How do you access denied folders?

I am pulling my hair out with this OS. I just got a new Dell laptop with
Vista Home Premium.
Since Dell doesn't provide drivers for win xp for it I am stuck with
this OS.
I am trying to organize it and set things up like I want but there are
lots of folders in Windows Explorer that keep denying me access, even
though I am the administrator.
How the hell do I gain access to all the folders on my computer?
This situation is completely unacceptable.
I have already tried all the usual things that one could do in XP to
allow access to system or hidden folders and files, but these denied
folders aren't even important in many cases.
Thanks a lot for any advice.

On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:15:44 +0100, Luis Ortega <>
wrote:

>I am pulling my hair out with this OS. I just got a new Dell laptop with
>Vista Home Premium.
>Since Dell doesn't provide drivers for win xp for it I am stuck with
>this OS.
>I am trying to organize it and set things up like I want but there are
>lots of folders in Windows Explorer that keep denying me access, even
>though I am the administrator.
>How the hell do I gain access to all the folders on my computer?
>This situation is completely unacceptable.
>I have already tried all the usual things that one could do in XP to
>allow access to system or hidden folders and files, but these denied
>folders aren't even important in many cases.
>Thanks a lot for any advice.

This topic comes up nearly every day. Scan older posts for more
details and opinions. If you're using Vista forget all you knew about
administrator. Things are radically different in Vista.

Enter the much hated UAC (User Account Control). The good news is you
can disable it from Control Panel. If you want to try to tame the
beast that is preventing your from accessing your files you need to
learn a bit about file ownership and related permissions.

Go to Windows Explorer, right click on some folders and files, then
Properties, then Security tab. The top section lists groups and users
the bottom what "rights" are given. To fully access all your files you
have to be accepted as that file's owner or at least have rights to
operate on the contents. You do that by adding yourself to the
group/user list if you don't already see the name you logged in on
already listed there. Next click Edit and for most situations give
yourself full permissions by checking all the entries under the allow
column.

Sadly there is no central location to do this from that effects
everything at once. You need to do it on a folder by folder basis. So
for example if you have a E drive taking ownership of that should
normally give you control over all folders on that drive.

Ringmaster wrote:
> On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:15:44 +0100, Luis Ortega <>
> wrote:
>
>> I am pulling my hair out with this OS. I just got a new Dell laptop with
>> Vista Home Premium.
>> Since Dell doesn't provide drivers for win xp for it I am stuck with
>> this OS.
>> I am trying to organize it and set things up like I want but there are
>> lots of folders in Windows Explorer that keep denying me access, even
>> though I am the administrator.
>> How the hell do I gain access to all the folders on my computer?
>> This situation is completely unacceptable.
>> I have already tried all the usual things that one could do in XP to
>> allow access to system or hidden folders and files, but these denied
>> folders aren't even important in many cases.
>> Thanks a lot for any advice.
>
> This topic comes up nearly every day. Scan older posts for more
> details and opinions. If you're using Vista forget all you knew about
> administrator. Things are radically different in Vista.
>
> Enter the much hated UAC (User Account Control). The good news is you
> can disable it from Control Panel. If you want to try to tame the
> beast that is preventing your from accessing your files you need to
> learn a bit about file ownership and related permissions.
>
> Go to Windows Explorer, right click on some folders and files, then
> Properties, then Security tab. The top section lists groups and users
> the bottom what "rights" are given. To fully access all your files you
> have to be accepted as that file's owner or at least have rights to
> operate on the contents. You do that by adding yourself to the
> group/user list if you don't already see the name you logged in on
> already listed there. Next click Edit and for most situations give
> yourself full permissions by checking all the entries under the allow
> column.
>
> Sadly there is no central location to do this from that effects
> everything at once. You need to do it on a folder by folder basis. So
> for example if you have a E drive taking ownership of that should
> normally give you control over all folders on that drive.

Thanks a lot for the info. I will try this out now. I had already turned
off UAC because it was so intrusive but that made no difference.

