After re-install, what is best way to gain access to moved libraries?

cwaters

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I recently re-installed Windows 7 on my desktop PC. Prior to that, I moved the location of the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos libraries from my C: drive to my D: drive (a different physical drive).

After re-installing Windows 7, I encountered an "access denied" error when I tried to access my D: drive. When I displayed the properties of the root of the D: drive, I saw two entries:

  • Account Unknown (followed by a GUID)
  • PC1\Administrators
Obviously, "Account Unknown" corresponds to an account GUID that doesn't exist in my new Windows 7 install.

(My user account is a member of the Administrators group; therefore, I'm confused as to why I don't have access.)

I gave my user account Full access to the root of the D: drive; however, I still encountered "access denied" errors when I attempted to access any of the folders. I proceeded to give myself Full access to *all* of the objects on the D: drive. While I was at it, I removed the now-defunct "Account unknown" entry.

Is this the best way to proceed when re-installing Windows 7? Many articles discuss the advantages of moving libraries to a different physical drive (dedicated data backups, etc.); however, I have yet to find an article that describes how to proceed when doing a re-install.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 w/SP1I7-920, 2.66, 8MB, BLM, C0 (according to Dell...20 GBATI Radeon 4670
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell Studio XPS 435 MT
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 w/SP1
CPU
I7-920, 2.66, 8MB, BLM, C0 (according to Dell packing list)
Memory
20 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon 4670
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual Dell monitors
Hard Drives
Two physical drives; 750GB (C:), 500GB (D:)
(My user account is a member of the Administrators group; therefore, I'm confused as to why I don't have access.)

I've also experienced this behaviour.
It makes you wonder what the point of being part of the "Administrators Group" actually is.


Did you check/change the "Owner"?

You could try changing the Permissions to "Authenticated Users" or "Users".

I reinstalled W7 last month and I didn't experience your problem.
My Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos are all on different drives/partitions.
Permissions (2012-10-04).png

 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, ...AMD Phenom II x6 1100T, 3.3 GHz12GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill (4GB x 2), G-Skill (2G...NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
n/a
OS
W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, W10 Pro 1703 VM, #All 64 bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II x6 1100T, 3.3 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS M4A88T-M/USB3 (AM3)
Memory
12GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill (4GB x 2), G-Skill (2GB x 2)
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Sound Card
Realtek?
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung S23B350
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
WD Green 2TB (SATA), WD Green 3TB (SATA), WD Blue 4TB (SATA), WD Blue 6TB (SATA)
PSU
Cooler Master
Case
Antec GX300 Tower
Cooling
3x Antec TRICOOL 120mm Fans
Mouse
Wired Optical
Internet Speed
DSL
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Pale Moon (64 bit)
Other Info
2018-12-27 Upgraded HDDs
2015-12-10 Upgraded case, graphics card, storage
2015-08-15 Upgraded motherboard & RAM
2015-07-15 Upgraded LM17.1 to LM17.2
The easiest way to place your User folders on another drive is to copy them there, then rightclick to link each one to the related Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums. Try this now.

If you reinstalled Win7 the folders on the data partition should have lost their permissions and now be available to link this way. If not install Take Ownership Shortcut then rightclick the drive and the folders to run it on each first.
 
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