Hard drive permissions

[caboose1442]

I have just installed Windows 7 32-bit and i got a new 1TB drive to run it on and i have my old C drive inside and im trying to pull a file from my old C drive onto the new drive that is now currently the C drive but it keeps coming up with i dont have permission to access the files. Im the administrator and i have even turned off administration tools and all this stuff and its still saying it. I have another HD that i used as spare space before i got Windows 7 and its fine with me pulling files and looking at them but not with my old C drive.

 

[whest]

Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management

Right click on the drive in diskmanagement, or computer folder - properties - security - advanced - owner - edit - then change owner to yourself.

If your still having problems read the following, as it maybe useful knowledge in any case, even if it isnt relevant.

Move Disks to Another Computer[This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

This section describes the steps to take and considerations associated with moving disks to another computer. You might want to print this procedure or write down the steps before attempting to move disks from one computer to another.
Backup Operator or Administrator is the minimum membership required to perform these steps.
Verify volume health
Use Disk Management to make sure the status of the volumes on the disks is Healthy. If the status is not Healthy, you should repair the volumes before you move the disks.
To verify the volume status, check the Status column in the Volume List view or under the volume size and file system information in the Graphical view.
Uninstall the disks
Uninstall the disks you want to move using Device Manager.
To uninstall disks
Open Device Manager in Computer Management.
In the device list, double-click Disk drives.
Right-click the disks you want to uninstall, and then click Uninstall.
In the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click OK.
Remove dynamic disks
If the disks you want to move are dynamic disks, in Disk Management, right-click the disks that you want to move, and then click Remove Disk.
After having removed dynamic disks or if you are moving basic disks, you can now physically disconnect them. If the disks are external, you can now unplug them from the computer. If they are internal, turn off the computer, and then physically remove the disks.
Install disks in the new computer
If the disks are external, plug them into the computer. If the disks are internal, make sure the computer is turned off and then physically install the disks in that computer.
Start the computer that contains the disks you moved and follow the instructions on the Found New Hardware dialog box.
Detect new disks
On the new computer, open Disk Management. Click Action and then click Rescan Disks. Right-click any disk marked Foreign, click Import Foreign Disks, and then follow the instructions on your screen.
Additional considerations
When moved to another computer, basic volumes receive the next available drive letter on that computer. Dynamic volumes retain the drive letter they had on the previous computer. If a dynamic volume did not have a drive letter on the previous computer, it does not receive a drive letter when moved to another computer. If the drive letter is already used on the computer where they are moved, the volume receives the next available drive letter. If an administrator has used the mountvol /n or the diskpart automount commands to prevent new volumes from being added to the system, volumes moved from another computer are prevented from being mounted and from receiving a drive letter. To use the volume, you must manually mount the volume and assign it a drive letter using Disk Management or the DiskPart and mountvol commands.

If you are moving spanned, striped, mirrored, or RAID-5 volumes, it is highly recommended that you move all disks containing the volume together. Otherwise, the volumes on the disks cannot be brought online and will not be accessible except to delete them.

You can move multiple disks from different computers to a computer by installing the disks, opening Disk Management, right-clicking any of the new disks, and then clicking Import Foreign Disks. When importing multiple disks from different computers, always import all of the disks from one computer at a time. For example, if you want to move disks from two computers, import disks from the first computer and then import disks from the second computer.

Disk Management describes the condition of the volumes on the disks before they are imported. Review this information carefully. If there are any problems, this will tell you what will happen to each volume on these disks once the disks have been imported.

If you move a GUID partition table disk containing the Windows operating system to an x86-based or x64-based computer, you can access the data, but you cannot boot from that operating system.

 

[Zombietime]

Similiar Issue

I have windows 7 professional 64 bit, and I am having a permission problem as well. I tried to attach a 2tb hard drive to my system as extra storage, not a replacement, and it says I need more permission. I went in to change the owner and make it so it would allow me to format, but the drive will not let me change the owner. It says I do not have permission for that either. I am the admin on my system. Any ideas? All of my components are very new, it is a gaming pc that I built about 6 months ago.

