Windows 10: Permissions experts, help me put my programdata folder back in order

Not sure if a quick fix exists for this, as i just compared the programdata folder itself against a clean win10 VM and the permissions up top at least, are solid.

I ran a script to delete the windows.old folder and i got some access is denied errors and it failed and so i used the built in means with disk cleanup and thought that was that.

First thing i noticed was off after relogging my apple ID was signed out. i couldnt sign into icloud at all. kept saying failed. Tried itunes, same thing.

I had hoped it was some kind of apple software issue so i repaired the installs to no end.

After that I went ahead and did an in-place upgrade. Simply made more work for me as it modified a bunch of stuff back to windows choosing and still didnt fix it. I uninstalled itunes and icloud at that point, figuring id have to install them fresh.

Before I even got to that I opened my wake on lan app. It was barren of entries I had saved. I thought it was a casuality of the in-place upgrade I did. So i went to re-add my workstations back and I was hit with an error. This time it gave me the path to the folder it errored on over access. It was in programdata.

I went ahead and navigated to it, and was greeted with a prompt for permission to access the folder. I granted it, and after that - the app began seeing my workstations again.

It was at this point I realized that somehow, someway, microsoft in their infinite wisdom kept windows.old active to some degree. Something in there was junctioned or symlinked or tethered somehow to my current windows install, when my script took ownership to delete it - it blew up my actual windows.

So now im up xxxx creek.

What are my options? Resetting windows isnt one. This install is years of work running. Fixing it is my only option. Naturally I had just cleaned out my backups with the intention of starting a fresh backup set right after i deleted the windows.old folder. Stupid.

:)

 

ProgramData folder what is it?

Hi Kurtis,

The ProgramData specifies the path to the program-data folder (normally C:\ProgramData). Unlike the Program Files folder, this folder can be used by applications to store data for standard users, because it does not require elevated permissions.

The path can be on a volume other than the system drive and should not cause performance loss nor cause confusion to Windows , as long as it meets the following requirements:

• It must be on an NTFS volume.
• It can’t point to a drive that has a different copy of Windows on it.
• It can’t contain any serviceable components

Regards.

 

Changing permissions on folders under C:\ProgramData

I am unable to change permissions on the Folder C:\ProgramData\NVIDA Corporation to allow Modify and/or Full control in order to let NVIDIA Control Panel settings to be saved! This is in Windows 10 Professional.

I have run File Explorer as administrator! I require some assistance please!

Thanks,

Rod Jay

 

Folder won't open due to permission issue

Hello,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft community. I understand your concern. Let me help you.

I suggest you to sign out from the current account, restart the computer and log in with Administrators account and

check if it helps to resolve the issue.

I suggest you to refer to the steps below and check if it helps to resolve the issue.

• 
  Press and hold or right-click the file or folder, and then click
  Properties.
  
• 
  Tap or click the Security tab.
  
• 
  Under Group or user names, tap or click your name to see the permissions that you have.
  
  To open a file, you have to have the Read permission. To change the permissions of a file or folder, follow these steps.
  
  Important you must be logged on as an administrator to change permissions on files and folders.
  

• 
  Press and hold or right-click the file or folder, and then tap or click
  Properties.
  
• 
  Tap or click the Security tab.
  
• 
  Under Group or user names, tap or click your name to see the permissions that you have.
  
• 
  Tap or click Edit, tap or click your name, select the check boxes for the permissions that you must have, and then click
  OK.
  

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