Windows 10: Resetting ALL permissions to default

I have been silly and played with the security settings on my Windows 11 laptopIs there some way to return ALL to a new build status ?ie Default everything without carrying out a rebuildI am being blocked from using many programs such as Ancestry/FTM because I am unable to save some files to the folder on my C: drive

:)

 

Default group permissions for ProgramData folder?

Here are the User permissions I have in my Windows 10 Home Explorer for Program Data:

CREATOR OWNER - Allow Special Permissions

SYSTEM - Allow Full control, Modify, Read & Execute, List folder contents, Read, Write

Administrators - Same as System

Users - Read & Execute, List folder contents, Read, Special Permissions

There are also default Windows 10 NTFS file permissions here:

https://winaero.com/reset-ntfs-permissions-wind...

https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/reset-ntfs-p...

https://droidrant.com/how-do-i-reset-my-permiss...

Report back results for each step so I know what else to suggest.

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

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Default drive permissions

Hi Jortus

If you need to reset default permissions on that drive, here are the steps:

Click your Start Button, then just type cmd

Form the resulting list, right click Command Prompt and choose 'Run as Administrator'

Paste this command into Command Prompt and press Enter

icacls "D:\" /t /q /c /reset

 

Is there a utility to reset all W10 permissions back to defaults?

This resets permissions for default junctions if you've messed about taking ownership of folders that you should have left alone:

Folder name blank

It uses setacl.exe (built in)

Also check out a tool I sometimes use:







However for serious issues reimage as suggested.