ACL Invalid in Vista Ultimate, can't access files

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G

Guest

I was noticing some access problems on Vista Ulitmate PC. When I accessed a
folder on my primary drive and looked at the security settings, I get the
following

information where the "Groups or user names" should should be shown.

---------------------------

No permissions have been assigned for this object.

Warning: this is a potential security risk because anyone who can access
this object can take ownership of it. The object’s owner should assign
permissions as soon as

possible.

---------------------------

if I access a folder and try to add a group or user, apply the allow
permissions and then click OK, I get a dialog box that reads:

-----------------------------------

Error Applying Security

An error occurred whil applying security information to:

C:\AProgram\Code

The access control list (ACL) structure is invalid.

-----------------------------------

if I click ok. it repeats for every folder under the AProgram folder.
Then, when I go back to look at a program, it lists all of the users that
should be in the list

of user names for the AProgram folder, not just the one I added. If I click
a folder under AProgram, it shows the original "No permissions.." error
above. If I add a

user to that folder's security I get the ACL error. And this repeats until
I get down to the individual file level. If I add a user to an individual
file, then all of

the users show up for that file and the security is set correctly. THe
problem is it appears to have to be done file by file. THat would take
forever.

I tried to use the Startup repair in Vista, but it does not find any problems.

Does anyone know how to fix this?
 
I don't know a fix, but have also run into this problem several times. Was
your PC Vista from the outset or upgraded from XP? I have encountered "The
access control list (ACL) structure is invalid" issue several times when
accessing drives used with XP from Vista. If I reboot my dual boot machine
to XP, I can access and mange rights on the same files with no problem.
This leads me to suspect that there is some subtle bug involving the changes
in NTFS under Vista and backward compatibility.
 
Is it the "AProgram" folder that is claimed to not have any security? What
program is this? I would suspect that the installer for that program
deliberately removes the security settings on the folder, causing this
behavior.

The permissions on that folder are clearly broken. You can verify that by
opening an elevated command prompt and running this command:
ICACLS <insert the folder name> /verify [/T]

You may be able to fix it by simply re-inheriting the parent's permissions
on the folder. To do that, do the following:
1. Right-click the folder in Explorer and select Properties.
2. Click the Security tab
3. Click Advanced
4. Click Edit... (Accept the elevation prompt if you get one).
5. Check the "Replace all existing inheritable permissions on all
descendants..." box
6. Click OK to close all the dialogs.

That ought to set them back to the inherited permissions. Unless the program
does something silly it should now work. Of course, the mere fact that the
program installed itself in the root of the C: is silly, so the likelihood of
additional silliness is quite high. Your best option all around may be to
return it for a refund unless they can give you a version that is Windows
Vista Logo compliant.
 
"AProgram" is a folder where I keep my source code files. I had looked at
the security tab>>advanced before and it did not seem to help, that was where
I was getting the error. I ran the ICACLS app on the folder and found some
items that said, "Acl length is incorrect." I was able to zero in on the
folder where the error was being returned and the replacing permissions
seemed to fix that folder. THe problem was that it appeared to be on most
folder/files on the entire c drive.

Thanks for your help.
 
Sounds like you got it fixed, but I still fail to see how this happened in
the first place. If you created the folder, how would the ACL have gotten
corrupted?
 
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