Windows 10: Denial of Access to a major Folder, Read-Permissions, Owner

When I try to access my largest picture Folder in File Explorer in Build 1909 that was installed on April 11, 2020--; I get a message box telling me I do not have Permission to access it. I am the only person ever to operate this computer--; unless one includes the up to three tech support people who either examined it over live chat through screen share or installed build 1909 on the 11th.

I've been attempting to figure-out how to follow the unclearly-worded instructions that appear in long successions of instruction boxes from a website linked in one of the boxes that I think I closed, many of which bear the blue-and-white shield-symbol.

These instructions consisted of a closed thread on a Windows 10 forum I can no longer find--; that included a 20-step process I don't still remember how far I could get-through before the new boxes no-longer accommodated the remaining instructions. .

What I do remember is that--; at some point--; some kind of action box with an animated progress indicator that looked like a reflection pulsating across a bar of satin-finished metal--; came on and started "applying security [something]" to all the files on the drive containing the large folder I was trying to access--.

I was about to panic and press Cancel--; but also feared that stopping this process halfway-through might have caused even more harm than letting it finish. I had had no idea what it was doing, why it was doing it, or what it would do to the accessibility of the rest of my folders.

The results when it was finished, included that my access to my target folder was still being denied--; except that one of the entries in one of the boxes--; the one listing some kind of "principals--;" then had been "changed," to something I had interveningly selected out of a drop-down menu--. That didn't change my lack of "permission" however--.

The one most perplexing thing about this whole attempt to regain access to this folder--; is the fact that one or more of these boxescontinually tells me I "could not" access the folder "even with administrative privileges--!" So "who's"got access to it--; if it is denied even to me, its own creator--?

Another thing I noticed--; was that the standing entry for "owner--;" was this massive, multi-hyphenated,38-digit number I did not even dare to erase--. Was I supposed to over-writethat--; and if-so--; with exactly-what--?

The page that had the instructions up is no longer open on my screen, and I don't know if I will be able to find it to link it to you, while I am still allowed to keep this writing-box open.

I did find another one that was similar although shorter--; and didn't show all the steps this one showed--; though maybe I should include it anyway, while including the caveat that this isnot the exact, instruction set I followed--.

At the risk of going off-topic, I'm going to state what should be obvious that this is an unreasonable degree of effort required to access data I-myself created--; just because I had to do a system reset, during which I was directly instructed to unplug my external hard drives. The new build of Windows 10 has been constrictive and intrusive even up to this, but this is something out of [some kind] of [novel].

I'm going to attempt a screen-shot here, of the two boxes that still are open on my screen--:

I don't know if these give you any information you might be seeking.

:)

 

access denial

Hi,


You may follow the steps provided below and check if it helps to resolve the issue.

Method 1: Folder permission

• In File Explorer, right click on the documents folder.
• Click Properties.
• Click the Security tab.
• Click on Edit to change the permissions.
• Click the box to allow Home Users full control.
• Click OK and make sure the change is applied to all subfolders and files.

That should fix the problem if not try 2 method

Method 2: Try taking ownership of the folder (and by "the" folder, I mean any one having an issue). If they are all in one folder, use that one. If it's all of them, start with C:\Users\(your username) and work from
there.

To take ownership:

• 
  Right-click the folder and go to Properties
  
• 
  In Properties, go to Security (tab) > Advanced (button at the bottom) > Owner (tab)
  
• 
  In the Owner tab, the current owner will be listed. Yours will likely say it's unknown but regardless, if it doesn't say your current username (and if the username is the same, just do it anyway), click Edit (button).
  
• 
  Under "Change owner to:" select your current account, check the box next to "Replace owner on sub containers and objects" and click OK. Depending on all that's under the folder, this may take a long time.
  

After you are the current owner, you should be able to change permissions as you need.

Method 3:

Perform system file checker. Follow the steps below which will help you:

• 
  Open an elevated command prompt.
  
• 
  In the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER: sfc /scannow.
  

The sfc /scannow command will scan all protected system files, and replace corrupted files with a cached copy that is located in a compressed folder at %WinDir%\System32\dllcache.



Hope this helps. If the issue persists or if you have any Windows related queries please get back to us. We are happy to help you.



Thank you.

 

access denial

Hello,

Thank you for your response.

1. I am not trying to change a file on the C drive. I am working on the D drive with a disc/disk. When I click on properties there is not an option for Security. The options are General, Hardware, Sharing, Customize, and Recording. When I click properties on
a folder within the D drive I am given the options of General, Sharing, and Customize. The general attributes are designated as Read only. When I uncheck the read only option, I am prompted with a pop-up that indicated Access Denied - You will need to provide
administrator permission to change these attributes. I click continue as I am an administrator within this computer. A new pop-up window opens labelled as Error Applying Attributes with a message : An error occurred applying attributes to the file D:.*/*.JPG.
Access is denied. The *.* is indicative of each and every file as it states this message for each file if I click ignore.

2. Again, there is not an option for Security so I am unable to proceed with these instructions.

3. I entered what you suggested in the command prompt.

The response was :

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

There is no change in the D drive access denial.

When I open security properties within the C drive there are the following group or user names:

Authenticated Users

SYSTEM

Administrators (family-computer\Administrators)

Users (family-computer\Users)

I do not understand who or what Authenticated Users or SYSTEM are referring to. There are two administrators and two normal users on this computer.

The Authenticated Users field has only a Special Permissions checked in ALLOW.

SYSTEM has ALLOW checked on all fields except Special Permission.

Administrators has an ALLOW checked on all fields except Special Permissions.

I am unable to remove the Special Permissions Allow for the Authenticated Users. Do you suggest I try removing this Group or User name? Is this safe to do or will I do damage?

 

Windows reports "You don't currently have permission to access this folder".

Hello,



Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft community. I understand the inconvenience caused to you. Let me help you.

• 
  Does this happen only with a specific folder/file location?
  

This problem results when an administrator, the owner of the file or folder, or a user with the Change Permissions permission for a file or Full Control permission for a folder, changes the access control list (ACL) on the file or folder. Some of the
changes that could deny a user access to a file or folder they should be able to access include:

• The user or group was unintentionally removed from Group or User names on the file's or folder's Security tab.





• An explicit Deny has mistakenly been applied to the user or group.





• A conflict between share permissions and NTFS permissions was created when someone changes permissions without examining both types of permissions.



Method 1:

Let’s give permission to the folder and check if that helps. Follow these steps to give permissions to the drive.

a) Right-click on the folder which you’re unable to access and select Properties.

b) Click on ‘Security’ tab and under ‘Group or user names’ click on ‘Edit’.

c) Click on ‘Add’ and type ‘everyone’.

d) Click on ‘Check names’ and then click ‘OK’.

e) Select ‘everyone’ and under ‘Allow’ select
‘Full control’ and click on ‘Apply’ and Click ‘Ok’.





Method 2:

I would suggest you to try the steps in the article and check if it helps.

"Access Denied" or other errors when accessing or working with files and folders in Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2623670

(Try the steps for Windows 8 as it is applicable to Windows 10 as well.)



Hope this helps. If the issue remains unresolved, please get back to us with more information and we’d be happy to help.