Un-Set Read Only Permission on C:\Windows\System

[asdf]

Tried following all the suggestions to unset the read only flag on the above
folder.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;256614
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=326549
Nothing works.

I have a program that writes font files to the System folder and it messes
up
when it sees that the folder is a read only folder. I know that in WinXP it
doesn't matter
but the program doesn't like it and won't write to the folder. The funny
thing is that the problem
started after i installed SP2 on the machine. Doing system restore, however
didn't fix the problem.

Any other way to workaround this problem or to fool the program inot
thinking that the folder is writeable.

Eternal gratitude to whomever can solve this one.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Read-only means nothing for folders. Only a file can be Read-only.

The gray state means...

[[Microsoft calls this a tri-mode flag. When it has gray in the background,
it indicates that some file or folder anywhere under that particular folder
has been set to Read-only.

This checkmark does not actually control the Read-only attribute on the
child files and folder. It just displays their status.]]

Rally 'Round the Tri-Mode Flag
http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=652

If you uncheck the Read-Only attribute, Windows will prompt you to confirm
your changes.

-----
You have chosen to make the following attribute change(s):

unset read-only

Do you want to apply this change to this folder only, or do you want to
apply it to all subfolders and files as well?
-----

Click the option that you want, and then click OK. That would be YES.
---

[[Windows Explorer uses the Read-Only attribute to determine whether or not
a folder is customized.]]
Unable to Remove Read-Only Attribute from Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256614/EN-US/

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[asdf]

Read-only means nothing for folders. Only a file can be Read-only.

The gray state means...

[[Microsoft calls this a tri-mode flag. When it has gray in the background,
it indicates that some file or folder anywhere under that particular folder
has been set to Read-only.

Yes I realize this. The "C:\Windows\System" folder has no subfolders and no
file in it is marked as read-only. As a matter of fact when i select all the
files in the folder
and click Ctrol+A, Right-Click->Properties. Read-only flag is off.

This checkmark does not actually control the Read-only attribute on the
child files and folder. It just displays their status.]]

Rally 'Round the Tri-Mode Flag
http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=652

If you uncheck the Read-Only attribute, Windows will prompt you to confirm
your changes.

Windows does prompt me to confirm changes but only the first time I do it
after loggin in.

-----
You have chosen to make the following attribute change(s):

unset read-only

Do you want to apply this change to this folder only, or do you want to
apply it to all subfolders and files as well?
-----

Click the option that you want, and then click OK. That would be YES.
---

[[Windows Explorer uses the Read-Only attribute to determine whether or not
a folder is customized.]]
Unable to Remove Read-Only Attribute from Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256614/EN-US/

I read the link above and followed all the instructions. Still no luck.
the thing is that application complain that the folder is either shared or
is set to be read-only.
The folder is not shared and is not customized. So my question is is there
a way to uncheck this flag
in the fodler properties even though it doesn't matter. Because apparently
it Does matter for the application.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Thank you very much for replying.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

What folder?

What application?

Are these secret?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Read-only means nothing for folders. Only a file can be Read-only.

The gray state means...

[[Microsoft calls this a tri-mode flag. When it has gray in the
background, it indicates that some file or folder anywhere under
that particular folder has been set to Read-only.

Yes I realize this. The "C:\Windows\System" folder has no subfolders
and no file in it is marked as read-only. As a matter of fact when i
select all the files in the folder
and click Ctrol+A, Right-Click->Properties. Read-only flag is off.

This checkmark does not actually control the Read-only attribute on
the child files and folder. It just displays their status.]]

Rally 'Round the Tri-Mode Flag
http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=652

If you uncheck the Read-Only attribute, Windows will prompt you to
confirm your changes.

Windows does prompt me to confirm changes but only the first time I
do it after loggin in.

-----
You have chosen to make the following attribute change(s):

unset read-only

Do you want to apply this change to this folder only, or do you want
to apply it to all subfolders and files as well?
-----

Click the option that you want, and then click OK. That would be
YES. ---

[[Windows Explorer uses the Read-Only attribute to determine whether
or not a folder is customized.]]
Unable to Remove Read-Only Attribute from Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256614/EN-US/

I read the link above and followed all the instructions. Still no
luck.
the thing is that application complain that the folder is either
shared or is set to be read-only.
The folder is not shared and is not customized. So my question is is
there a way to uncheck this flag
in the fodler properties even though it doesn't matter. Because
apparently it Does matter for the application.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Thank you very much for replying.