Luis Ortega wrote:
> I am pulling my hair out with this OS. I just got a new Dell laptop with
> Vista Home Premium.
> Since Dell doesn't provide drivers for win xp for it I am stuck with
> this OS.
> I am trying to organize it and set things up like I want but there are
> lots of folders in Windows Explorer that keep denying me access, even
> though I am the administrator.
> How the hell do I gain access to all the folders on my computer?
> This situation is completely unacceptable.
> I have already tried all the usual things that one could do in XP to
> allow access to system or hidden folders and files, but these denied
> folders aren't even important in many cases.
> Thanks a lot for any advice.

You don't say which folder you are tryin gto access but keep in mind
that Vista repalced the documents and settings folder with the Users
folder. Here's a link that explains it.

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk...ta_appdata.htm

gls858

"Luis Ortega" <> wrote in message
news:e0aHk.2161$2...
> Ringmaster wrote:
>> On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:15:44 +0100, Luis Ortega <>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I am pulling my hair out with this OS. I just got a new Dell laptop with
>>> Vista Home Premium.
>>> Since Dell doesn't provide drivers for win xp for it I am stuck with
>>> this OS.
>>> I am trying to organize it and set things up like I want but there are
>>> lots of folders in Windows Explorer that keep denying me access, even
>>> though I am the administrator.
>>> How the hell do I gain access to all the folders on my computer?
>>> This situation is completely unacceptable.
>>> I have already tried all the usual things that one could do in XP to
>>> allow access to system or hidden folders and files, but these denied
>>> folders aren't even important in many cases.
>>> Thanks a lot for any advice.
>>
>> This topic comes up nearly every day. Scan older posts for more
>> details and opinions. If you're using Vista forget all you knew about
>> administrator. Things are radically different in Vista.
>>
>> Enter the much hated UAC (User Account Control). The good news is you
>> can disable it from Control Panel. If you want to try to tame the
>> beast that is preventing your from accessing your files you need to
>> learn a bit about file ownership and related permissions.
>>
>> Go to Windows Explorer, right click on some folders and files, then
>> Properties, then Security tab. The top section lists groups and users
>> the bottom what "rights" are given. To fully access all your files you
>> have to be accepted as that file's owner or at least have rights to
>> operate on the contents. You do that by adding yourself to the
>> group/user list if you don't already see the name you logged in on
>> already listed there. Next click Edit and for most situations give
>> yourself full permissions by checking all the entries under the allow
>> column. Sadly there is no central location to do this from that effects
>> everything at once. You need to do it on a folder by folder basis. So
>> for example if you have a E drive taking ownership of that should
>> normally give you control over all folders on that drive.
>
> Thanks a lot for the info. I will try this out now. I had already turned
> off UAC because it was so intrusive but that made no difference.

Yes, you are correct that it makes no difference even with UAC disabled,
because your user/admin account on Vista the one out of the box that Vista
gave you is NOT an account that has full admin rights.

There is only one account that gives you those full admin rights on Vista,
and it's the hidden built-in Administrator account on Vista. It is the same
built-in Administrator account on XP, and you have to active it on Vista in
order to use that account. Your user/admin account out of the box that Vista
gives you or any new user/admin accounts that you may create on Vista do not
inherit full admin rights from the built-in Administrator account, like XP.

Hey, you can go to the Program Files or C:\Windows folders to the Security
tab and see if you can add a new user account, update the permissions of an
existing user account or delete a user account off the folders. You can't do
it with UAC disabled either, and you cannot even do it with the built-in
Administrator account, which has more power than your out of the box
user/admin account that Vista gives.

Those folders are protected and some folders within those folders are
protected from even an admin.

Hello,

If you have disabled the hiding of operating system files, you will see what
appear to be system folders with familiar names like "Documents and
Settings" and "My Music". They are shown with a transparent icon and a
shortcut arrow.

These are not really folders and contain no data. They are only there to
assist some old programs. Windows Vista has moved or renamed many familiar
locations.

If there is a specific location you are looking for, we can help you find
it.

