Access denied as Administrator

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

New to Vista (Ultimate). Why, when I'm logged in as Administrator, are there
folders on the disk that produce an "Access denied" error when I try to
browse them? I thought the purpose of the Administrator account was to
provide full and complete access to the computer including any folder/file on
the disk regardless of creator/owner status. This is new (and very annoying)
behavior since XP Pro. What settings need to be tweaked?

TIA.
 
Hello,

You are most likely talking about the Vista application compatability
"junctions" - they look like shortcuts to folders, with a shortcut arrow and
a dimmed/ghosted folder icon. For example, "My Documents", "My Pictures",
"Documents and Settings".

These are not really folders, but pointers to other locations on your
computer that some apps need to use under certain scenarios. For example,
Documents and Settings points to the Users folder.

You can't browse into these junctions. The reasoning isn't to lock you out,
but to keep applications from thinking these are real folders and getting
confused.
 
I THINK my friend that posted this original question was SPEAKING of SYSTEM
files and folders, e.g., ACCESS DENIED when trying to stop INDEXING, trying
to defragment or even SCAN for VIRUSES (!) in system folders, etc. WHAT is
the POINT of being an administrator if you cannot take OWNERSHIP of QUITE A
BIT of territory? I don't want or need the old "it's to protect files and
you, etc., response", those of us that KNOW what we are doing want to be able
to access EVERY FILE ON OUR PCs! This is, as I have said before, like a BETA
TEST....I'm constantly searching the Internet for "tweaks" and solutions that
Microsoft SHOULD have already addressed. Thanks for another bloated OS that
is pretty and all, but this is it for Windows.
 
Then please tell me WHY I get "access denied" messages almost CONSTANTLY when
trying to scan for viruses and spyware and why I cannot access some files and
folders when defragging? Why does SYSTEM RESTORE not allow me to create
restore points any longer? Why did my GROUP POLICY change somehow, limiting
my access to things I did before, and still should be able to do? Your
answer is of no help whatsoever; please TELL ME how I can do these things
from where you are....I am not able to do them HERE. I am just about ready
to yank Vista from this machine and revert to XP Pro..or better yet, perhaps
now's the time to go back to Mac. Offer some ASSISTANCE, and not a trite
"you can do those things"....why am I limited by YOUR OS?? As a MVP, you
MUST have a better answer than what you just gave me.....
 
No, there IS something preventing me from doing these things. YOUR role is
to tell me WHY I CANNOT do these things.
 
Scott said:
No, there IS something preventing me from doing these things. YOUR role is
to tell me WHY I CANNOT do these things.
Click to expand...

Hello Scott,

None of my business, but someone needs to inform you that the MVP's that
you meet here are NOT Microsoft employees. They VOLUNTEER they're time
and expertise to try to help people. When someone gets in they're face
like they're not doing they're job, well, let me just say that if it
were me I'd hang up.
 
Thanks for the tip. I was aware of that fact. It's a kind of arrogance I am
used to dealing with both Microsoft and some of the "experts"...you say there
is a problem, they tell you "there is no problem"...no help WHATsoever. This
guy really is "arrogance on parade"....at least his "helpfulness rating" is
going down with each reply. It makes you think that if people like HIM were
helping to develop Vista, then you can understand why it's so messed up. I'm
outta here.
 
Then please tell me WHY I get "access denied" messages almost CONSTANTLY
when
trying to scan for viruses and spyware and why I cannot access some files
and
folders when defragging?
Click to expand...

Sounds like a problem with your virus scanner/defrag utility. Are you sure
it is vista compatible? Are you using the built-in vista defragger? This may
be unrelated to any other issues you may be having, as any vista-compatible
virus scanner would not be running under your user account.
Why does SYSTEM RESTORE not allow me to create
restore points any longer?
Click to expand...

Based on the information you provided, I don't know.
Why did my GROUP POLICY change somehow, limiting
my access to things I did before, and still should be able to do?
Click to expand...

What makes you think group policy settings were changed? What did you do
before that you can't do now, ignoring the virus/defrag issues?
Your
answer is of no help whatsoever;
Click to expand...

Based on the information you provided, that was the best answer. Everything
you mentioned as not being able to do is doable in Vista. As you say, I can
do those things HERE. On Vista. So vista in general is not the problem.
Perhaps if you clarify your issues with some details other than "why can't i
do stuff", someone would be able to provide you a better answer.

<snip>
 
Thanks, Jimmy, I had already discovered some information regarding this,
however, I'm still curious as to why I don't get full access to the \USERS
folder, for example. If this is the location that \Documents and Settings now
points to, and XP gave unfettered access to these folders, why do I still
have trouble viewing files in some of the \USERS subfolders? Where can I find
complete documentation of this major change in OS security behavior. The
Vista Help and Support is woefully lacking in providing Admin-type
information about this sort of stuff and having to Google (excuse me, Live
Search??) for information is pretty silly.

Al
 
Hello,

There are junctions that reside in the users folder.

For example, "all users" and "default user" are not really folders and thus
do not contain any files.

Ghosted folder + shortcut arrow + "access denied" = junction.

All users is now: c:\programdata
default user is now: c:\users\default

If you are handy with a command prompt, issuing the command 'dir /al' will
show you a list of the junctions in the current directory, and where they
point to in brackets.

For what it's worth, I disagree with this behavior myself, and tried to get
Microsoft to provide a better error message or an "automatic redirect" to
the folder that the junction points to durring the beta.

If you are having trouble with files or folders that are not junctions,
please post the specific location, and I will do my best to assist you.
 
Thanks again, Jimmy,

When I have some spare time, I'll check out the ones I was thinking of and
see if they are actually more junctions. In the meantime, I'll ask one more
question. If you're logged in as a "standard" user and you need admin access
to other users' (including the admin) folders and files, how do you start
Explorer as admin so that those folders become available without having to
"switch users"?

TIA,
Al
 
Make sure admin access to that resource is enabled! Then run it as an
administrator by clicking with your right mouse button and selecting run as
administrator
 
I went to the trouble of e3nabling the administrator account login. Now
either with the administrator login or using the run as administrator I get
an access denied when trying to do a fs.GetFolder(filespec) when the
filespace contains "c:\windows\Live KernelReports" If I don't put the on
error statement the script gets the access denied error. With the on error
it just skips the directory. I can't figure how to get the on error
statement to allow me to display the filespec when it gets the error.
All I'm tryuing to do is run a vbscript that will give the amount of
diskspace that a folder contains. But it skips some folders apperantly
because of the access denied.
P.S. It would be nive if one count test the filespec to see if it is a
junction. Then you could skip trying to do the GetFolderSize and display
that it is a junction.
 
Hi Jimmy

Hope you can help me. I accidentally remove the permissions of my C:\ drive
and now I cannot access it. I've tried to take ownership of it but it kept
 
Back
Top