Wizard said:
Can someone tell me what exactly it takes to get full control of all
files and folders, permissions etc.?
I have turned on the hidden Administrator account and renamed it to
myself and boot into it. Stll i get "access Denied" all over the place.
What folders are giving you access denied? Some are only junction points
that have no content except pointing to another folder where the data is
actually kept. With show hidden files/folders checked, these are displaed
in Explorer with a dim icon that has the shortcut overlay. They are folders
that were in XP that have been migrated to Vista for compatibility for older
Apps, but are not actually used to store files or data. You don't need
access to them anyway, and you shouldn't change the permissions on those
folders because this could cause problems for legacy apps.
There is no need to use the built in Administrator account. It will not
help you there, and UAC is disabled when using it. There is almost no
difference between using an account with Admin privileges v. the
Administrator account for file access. Best to keep the Adminstrator
account disabled, and use either a Standard user account or another account
with Admin privileges.
Here is a list of such folders that are compatibility junction points from a
post by Jimmy Brush. I suggest before you start taking drastic steps you
ask questions first. Vista does things differently with a different
security model and a paradigm shift.
Here is a list of all of the folders that have been moved in Windows
Vista, along with their new location:
Windows XP Location Windows Vista Location
\Documents and Settings \Users
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents \Users\$USER$\Documents
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Music \Users\$USER$\Music
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Pictures
\Users\$USER$\Pictures
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Videos
\Users\$USER$\Videos
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Application Data
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Cookies
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Local
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\NetHood
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\PrintHood
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Recent
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\SendTo
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Start Menu
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Templates
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\Application Data
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Local
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\History
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History
\Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
\Users\$USER$\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files
\Documents and Settings\All Users \ProgramData
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data \ProgramData
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop \Users\Public\Desktop
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents \Users\Public\Documents
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Favorites \Users\Public\Favorites
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu
\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Templates
\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
\Documents and Settings\Default User \Users\Default