- JB


"Luis Ortega" <> wrote in message
news:4q9Hk.30177$2...
>I am pulling my hair out with this OS. I just got a new Dell laptop with
>Vista Home Premium.
> Since Dell doesn't provide drivers for win xp for it I am stuck with this
> OS.
> I am trying to organize it and set things up like I want but there are
> lots of folders in Windows Explorer that keep denying me access, even
> though I am the administrator.
> How the hell do I gain access to all the folders on my computer?
> This situation is completely unacceptable.
> I have already tried all the usual things that one could do in XP to allow
> access to system or hidden folders and files, but these denied folders
> aren't even important in many cases.
> Thanks a lot for any advice.

Mr. Arnold wrote:
>
> "Luis Ortega" <> wrote in message
> news:e0aHk.2161$2...
>> Ringmaster wrote:
>>> On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:15:44 +0100, Luis Ortega <>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I am pulling my hair out with this OS. I just got a new Dell laptop
>>>> with Vista Home Premium.
>>>> Since Dell doesn't provide drivers for win xp for it I am stuck with
>>>> this OS.
>>>> I am trying to organize it and set things up like I want but there
>>>> are lots of folders in Windows Explorer that keep denying me access,
>>>> even though I am the administrator.
>>>> How the hell do I gain access to all the folders on my computer?
>>>> This situation is completely unacceptable.
>>>> I have already tried all the usual things that one could do in XP to
>>>> allow access to system or hidden folders and files, but these denied
>>>> folders aren't even important in many cases.
>>>> Thanks a lot for any advice.
>>>
>>> This topic comes up nearly every day. Scan older posts for more
>>> details and opinions. If you're using Vista forget all you knew about
>>> administrator. Things are radically different in Vista.
>>>
>>> Enter the much hated UAC (User Account Control). The good news is you
>>> can disable it from Control Panel. If you want to try to tame the
>>> beast that is preventing your from accessing your files you need to
>>> learn a bit about file ownership and related permissions.
>>>
>>> Go to Windows Explorer, right click on some folders and files, then
>>> Properties, then Security tab. The top section lists groups and users
>>> the bottom what "rights" are given. To fully access all your files you
>>> have to be accepted as that file's owner or at least have rights to
>>> operate on the contents. You do that by adding yourself to the
>>> group/user list if you don't already see the name you logged in on
>>> already listed there. Next click Edit and for most situations give
>>> yourself full permissions by checking all the entries under the allow
>>> column. Sadly there is no central location to do this from that effects
>>> everything at once. You need to do it on a folder by folder basis. So
>>> for example if you have a E drive taking ownership of that should
>>> normally give you control over all folders on that drive.
>>
>> Thanks a lot for the info. I will try this out now. I had already
>> turned off UAC because it was so intrusive but that made no difference.
>
> Yes, you are correct that it makes no difference even with UAC disabled,
> because your user/admin account on Vista the one out of the box that
> Vista gave you is NOT an account that has full admin rights.
>
> There is only one account that gives you those full admin rights on
> Vista, and it's the hidden built-in Administrator account on Vista. It
> is the same built-in Administrator account on XP, and you have to
> active it on Vista in order to use that account. Your user/admin account
> out of the box that Vista gives you or any new user/admin accounts that
> you may create on Vista do not inherit full admin rights from the
> built-in Administrator account, like XP.
>
> Hey, you can go to the Program Files or C:\Windows folders to the
> Security tab and see if you can add a new user account, update the
> permissions of an existing user account or delete a user account off the
> folders. You can't do it with UAC disabled either, and you cannot even
> do it with the built-in Administrator account, which has more power than
> your out of the box user/admin account that Vista gives.
>
> Those folders are protected and some folders within those folders are
> protected from even an admin.
>

Thanks, so how do I activate this hidden admin account?