 

[whest]

Just read this from another post :

Got it all figured out. Now I remember way back when I had to do this in XP. The permissions for some reason, you can't just select the drive then add a user and give control to execute, read, write, and so on. You have to do it one at a time from the top down, in hierarchical order. Setting permissions along the way. I can see the old user permission from previous XP as a series of numbers with a question mark. I just added the user I wanted for access to the files and what that user can and cannot do.

So open computer select drive - right click, and select properties - security - advanced - owner - add yourself I guess, and then in effective permissions add your username and select full control.

This maybe a little more than what you did hopefully.

 

[whest]

Have you initialised the drive, ie is to say is it a new drive, right click it in diskmanagement and see what options show up - 2 places - where it say disk0 ETC and in the middle - try both places for more options.

 

[Pixelstik]

Tried this advice

I tried everything through the effective permissions but the last part does not seem to stick. The rest does but as soon as I set the effective permissions hit ok and go back through the permission settings to effective permissions they just go back to where they were.

 

[meandanitoo]

I know this is an old post but I've recently encountered this problem several days ago. ALL of my files are on my external drive and I was denied "permission" to access the files...when I put the ADMIN password in, I could get access to the folder but not the contents...I could not copy or paste or do anything...anyway, I was about to pay someone to remove the files and then I tried scanning the files with my virus protection software. I still had to use the ADMIN password to access the folder but once I scanned the files I was at least able to copy and paste them to my desktop and save from there. If anyone out there is having this issue and just wants to get the files off the external drive, this might help (I've already purchased a new external and after all the trouble I've had this one may well go out the window!)

 

[linmix]

A month or so ago the drive I had W7 installed on died. Luckily all my files are on another drive. I installed a new drive for W7, installed, then plugged in the drive with my data.

I have "taken possession of the drive useing these instructions cited from above:

Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management

Right click on the drive in diskmanagement, or computer folder - properties - security - advanced - owner - edit - then change owner to yourself.

But no matter what I do, whenever I go to any folder on the disk and check the properties, the folder is read-only. What else do I need to do to get past this hurdle?

 

[Tsuruman]

Adding User to the permission list.

Hello, I experience the same files and disk issues discussed on this thread. At some point I was able to copy some files (ie itunes) but was not able to start the itune app due to file permission (needed write permission). Another situation was I could not see any of the folders on the attached external drive.

I followed the similar steps above, ie getting the administrator full control but noticed I still did not gain access. One additional (or possibly correct step to check) thing to make sure is that you add your user name to the group.

Select the file or folder or drive properties. Go to the security tab and look at the group or user name field. Generally you should see SYSTEM, <computername>/administrator, and the important one <computername>/<username>.

If you don't see it, please add your username to the list and make sure you assign it w/ full control.
To add a user name click the EDIT button next to the "To change permission, click edit". You should see a new window pop up and below the group list a new button ADD. Click on Add. Another window appears. In the area "Enter the object name to select" please type your User name and click on check names. It should automatically change to <computername>/<username>.
After you add your user name, check to make sure you selected full control to the file or folders (and subfolders if that option was selected).

You should now be able to have full control over the files or disk.

 

[ARegularGuy]

Let's face it. What would have been really useful is a Permissions Migration Tool. When a secondary storage drive or files are introduced to Windows7, instead of just relabeling unknown user permissions with long strings and question marks, the tool could say: "The following files/folders are owned by <?UnknownUserBlahBlahBlah>. Would you like to associate this obsolete user with a user in your Windows7 system?"...then offer the list of currently defined valid users in W7. That tool could then go in and exhaustively revise the corresponding ownership and permissions to be compatible with that new association. Would that really have been so hard?

 

[temerald]

Solution
Windows security settings focus more on Windows ability to read and write to the HDD, the programmers didn't spend nearly as much time on the user aspect of it as they should have. That being said, the solution to accessing folders and files is as simple as removing then re-adding one checkmark. Here's how:

First, if you are having trouble with a folder created by Windows install, e.g.:

Boot | Program Files | Program Files (x86) | System Volume Information | Windows
​

I do NOT recommend using the following instructions directly as those folders require a slightly different touch.