In

 

[asdf]

Umm... Don't remember the name of the application since i don't have CD
infront of me
from which the fonts are being read. I guess it would be a good idea to go
to programmer's
website tomorrow and see if there are any fixes/updates.

The folder is "C:\Windows\System"- this is the folder to which app is trying
to write *.fot files.


Thank You

What folder?

What application?

Are these secret?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Read-only means nothing for folders. Only a file can be Read-only.

The gray state means...

[[Microsoft calls this a tri-mode flag. When it has gray in the
background, it indicates that some file or folder anywhere under
that particular folder has been set to Read-only.

Yes I realize this. The "C:\Windows\System" folder has no subfolders
and no file in it is marked as read-only. As a matter of fact when i
select all the files in the folder
and click Ctrol+A, Right-Click->Properties. Read-only flag is off.

This checkmark does not actually control the Read-only attribute on
the child files and folder. It just displays their status.]]

Rally 'Round the Tri-Mode Flag
http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=652

If you uncheck the Read-Only attribute, Windows will prompt you to
confirm your changes.

Windows does prompt me to confirm changes but only the first time I
do it after loggin in.

-----
You have chosen to make the following attribute change(s):

unset read-only

Do you want to apply this change to this folder only, or do you want
to apply it to all subfolders and files as well?
-----

Click the option that you want, and then click OK. That would be
YES. ---

[[Windows Explorer uses the Read-Only attribute to determine whether
or not a folder is customized.]]
Unable to Remove Read-Only Attribute from Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256614/EN-US/

I read the link above and followed all the instructions. Still no
luck.
the thing is that application complain that the folder is either
shared or is set to be read-only.
The folder is not shared and is not customized. So my question is is
there a way to uncheck this flag
in the fodler properties even though it doesn't matter. Because
apparently it Does matter for the application.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Thank you very much for replying.

In asdf <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
Tried following all the suggestions to unset the read only flag on
the above folder.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;256614
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=326549
Nothing works.

I have a program that writes font files to the System folder and it
messes up
when it sees that the folder is a read only folder. I know that in
WinXP it doesn't matter
but the program doesn't like it and won't write to the folder. The
funny thing is that the problem
started after i installed SP2 on the machine. Doing system restore,
however didn't fix the problem.

Any other way to workaround this problem or to fool the program inot
thinking that the folder is writeable.

Eternal gratitude to whomever can solve this one.

 

[David Candy]

Are you installing the program as an administrator. There are tools in windows to handle this. It sounds like it is a win 3.11 application. But I don't think that compatability is the issue. The system folder and files in it aren't used by XP. They are there for bad old programs that check to see if you have a particular dll available. Any system file used comes from System32 (even if one specifies system specifically).

If read only is the problem then the program is reading the state of the read only bit itself and deciding (incorrectly) that it can't write. This would have happened prior to SP2 as it's an internal error to the program.

Also system does not have the read only bit set.

Type in a command prompt

attrib c:\windows\system

There should be no attributes set. That is you should only see the name of the folder,


C:\WINDOWS>attrib system
C:\WINDOWS\system

C:\WINDOWS>attrib tasks
S C:\WINDOWS\Tasks

EG Tasks has the system attribute set (does the same job as read only in explorer plus may prompt you if you try to delete) and returns a S.
--
----------------------------------------------------------

Umm... Don't remember the name of the application since i don't have CD
infront of me
from which the fonts are being read. I guess it would be a good idea to go
to programmer's
website tomorrow and see if there are any fixes/updates.

The folder is "C:\Windows\System"- this is the folder to which app is trying
to write *.fot files.


Thank You

What folder?

What application?

Are these secret?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Read-only means nothing for folders. Only a file can be Read-only.

The gray state means...

[[Microsoft calls this a tri-mode flag. When it has gray in the
background, it indicates that some file or folder anywhere under
that particular folder has been set to Read-only.

Yes I realize this. The "C:\Windows\System" folder has no subfolders
and no file in it is marked as read-only. As a matter of fact when i
select all the files in the folder
and click Ctrol+A, Right-Click->Properties. Read-only flag is off.

