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Permissions problem with Win 10 update

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3K views 45 replies 5 participants last post by  jmallard 
#1 ·
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Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 11
Processor Count: 4
RAM: 8189 Mb
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti, 1024 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 228422 MB, Free - 139404 MB; D: Total - 457859 MB, Free - 129865 MB; E: Total - 953866 MB, Free - 92262 MB; I: Total - 953866 MB, Free - 564634 MB;
Motherboard: Dell Inc., 0YU822
Antivirus: Panda Free Antivirus, Updated and Enabled
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Background

Just updated to Win 10 by using a 250 GB SSD that I created when Microsoft (MS) offered a free version to download a long time back. I put that SSD aside until now that MS no longer supports Win 7. This SSD is installed in my computer as C Drive. Previously, I had another 250 GB SSD with Windows 7 as the operating system and all my program files. I simply switched SSD drives to start using Windows 10 on my computer.

I use a 500 GB SSD for data storage that is my D Drive. I have used a second physical drive for data storage for years with no problems.

I have discovered that many of my data files will not open using MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint, Corel WordPerfect and Quattro Pro. I get an "Access Denied" notice or "You don't have Permission" or similar notice to open or run a file. When I try to copy an executable program to a flash drive, I get a "Don't have Permission" or similar message and cannot copy the file.

I have searched and cannot find an answer to this problem.

Any help would be appreciated.

Jerry
 
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#2 ·
I remember having this exact issue when upgrading to windows 10 during the free window you mentioned and I'm also sure nearly everyone else who used multiple drives did at the time, however that was years ago and I can't remember the exact solution, but I'm sure you will find it if you search hard enough.

That being said I do remember I had to take ownership of each of my drives and I think it went something like this... Basically because the D drive was present on the old operating system, the Windows account/s for the old operating system are still considered the owner of the drive and the data. When you plug it into the new operating system with the new Windows Accounts, the operating system detects that they have another owner and when you try to perform operations on the disk you get the access denied message.

To set your new account as the owner of the data:
1) Right click the drive
2) Select Properties
3) Select the Security Tab
4) Click Advanced
5) Next to "Owner" (it will probably say "Account Unknown(S-1-##.....)") click Change.
6) Select yourself and tick the replace owner on subcontainers and objects.
7) click OK
8) Wait and do not cancel, this process can take some time as it litterally goes through every single item on the disk and assigns permissions to yourself. If you cancel it you will need to start from the begining it will not pick up where it left off and you will end up with some files and directories with permisions and some without.
 
#4 ·
I was beginning to wonder if anybody was going to answer. :)

flavallee

Thanks for the info and link. Updated System below
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Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.9
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit, Build 10586, Installed 20160728213601.000000-420
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 11, CPU Count: 4
Total Physical RAM: 8 GB
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti, 1024 MB
Hard Drives: C: 223 GB (137 GB Free); D: 447 GB (126 GB Free); E: 931 GB (89 GB Free); I: 931 GB (551 GB Free);
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0YU822, ver A00, s/n CN137407BP01BL.
System: Dell Inc., ver DELL - d, s/n 3F6FDF1
Antivirus: Panda Free Antivirus, Enabled and Updated
-------------------------------------
Xsage

This problem has been driving my crazy. Some files will open and most others will not. Keep getting the "Permissions" or "Access Denied" messages. I have never changed permissions on any of my files or drives. I have password protected some files in Quattro Pro.

I checked the Security tabs on all my drives and changed them all as indicated in the image below. Only the "C" drive did any reassignment of permissions. It did so on many files on "C" drive but not in "Program Files", "Program Files (x86)", "Program Data" and the "Windows" folder.



I still don't have access to all my files. It even affects some of my photos. I all photos on "D" drive and in a "Photos" folder and store by a date folder that I create (20200120_plus comment - would be today). Some folders open and display all the filenames but I have no access to some folders. This access is random.

Any help on how to make the "D" drive (and other drives) physically do the permissions update would be greatly appreciated.

I have hundreds of photos alone plus 18 years of data from different programs stored on my "D" drive. The other drives are used mostly for back-up.

Thanks.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.9
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit, Build 10586, Installed 20160728213601.000000-420
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 11, CPU Count: 4
Total Physical RAM: 8 GB
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti, 1024 MB
Hard Drives: C: 223 GB (137 GB Free); D: 447 GB (126 GB Free); E: 931 GB (89 GB Free); I: 931 GB (551 GB Free);
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0YU822, ver A00, s/n CN137407BP01BL.
System: Dell Inc., ver DELL - d, s/n 3F6FDF1
Antivirus: Panda Free Antivirus, Enabled and Updated
Your old Dell XPS 720 Desktop PC is running a Version/OS Build copy of Windows 10 Pro 64-bit which was released in November 2015 and is no longer supported by Microsoft.
Because it's 4 years out of date, that explains one reason why you're having so many issues with it.