That being said, there is a rather simple solution to your problem. I am going to be thorough while getting to the method I discovered on my own. If you have already taken ownership and given yourself full access and don't want to follow all my steps, you can jump right to my solution in step 3.
Otherwise here's the details, step by step:

1. First let's set the Current owner permissions:

• Right click on the drive you want to work on
• Select Properties.
• Select the Security tab
• In the lower right click Advanced.
• Click the Owner tab
• Click Edit.
  • Now, setting the owner to your <username> isn't ideal for future access (think reinstalling windows). So we're going to set it to something more futureproof: Administrators -- like this:
• Locate the box Change owner to
• select Administrators
• Now toward the bottom, you'll see the line Replace owner on subcontainers and objects. Put a mark in the box to the left of that line.
• Click OK --enough times to close the windows Opened in this section.

2. Lets set the drive users to something futureproof as well.

*This step is related to One last fact at the end of this post
​

• Right click on the drive you want to work on
• Select Properties.
• Select the Security tab
• In the lower right click Advanced.
• Select Change Permissions...
• If you plan to return this drive to another computer, leave Permission entries that have numbers, otherwise
• Click the Remove button for all other entries
• Select Add...
• Type Users and press Enter
• In the Permission Entry window, click in the box aligned with Full control and Allow and press Enter
• Mark the line that reads Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object
• Any errors you get just keep going.
• Click OK --enough times to close the windows Opened in this section.

3. Now let's target the specific folder you're having trouble with.

• Right click on the folder you want to work on
• Select Properties.
• Select the Security tab
• In the lower right click Advanced.
• Select Change Permissions...
• Remove the checkmark from the line that reads Include inheritable permissions from this object's parent
• In the Windows Security window that pops up, select Remove
• Put the checkmark back in the line that reads Include inheritable permissions from this object's parent
• Click OK
  • A Windows Security dialogue will start setting files (duration depends on number of files). Take note of any errors you receive. Open a text file and type as much information as possible about any directory or file that errors out, I will cover this in section 4.
• The Advanced Security Settings for <foldername> window should now show an accurate account of what user(s) and or groups have access to the folder. If Users isn't listed, then Select Change Permissions and add it with full control, as outlined in the middle of step 2.
• Click OK --enough times to close the windows Opened in this section.

If you had no error messages, you should now have full access to your files in the folder you edited. Repeat the process for any other folders as you see fit. If you did get errors, and you were smart and took notes, you'll have to continue to step 4.

4. There are 3 common reasons for errors at this point.

1. A subdirectory/folder or file does NOT Include inheritable permissions from object's parent
2. Filenames containing illegal characters
3. Paths that are too long -- as a result of a copy process that followed looping junction.

4.1 A subfolder or file was marked to NOT Include inherritable permissions from object's parent fix:

• Right click on the folder or file that is not allowing access.
  • Unfortunately Microsoft removed the ability to see the security tab when multiple folders and/or files are selected; which I find very irritating, so you'll have to do them one at a time.
• Select Properties
• Select the Security tab
• Select Advanced
• Select Change Permissions...
• Place a mark in front of the line that reads Include inheritable permissions from the object's parent
  • Again make sure Users has full Permissions
• Click OK --enough times to close the windows Opened in this section.

4.2 Filenames containing illegal characters.

This can happen for many reasons, one of which I found on my drive today as a result of my HDD being access by another OS. Not all Operating Systems care about Microsoft's NTFS restrictions. Anyhow after trying a lot of ideas, I found one that definitely works, and it involves getting a useful program in the process.
​

