really appreciate that you have taken the time.

I built my first computer in the days when you actually soldered components on to a motherboard, and the Z-80 CPU, a massively powerful machine with 16KB of RAM, later upgraded to a "full" 64KB, and DOS 3. As for software there wasn't any, I wrote my own code in assembly language. And you know in all those years, decades, I've never had a virus, nor any significant malware. But I don't click on links in doubtful Websites, and I don't respond to Nigerian bankers, not even the ones with sad stories and millions of dollars that they're trying to give away. I have Avast, and Malwarebytes, and Windows Defender running. So yes, I do find it irksome when someone in Microsoft decides what I can and cannot do. I could accept a big red banner saying "You're a moron" but in the end it should be the decision of the actual owner of the machine.

Until recently I was using XP without any problems. However, bowing to the inevitable I have switched to Win 7 x64 Pro. And with your help I have managed to log in as The Administrator, the real thing. So has it made a difference? No. Just tried to copy that folder, "You need administrator permission........" I ran Explorer "as administrator" and tried again. No way, that folder cannot be copied. 25 other folders copied from the same drive to the new laptop, but not this one.

So for this task I'm giving up on Win 7, I'll use Linux, but it does seem a bit absurd to use another OS to do what Win 7 can't, or wont.

David

logicearth · 09 Sep 2014

Seriously, calm down. Linux has its own permission structure, on Linux you may have an "Administrator" account but you do not have root power. Nor do you have access to everything, until you take ownership.

In order to access the files you need to reset the permissions, by taking ownership and then adjusting the permissions given to you. Easy as pie, if you stop ranting and just calm down.

DavidtheRhino · 09 Sep 2014

Thank you for your input. You said:

"In order to access the files you need to reset the permissions, by taking ownership and then adjusting the permissions given to you. Easy as pie, if you stop ranting and just calm down."

This is to copy files from one hard drive to another? 25 out of 26 folders, all created at the same time, copied over with no more than "You will have to provide administrator permission..."A simple click on Okay and that "security" feature was bypassed. This is security? Seriously?

It is window-dressing, it makes people think they're protected, they feel safe. Meanwhile this is in the news today:

"Card data from Home Depot customers is available for sale on underground crime shops such as Rescator.cc and includes both the information needed to counterfeit cards and the cardholder's full name and city, state and postcode of the store it was stolen from."

And what OS are they running? Windows.

But thanks again for you input.

David

logicearth · 09 Sep 2014

From a hard drive that was on another computer running a separate version of Windows. As you stated in your original message this hard drive came from a different computer, it needs the permissions reset to your system so you can access it. Without running into issues like you are now.

It is not rocket science.

DavidtheRhino · 09 Sep 2014

logicearth said:

From a hard drive that was on another computer running a separate version of Windows. As you stated in your original message this hard drive came from a different computer, it needs the permissions reset to your system so you can access it. Without running into issues like you are now.

It is not rocket science.

I have to agree with you, I wouldn't have thought it was rocket science either. However, I said it came from a different machine, I did not say anything about the OS. Yes I would switch back to XP for choice, but as it happens that machine was running Win 7 Pro too. And the fact remains that 25 out of 26 folders, all created on the same day, on the same machine, copied over with only a click on a button to give Administrator permission, and I hadn't even used "Run as Administrator" when I started Explorer.

But apart from these 26 folders I have recovered hundreds of other files from this drive. All my documents, thousands of photographs, dozens of Roboform log-ins and Safe Notes, all my IE favorites, and Firefox Bookmarks. Most of these were originally created when I was using XP. Not once did I have to take ownership, or change permissions to do any of this.

But thanks for your input.

David