Jimmy Brush wrote:
> Hello,
>
> If you have disabled the hiding of operating system files, you will see
> what appear to be system folders with familiar names like "Documents and
> Settings" and "My Music". They are shown with a transparent icon and a
> shortcut arrow.
>
> These are not really folders and contain no data. They are only there to
> assist some old programs. Windows Vista has moved or renamed many
> familiar locations.
>
> If there is a specific location you are looking for, we can help you
> find it.
>
> - JB
>
>
> "Luis Ortega" <> wrote in message
> news:4q9Hk.30177$2...
>> I am pulling my hair out with this OS. I just got a new Dell laptop
>> with Vista Home Premium.
>> Since Dell doesn't provide drivers for win xp for it I am stuck with
>> this OS.
>> I am trying to organize it and set things up like I want but there are
>> lots of folders in Windows Explorer that keep denying me access, even
>> though I am the administrator.
>> How the hell do I gain access to all the folders on my computer?
>> This situation is completely unacceptable.
>> I have already tried all the usual things that one could do in XP to
>> allow access to system or hidden folders and files, but these denied
>> folders aren't even important in many cases.
>> Thanks a lot for any advice.
>

Thanks,
What I want is full access to all my folders on my computer.
I am the sole user and it's insane that vista gets to decide what I can
access and what I can't.
I have tried to gain ownership and have been able to do so on some
folders but not on others.
I just don't know where to start because there are so many different
locations of the same folder.

Also, I can't even organize my start folder because if I use the start
menu advanced approach to getting there it leads to an empty folder.
The actual program shortcuts seem to be stored in a different folder to
where the start folder advanced option leads me, namely some folder in
the program data folder, but that one isn't accessible because I am
denied access rights.
There are so many damn folders with similar names in different areas,
such as my name, user, default user, etc. that the whole thing is
driving me nuts.
This OS is a real pain. I wish that I could install xp but there are no
xp drivers for its devices.
Do you think that wiping out the hard drive and reinstalling the OS
myself would create an admin account that was really mine? I suspect
that since the Dell people did the first install they may have set
things up differently to what I could do if I installed the OS myself.
Is the installation process about the same as for xp?
Can I format and partition the drive as I like and then install vista
with custom settings?
I just got the laptop and haven't really installed any of my own
software, so there isn't much there to reinstall other than the OS.
And I would like to not install all of the crap and trial software that
Dell throws on, and just deleting it now will probably leave a lot of
trash hidden all over the drive and the registry.

"Luis Ortega" <> wrote in message
news:f2qHk.15777$2...
>
> Thanks,
> What I want is full access to all my folders on my computer.
> I am the sole user and it's insane that vista gets to decide what I can
> access and what I can't.
> I have tried to gain ownership and have been able to do so on some folders
> but not on others.
> I just don't know where to start because there are so many different
> locations of the same folder.

I may be wrong, but you don't appear to have given us an example of a folder
you can't access. There are some folders in Vista that aren't folders but
junction points. An example of this is the "folder" called Documents and
Settings. You won't be able to access this, even if you were Bill Gates
himself because it is NOT a folder.
For example - the ONLY folder that I cannot apparently access on my C drive
is System Volume information. ALL other folders I can access by supplying
the Admin password.
So I repeat - please give us an example of a FOLDER you can't access.

"Luis Ortega" <> wrote in message
news:jQpHk.33467$2...
> Mr. Arnold wrote:
>>
>> Yes, you are correct that it makes no difference even with UAC disabled,
>> because your user/admin account on Vista the one out of the box that
>> Vista gave you is NOT an account that has full admin rights.
>>
>> There is only one account that gives you those full admin rights on
>> Vista, and it's the hidden built-in Administrator account on Vista. It is
>> the same built-in Administrator account on XP, and you have to active it
>> on Vista in order to use that account. Your user/admin account out of the
>> box that Vista gives you or any new user/admin accounts that you may
>> create on Vista do not inherit full admin rights from the built-in
>> Administrator account, like XP.
>>
>> Hey, you can go to the Program Files or C:\Windows folders to the
>> Security tab and see if you can add a new user account, update the
>> permissions of an existing user account or delete a user account off the
>> folders. You can't do it with UAC disabled either, and you cannot even do
>> it with the built-in Administrator account, which has more power than
>> your out of the box user/admin account that Vista gives.
>>
>> Those folders are protected and some folders within those folders are
>> protected from even an admin.
>>
>
> Thanks, so how do I activate this hidden admin account?

You should view/read my post to you in the Vista.Installation_Setup NG that
has the information and more.