• Download and install Recuvia from piriform.com/recuva
  • This is a safe, free program made by the same people who make CCleaner. It's designed to search for and recover deleted files on all types of drives, and it works very well.
• Start Recuvia select Next >
• In the File type area, toward the bottom, select Other
• In the File location area, toward the bottom, select In a specific location
• Select Browse...
• Navagate to the Folder that you know has the files containing illegal characters
• Select Next >
• Select Start then immediately select Cancel
• In the upper right of the Recuvia window, select Switch to advanced mode
• In the upper right select Options...
• Select the Actions tab
• Place a mark in front of the line that reads Scan for non-deleted files (for recovery from damaged or reformatted disks)
  • You'll want to remove this option later if want to use Recuvia for it's intended purpose.
• Click OK
• Click Scan
  • This can take awhile, be patient.
• Select the Problem files for Recovery by placing a checkmark in front of the Filename
• Select Recover...
• Navigate to a folder you know you have Write Permissions to, preferably a different drive and select OK
• Using a new Explorer window; navigate to your files, and you will see the illegal characters have been replaced, in my case with underscores.
• Repeat this for any other files you may have encountered with illegal characters before continuing
• As far as removing the source files with illegal characters, I only know of using Check Disk to do so. It may place them in a recovery folder or it may delete them, it's a tossup.

4.3 Directory paths that are crazy long.

• Navate to the folder that contains a really long path and follow the path all the way to the end
• Now back up about 10 or so directory levels with the Back to arrow in the upper left of Explorer
• Right click on the directory/folder name you've backed up to and select Properties
• Select the Sharing tab
• Select Advanced Sharing...
• Select the box Share this folder
  • Take note of the Share name
    
• Select Permissions
• Under Permissions for Everyone, Select the box under Allow in line with Full Control
• Click OK --enough times to close the windows you used to share this directory/folder
• Using a new Explorer window, Open your Network, and find the share you just created
• Enter the share and look for files.
  • If there are any files or folders you wish to keep, you can copy them from here to a new location. What is not copied will be lost in the next step.
• Within the shared folder (e.g. \\<computername>\<sharename>) navigate one directory in and you should be able to delete the tail end of directories in this share.
  • If you get a path too long error, you shared a path too long and need to share fewer levels.
• Close the window you opened to access the Network share
• The folder you shared should still be right there
• Right click on the same directory/folder name you shared before and select Properties
• Select the Sharing tab
• Select Advanced Sharing...
• Remove the checkmark from the box for Share this folder
  • This is very important as Windows will annoyingly keep a share to a dead folder.
• It's likely you will have to repeat the above steps several times before you delete enough of the path to remove the error. --Good Luck

This long path condition occurs when Microsoft Windows follows a looping junction while copying a directory structure. Shamefully, this is another bad choice by Microsoft; and, Microsoft is solely to blame. Not only for it's existence, but Microsoft's unwillingness to resolve the issue.

First the Copy command is allowed to follow a junction in a loop condition. The resulting copied file structure; with it's repeated path, winds up so deep that no Microsoft program can directly resolve the outcome.
Second, the junction loop in question exists on every single Windows 7 installation out there, and it's by design!!!
You can view the error for yourself, go to your home folder C:\Users\<yourusername> . Inside your home folder, you'll see all the folders you're familiar with, like Documents, Music, Pictures, etc.. At the top of the Explorer window, to the right of the Back/Forward arrows; is the Address bar. Click in it, and after your name, add the following path \Appdata\Local -- In the Local folder, is a Junction. It's probably hidden but it's there. It's called Applicaton Data. You can't follow it in Explorer; but software can, including the Copy command. This junction points back to the parent folder AppData, creating an infinite loop. The junction is there for programs written for the XP file structure. If Microsoft was willing to fix it, the fix would be simple. It's copy command would copy the actual junction itself, and not follow it.

​

One last fact:

The account Authenticated User is a security risk. Think of it as Authenticated Network User. By default, Microsoft adds the account Authenticated User to all hard drives. The problem is by definition, this account grants access to any user authenticated on your network. So if someone gains access to a computer somewhere else on your network, Authenticated User permissions will allow them to move from that computer to yours.
The solution is to change all occurrences of Authenticated User to Users. Just use the Advanced Security Settings (outlined above) to Edit and Change... all Authenticated User entries to User -- This will merge some permissions; fact is, as far as safe computing goes, they were already merged from a logical standpoint.
​

Thank you and have a nice life!