This checkmark does not actually control the Read-only attribute on
the child files and folder. It just displays their status.]]

Rally 'Round the Tri-Mode Flag
http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=652

If you uncheck the Read-Only attribute, Windows will prompt you to
confirm your changes.

Windows does prompt me to confirm changes but only the first time I
do it after loggin in.


-----
You have chosen to make the following attribute change(s):

unset read-only

Do you want to apply this change to this folder only, or do you want
to apply it to all subfolders and files as well?
-----

Click the option that you want, and then click OK. That would be
YES. ---

[[Windows Explorer uses the Read-Only attribute to determine whether
or not a folder is customized.]]
Unable to Remove Read-Only Attribute from Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256614/EN-US/


I read the link above and followed all the instructions. Still no
luck.
the thing is that application complain that the folder is either
shared or is set to be read-only.
The folder is not shared and is not customized. So my question is is
there a way to uncheck this flag
in the fodler properties even though it doesn't matter. Because
apparently it Does matter for the application.
--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Thank you very much for replying.



In asdf <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
Tried following all the suggestions to unset the read only flag on
the above folder.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;256614
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=326549
Nothing works.

I have a program that writes font files to the System folder and it
messes up
when it sees that the folder is a read only folder. I know that in
WinXP it doesn't matter
but the program doesn't like it and won't write to the folder. The
funny thing is that the problem
started after i installed SP2 on the machine. Doing system restore,
however didn't fix the problem.

Any other way to workaround this problem or to fool the program inot
thinking that the folder is writeable.

Eternal gratitude to whomever can solve this one.

 

[asdf]

OK. The program name is Galaxy Fonts. It's onr of those $9.99 disocunt bin
progams that you would see at staples.
It says on the case that is for win95 adn 3.1 so i assume it is pretty old
and that is the cause of the incompatibility.

"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
Are you installing the program as an administrator.

---Yes I am installing as administrator

There are tools in windows to handle this.

---Which are they please?

It sounds like it is a win 3.11 application.

--Yes it's win3.1 and win95 compatible

But I don't think that compatability is the issue. The system folder and
files in it aren't used by XP. They are there for bad old programs that
check to see if you have a particular dll available. Any system file used
comes from System32 (even if one specifies system specifically).

---When i go inside the folder there are several font files there so i think
the application is actually trying to write something to the folder. I am
probably wrong though
---When i try to copy over one of the files it says it is in use. I assume
it's because Fonts folder in CPL is holding it.

If read only is the problem then the program is reading the state of the
read only bit itself and deciding (incorrectly) that it can't write. This
would have happened prior to SP2 as it's an internal error to the program.

--Thats exactly what I'm thinking. Application is not configured to deal
with XP's peculiar read-only settings and its causing it toscrew up. But it
did work under SP1 it is only after i upgraded to SP2
---that it started throwing this error at me. System restoring to SP1 didn't
help.

Also system does not have the read only bit set.

Type in a command prompt

attrib c:\windows\system

There should be no attributes set. That is you should only see the name of
the folder,


C:\WINDOWS>attrib system
C:\WINDOWS\system

C:\WINDOWS>attrib tasks
S C:\WINDOWS\Tasks

EG Tasks has the system attribute set (does the same job as read only in
explorer plus may prompt you if you try to delete) and returns a S.
--
----------------------------------------------------------

--OK So my question still stands. Is there a way to unset a flag even if it
is meaningless. So that when i go to folder properties i won't see a chek
mark in read-only settings?


Thank you

 

[David Candy]

My point, and if you ran the command I said it would confirm, is that it probably is NOT set.

attrib %windir%\system

in a command prompt.

If a big capital R is not reported then it is not set. There are 4 attributes that attrib handles (and there are only 4 on Fat32 partitions anyway). It only reports those that are set.
A= Archive
R=Read Only
S=System
H=Hidden

None should be set on the system folder so it should be reporting the file\foldername only. See prev post for examples of what it looks like without and with an attribute set.

[PS Just for technical completeness Fat32 have a special 5th attribute - Directory as directories are just files with a D attribute - you can't change this. NTFS support these but have others as well like Compress).