If you have 18 years worth of photos that you don't want to lose, I hope you have at least 1 backup copy of them in reliable media.
If the D: drive fails and you don't have a backup copy, you can probably kiss them good-bye.

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#6 ·
Frank,

Thanks for your response.

Yes, I know my computer(s) are old.

My Dell XPS desktop was purchased in January 2008 with Windows XP (my favorite OS). I have upgraded it as much as I can to try and avoid buying a new system. What can I say - I'm old (76) and I keep stuff as long as I possibly can. :) I upgraded memory, video card and have a total of 4 hard drives (2 SSD) and 2 - 1TB drives for back-up. I was originally going to use the 1TB drives as "C" and "D" but a friend told me about the SSD drives being much faster, so I got a couple to use as "C" and "D".

My wife's laptop is an HP G70-463CL Notebook PC Purchased Oct 2009 with Windows Vista.
-----------------------------------
Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.9
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit, Build 18363, Installed 20200120131952.000000-480
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T6500 @ 2.10GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 10, CPU Count: 2
Total Physical RAM: 4 GB
Graphics Card: Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM 1.1)
Hard Drives: C: 445 GB (340 GB Free); F: 19 GB (8 GB Free);
Motherboard: Wistron 360C, ver 09.66, s/n 2CE922G6VG
System: Hewlett-Packard, ver HPQOEM - 1, s/n 2CE922G6VG
Antivirus: Windows Defender, Enabled and Updated
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Due to MS requirement I had to upgrade to Windows 7 on both machines and learn how to use Win 7, which wasn't too bad and only had to spend a couple of hundred for software updates. Now I am forced to upgrade to Windows 10, which SUCKS!

Back in April of 2016 I was getting notices on both machines to download a FREE copy of Windows 10, which I did for both computers. At the time I had no desire to start using Win 10.

I created a SSD drive with Windows 10 and all my other program software as a "C" drive and stored it away until I was forced to start using it, which was Jan 15th. I simply replaced the SSD drive with Win 7 with the SSD that has Win10 installed. So now I have all these troubles trying to access my data files and photos on my SSD - "D" drive. I have three complete back-ups of the XPS on my 1 TB drives.

For the wife's laptop, I created a DVD with Windows 10 and installed it on the laptop. I formatted the "C" drive and did a clean install. I use Acronis True Image as back-up software and backed up the whole laptop onto a stand alone USB drive - Twice.

I didn't know anything about the permissions stuff because I never set permissions on anything.

The laptop gave me a message that I needed to get Windows 10 Update Assistant and upgrade my installation. I did so and it seemed to be o.k. I have permissions issued with the laptop too. I forgot to check after the initial install of Win 10 to see if the version was activated. I did check after the update and now I learn that this version is not activated.

My 10586 version on the XPS laptop IS activated. I downloaded and ran the Update Assistant on that and it stops half way through and returns the computer to what it was. I ran it twice with the same results.

So, any advise on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. I would hate like hell to have to buy two copies of Win 10.

Jerry
 
#7 ·
There's no need for you to spend hundreds of dollars to buy 2 retail copies of Windows 10 because you can still get it for free from Microsoft.
Go HERE to download and save the Media Creation Tool (10.0.18362.418).
Run the tool and follow the instructions for creating a bootable DVD disc that contains Windows 10.
Use that bootable DVD disc to do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

I also know nothing about permissions issues because I've never had to deal with it, so someone else will need to help you with it.

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#8 ·
Hey Jmallard,

You didn't follow my instructions correctly. Assigning permissions on the security tab is not the same as taking ownership of the drive/directory. When looking at the security tab, below where you can set the permissions, you will see a button labeled "Advanced" You will need to click this and it will open up a new window where you can set ownership.

As for the activation issue, I can't remember how it worked back in the day, you either have to run the original install package you downloaded as it may have the activation key hard coded into it. Or Microsoft had an API up at the time that assigned a license key, if that API is now down, then the free activation wont work. So I can't really help you with that one.

Finally with the update assistant issue on your other device, this may fix itself once you get the permissions figured out, I also remember it was important on older versions of windows 10 to run things like this as an administrator through the right click context menu, otherwise it would get part way through and break due to permission errors. (The early days of windows 10 had their teething problems thats for sure)
 
#9 ·
Xsage,

Sorry for my late response.

If I remember correctly, I changed permissions on all 4 of my drives and then went into the "Advances" tab on the window of each drive and made sure all the drives had the same information. See attached images.




