Windows 10: Is the folder "Program Data" which is read-only safe to take off 'read-only'?

I recently bought an application which came with a lot of bonus or extra material. I specifically bought this version of the application directly from their website in order to use the bonus or extra material. Problem is, the application does not read the files. I was able to find the "File locations", where the extra material is supposed to be read or loaded from.


For reference the two file locations are:

#1. C:\Users\User\Documents\Application

#2. C:\ProgramData\Application


Folder #1 for the application is empty. In #2, there are a lot of files inside, but the entire Program Data folder is read-only. From what I read, those files should not be manually altered, or at least not messed with if you don't know what you're doing? After some research about the app, it's looking like the files in Program Data are exactly the ones I need. I tried copying them and putting them into the above folder #1, but the application still does not recognize them; even claiming I have an out of date application even though I tried to update and it said I was up to date.


Due to the pandemic, their support call center is closed. Their online chat seems automated and useless as it repeatedly asked me irrelevant questions or gave me instructions which made no sense. I'll keep trying, maybe the time of day was just bad.


A search on the forums pretty much have lead me to believe messing with that folder is not wise if you don't know what you're doing. Not sure why they would put those files in such an important folder. No app or anything I have ever installed has lead me to that folder. If anyone has an idea about the Program Data folder and if I can uncheck "read-only" I would appreciate hearing some advice.


Thank you for reading, and I hope someone can help me out.

:)

 

Read only folder

Hi Jim,

We appreciate you for being part of Windows 10.

Before proceeding, we need more information to help you better.

• 
  Do you want to change the permissions to certain program/folder?
  
• 
  Have you signed in through Microsoft/Local account?
  

A read-only file is protected from accidental deletion and changes to its content.

Step 1: What is a read-only file or folder?

A read-only file is protected from accidental deletion and changes to its content. To change a file to read-only, right-click the file, and then click
Properties. In the Properties dialog box, click the
General tab, and then select the
Read-only check box. To make changes to a read-only file, clear the
Read-only check box, or save the file with a different name.

Step 2: Prevent changes to a file or folder (read-only)

Setting your important or personal files to read-only can help protect them from unintentional or unauthorized changes. When a file is set to read-only, it cannot be changed.

• Right-click the file or folder you want to set to read-only, and then click
  Properties.
• Click the General tab, select the Read-only check box, and then click
  OK.

If you need to make changes to the file or folder later, you can turn off the read-only setting by clearing the
Read-only check box.

I hope the above information helps. Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with this issue. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.

 

All Folders Read Only

All folders seem to be listed as Read Only.

Do not have third party antivirus.

Yes, I already checked Permissions and Ownership

Yes, I have already followed every tutorial and suggestion on this site.

 

Folder structure suddenly read-only on DATA drive

Windows is my C: drive. All my data files are on D: the issue I'm having is with folders inside a folder structure that looks like this, on my DATA drive:

D:\Photo\Catalog\Half-Done catalogs

Suddenly some sub-folders inside this folder structure are read-only. I did the normal right-click Properties, and saw that the read-only box was black. So I clicked on that box to clear it, and Windows applied the new permissions to all sub-folders. It worked, but right away some of the sub-folders reverted to read-only.

So inside the Properties windows, I clicked on the security tab, changed ownership to Administrators, checked the box to apply to sub-folders. That worked, again, until some sub-folders reverted to read-only. A windows reboot didn't clear up the problem.

On the Microsoft web site, they advise doing a clean Windows install to deal with this problem. What a crock! *Kill

I may need to hand-fix the offending folders, but I need a way to locate them. Suggestions gratefully accepted.