The only drive that caused any read activity was "C" drive and it read very quickly and didn't last very long. I'm still having problems accessing many random files on the "D" drive.

I was thinking of re-installing my other SSD drive that contains Windows 7 and make sure that the drive will access all files on the "D" drive. If it does, then I will try installing Windows 10 on top of the Windows 7 so I don't loose all my peripheral settings and hopefully I won't have to re-install all my programs.
If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to do what flavallee suggests above.

What's your thoughts on my plan ?

Thanks

Jerry
 
#10 ·
Well first of all I've noticed the top image is for a link to the C: drive and not the C: drive itself so I'm pretty sure that wont propogate permissions correctly - you should navigate to the properties window of the drive from windows explorer.

Also on the screen with the permissions where it says "Owner: SYSTEM", you can click the change button next to it (as long as you are an administrator on the PC), and set this to your own account. You should also tick the box that appears to replace owner on subcontainers. After you have done this you may need to reapply the permissions from the security tab as you did before. Once you have done if everything goes well, you 'should' have access to the drive and everything on it.

Check out this link to make sure you follow the correct steps:

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/take-ownership-folder-windows-10-using-file-explorer

Your plan isn't a bad idea but I feel like you'd run into the same issue you are facing now. When I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10, I did an in place upgrade as you are suggesting and ran into the same issue.

Here is an example on some different forums from back in 2015 with a user describing an similar issue to what you are experiencing. It seems the resolution to this is as I have described above.

https://www.tenforums.com/general-s...ed-assessed-denied-unable-get-permission.html
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
Xsage,

Thanks for your quick response. I will read your message close and try and do all you have suggested. I hope I can get it solved.

My version (10586) of Win 10 is Activated, which is good, but I can't get any updates and none of the Windows10 upgrade files will work.

So, this whole update process has been messed up. I really appreciate your help.

Thanks.

Jerry
 
#12 ·
I am currently doing a clean install of Win 10. (on the laptop right now)

I read elsewhere on the forum that you should disconnect other drives while installing windows 10, which I did. My question is when do I hook them back and will Win 10 automatically recognize them?

Jerry
 
#15 ·
managed,

Thanks for the quick response.

Finally got the clean install completed. No real problems so far. While waiting for a response here I started installing some of my program file back (mail, browser, etc.) Got lots to get back installed.

I did mess up my user name and finally found help on how to change that back to what I really wanted.

I'm going to shut down now and re-connect my other three physical drives. Just hoping Win 10 recognizes them and that I can read all my files.

I'll do that and get back on here and report.

Jerry
 
#17 ·
Well, this was a total bust.
I can access even fewer files that I did in the previous version. (permissions & owner ship problems)
My drive letter designations are shot. They go:
Should Be: As Indicated by computer.
C - SSD C - SSD
D - SSD K - SSD
E - DVD 1 F - DVD 1
F - DVD2 G - DVD 2
G - DVD3 H - DVD 3
H - 1tb Hard Drive L - 1tb Hard Drive (back-up) (cannot access)
I - 1tb Hard Drive M - 1tb Hard Drive (back-up) (cannot access)

I have built-in card readers and these previously showed up on the "Computer" display as separate drive letters (I know I missing the driver for this card reader module). So, I'm missing these drive letters D E I J K

Haven't got the network set up so I can't transfer any images to further explain what's going on.

Is it O.K. if I say I f'ng hate this software.

I got more, but I'll come back later for it and hope I can get help to work this stuff out.

Jerry
 
#18 ·
Hey Jerry,

Sorry to hear your plan to reinstall worked out worse, but with a little determination you will be able to get it all up and running as normal.

The drive letters are not stored on the drives themselves, they are configured in the operating system itself, from my understanding their is no guarantee of consistency when installing a new OS, how it will desginate the drives. This isn't an issue though as you can change this from Disk Manager. To do this follow these steps (I'll include pictures this time to make it easier for you):

  1. Click "Start" and type "Disk Manager".
  2. Click to open the top option (it will look something like this):


  3. Right click in the lower half of the window on the partition letter you would like to change and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."


  4. In the box that appears do the following:
    1. Click Change
    2. From the drop down select the new letter
    3. Click OK
    4. Click OK


  5. The new drive letter should be assigned, repeat this for all incorrectly named drives.
As for the permissions issues, I would recommend going through the process of taking ownership again as I described on page 1. As its a new operating system install, you have a new user account with a new GUID so will have to go through this process again for any drives that are giving you trouble.
 
#19 ·
Xsage,

Thanks for your detailed response. I seem to remember having this trouble when upgrading from Win XP to Win 7 and using the Disk Manager. Of course, that has been so long ago I forgot about it.

I did solve that problem but in another way. On this current install of Win10 I had to create the Microsoft account and I didn't want to. So I did a search on the www and found out how to get around that, so I decided to re-install Win10. Before I did that. I put the SSD that has Win 7 still installed back in my computer and booted up the computer. Like I had hoped, the drive designation letters were correct. I copied a couple of extra things onto my "D" drive at that time and closed down.

Re-installed Win10 and was able to skip creating the Microsoft account and this time the drive designations are correct.

My two 1TB drives were listed but I couldn't access them. I was able to take ownership of both of them and can see the files. I can't access the back-up files because I don't have Acronis True Image installed. For some reason you have to have that program installed to be able to access the files outside of Acronis (just view with explorer) and of course you can access with Acronis.

I have Acronis version 2010 - of course it won't install - get message that it won't run on Win10. So I'm going to have to buy that program. Still - I'm happy I can see and access the drives.

As for the permissions and ownership issues - still having lots. For example - I have a photos folder ;with 270 folders therein, each with from 25 to 300 photos contained therein. I can see and access all of the folders but randomly, some of the folder show icons instead of photos. Just my folder from our Hawaii trip in 2017 has 170 photos in it and I can't view any of them. I can take ownership and see the photos. Can you imagine how long it is going to take just to be able to view those photos ?
I am having the random access problems with my MS Word, MS Excell, WordPerfect and Quattro files too.

This is so exasperating - I'm close to taking my shotgun to all the damn computers in the house.

Thanks for your help - I'll keep chugging along. Gots lots of programs to install.

Jerry
 
#21 ·
managed,

Thanks very much for that link. Took a quick look, 53 pages.

Do you know if the instructions on the first page work or do I have to read all 53 pages to find the right solution ?

I am willing to do most anything at this point. :)

Thanks very much. I'll keep posting here on results.

Jerry
 
#22 ·
The instructions on Page #1 worked for me, I tried most of them.

With the Add_Shift ones you have to hold down a Shift key before you do a right-click on whatever you want to take ownership of.

The with_Pause ones show what it's doing in a CMD window, this could last a long time if there's lots of files to process.

If want to try a different version it will replace the existing one.

You can also remove the context menu entry completely by running Step #4
 
#23 ·
managed,

Thanks for the quick response.

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I am currently on my old Win XP Laptop (I know its OLD, but I only use it for some browsing and using Audacity (audio editing software) for recording with my guitar).

I want to update my browser to Firefox and download the files and I will definitely let you know if it works.

As a side note I downloaded the new version of Acronis True Vision and have a 30 trial running now. I can now access all the files on my back-up drives.

Thanks again for your help.

Jerry
 
#24 ·
Managed,

Got my FireFox installed and I downloaded all the files. I used the Shift_Right (I think it is) on my "D" drive. Right now my Desktop is scanning and changing files on the "D" drive at a very fast pace in a "DOS" (black & white text) box. There is about 323 GB of data on that drive so I guess it will take a little while to finish - it is fast though.

I'll let you know the outcome.

Thanks again, you have been really, really helpful.

Jerry
 
#25 ·
managed and Xsage,

Just an interim report, after running that "..-add-take-ownership-context-menu-windows-10-a.html" program, My Photos Are Repaired. After several minutes of testing random folders that I knew previously I couldn't view, they all worked. After messing with these files for about 4 days now, that is really a blessing by itself.

I haven't tested many other files yet because I have to install the software that created them, Office, Corel, etc. I will do that later tomorrow - going to one of my daughter's house to celebrate the wife's birthday.

I will report back with more updates.

Thanks again guys.

Jerry
 
#26 ·
Glad it worked :)
You can speed it up by just taking ownership of the particular folders rather than the whole drive.

It might be a good idea to make backups of the important files you can only reach with Acronis now, before the free trial runs out.
 
#29 ·
managed,

Thanks for the extra tip. That file sure is a lifesaver for me. So far, I haven't run into any problems yet. Just installing program software and pulling some stuff from the back-up files. All of my current "D" drive is important and current.

I would have though Microsoft would have learned of this problem long before this and fixed the Win10 software in one of the many upgrades since it came out.

Actually, my back-ups with Acronis were whole computer back-ups, drive by drive (C and D). I just had up to 4 complete back-ups at a time (on my 1tb drives).
The odd think is, the files cannot be accessed unless Acronis is installed on the computer. You don't have to use Acronis to view, copy, etc, the files.

I guess I'll check with www and see if there are any reliable Free backup programs.

I may find other quirks from this update, but I'll make new posts as I discover them. But I will wait a short while before I mark this solved.

Again, my heartfelt thanks for your help and that link.

Jerry
 
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