Help! Access Denied Even To The System Owner...

> I'll admit up front that I'm not sure just how I would proceed at this point.
> I'm participating in your thread as much to see if I can learn something as
> to see if I might be able to help you. I am including a small sermon at the
> end of my post to make a point. Because it is a sermon, you may wish to skip
> it.
>
> ;-)
>
> But before I get to that -- IF THERE IS DATA ON THIS SYSTEM WHICH CANNOT BE
> REPLACED, AND IF THAT DATA IS TRULY IMPORTANT TO YOU, THEN YOU NEED TO
> PROTECT IT. (Forgive me for shouting. But I want to emphasize that you must
> not keep on working on this drive until you have made a copy of it. The first
> law of holes is this: "When you are in over your head, stop digging."
> Ideally, you would make a complete image of this drive onto another drive by
> using one of the available Vista-compatible third party image software
> packages which allows you to boot from a CD/DVD which contains the software
> and make a full copy of this drive onto another drive. You might also
> consider consulting a data recovery facility. They will charge you, of
> course. Only you can determine what your data is worth.)
>
> Now (bearing in mind that I've never had to go through this myself, so you
> might want to consult someone who has) --
>
> 1. Are you able to open a command prompt with Administrator privileges?
> (Right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut under Accessories in the Start
> Menu. If so, it would be interesting to see if judicious use of the CACLS
> command with appropriate options (You can get the info on the options by
> issuing "CACLS /?" at the CLI.) could fix your problem. I suspect not.
>
> 2. If CACLS doesn't work, are you able to issue this command --
>
> net user administrator /active:yes
>
> from the CLI. If this command is issued successfully, are you able to log on
> as Administrator and regain control of your drive? (I genuinely don't know.
> Microsoft has somewhat changed the rules about how admin accounts work in
> Vista. I don't know just how "special" this normally disabled admin account
> might be.)
>
> 3. I would be interested to see if you could take ownership of the drive and
> fix the problem if you placed this drive in another Vista system. If you try
> this you MUST be certain that it isn't placed in the boot position. You would
> want this drive to come up as a "data" drive. You would boot with the Vista
> installation on the host machine and see if you can change the permissions
> settings on this drive.
>
> It is important for you to consider that the changes you have wrought on
> this system drive have probably led to the cessation of true usefulness of
> this installation of the OS. After you have recovered your data the only
> admissible procedure is to wipe that drive and reinstall the OS. I think it's
> extremely unlikely that you'll ever get it back into proper functionality,
> security-wise. My opinion only. Might be worth nothing.
>
> You should NOT be in a hurry. Get as much information before proceeding as
> you can. You got where you are by using powerful tools without investigating
> documentation beforehand. Do not continue in the same vein.
>
> -- begin small sermon --
>
> The first thing I can do to help you is to point out that you should have
> learned TWO things (at least) so far in this adventure. The first (and most
> important by far) is to keep current backups of all important data. When you
> say that you have many important files on this system and that you need to
> regain access to them you are tacitly admitting that you haven't been backing
> up your data properly. A proper data backup is NOT copies of the data in
> another directory, or on a different partition on the same disk, or on a
> different disk in the same computer, or even on a different disk in a
> different computer. It is multiple archives on durable, properly protected,
> isolated storage media. That's if the data is truly important.
>
> The second thing I can do to help you is to point out that Vista DOES have
> safeguards to prevent people from "accidentally" changing permission settings
> so that NO ONE can access files on the system. You ignored the implications
> of some dialogs to get where you were when you made those changes. And then
> you didn't do any research concerning the consequences of applying the
> changes you were making. This is not a fault in the design of Vista or UAC.
> You were exploring without proper planning, and you got bit.
>
> -- end small sermon --
>
> "AAD213" wrote:
>

> > Hi,
> >
> > I have come across a problem with the UAC. I was changing the security
> > settings for all account users and set them all to deny. I admit I had no
> > idea that by doing that it would deny access to me, the only system
> > owner/admin on the Vista system.
> >
> > It logs me in but it does not let me go into my drive C: at all, or
> > use/change important owner options. It always says "Access Denied" or does
> > nothing when I click on an option. I'm the only Vista account owner but it
> > won't let me have access to my files anymore.
> >
> > Why doesn't Vista have some type of protection to prevent the only account
> > owner from locking themselves out when accidently changing all "User Account
> > Control / Access Control" to deny all?
> >
> > Can someone please help me resolve this issue or tell me who else to contact
> > for help? I have many important files on my hard drive that Vista is now not
> > allowing me access to anymore, even though I'm the only account user/admin
> > setup on the system. It doesn't let me set up a new account with admin rights
> > or change the UAC options back to allow me access again. Please someone let
> > me know how I can resolve this problem. Thank you...

> Shucks. I forgot to mention another command you should try at the CMD prompt.
> You should try looking at the TAKEOWN command. That might be able to fix the
> access issue. Again, just "TAKEOWN /?" to see the options.
>
>
>
> "jimmuh" wrote:
>

> > I'll admit up front that I'm not sure just how I would proceed at this point.
> > I'm participating in your thread as much to see if I can learn something as
> > to see if I might be able to help you. I am including a small sermon at the
> > end of my post to make a point. Because it is a sermon, you may wish to skip
> > it.
> >
> > ;-)
> >
> > But before I get to that -- IF THERE IS DATA ON THIS SYSTEM WHICH CANNOT BE
> > REPLACED, AND IF THAT DATA IS TRULY IMPORTANT TO YOU, THEN YOU NEED TO
> > PROTECT IT. (Forgive me for shouting. But I want to emphasize that you must
> > not keep on working on this drive until you have made a copy of it. The first
> > law of holes is this: "When you are in over your head, stop digging."
> > Ideally, you would make a complete image of this drive onto another drive by
> > using one of the available Vista-compatible third party image software
> > packages which allows you to boot from a CD/DVD which contains the software
> > and make a full copy of this drive onto another drive. You might also
> > consider consulting a data recovery facility. They will charge you, of
> > course. Only you can determine what your data is worth.)
> >
> > Now (bearing in mind that I've never had to go through this myself, so you
> > might want to consult someone who has) --
> >
> > 1. Are you able to open a command prompt with Administrator privileges?
> > (Right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut under Accessories in the Start
> > Menu. If so, it would be interesting to see if judicious use of the CACLS
> > command with appropriate options (You can get the info on the options by
> > issuing "CACLS /?" at the CLI.) could fix your problem. I suspect not.
> >
> > 2. If CACLS doesn't work, are you able to issue this command --
> >
> > net user administrator /active:yes
> >
> > from the CLI. If this command is issued successfully, are you able to log on
> > as Administrator and regain control of your drive? (I genuinely don't know.
> > Microsoft has somewhat changed the rules about how admin accounts work in
> > Vista. I don't know just how "special" this normally disabled admin account
> > might be.)
> >
> > 3. I would be interested to see if you could take ownership of the drive and
> > fix the problem if you placed this drive in another Vista system. If you try
> > this you MUST be certain that it isn't placed in the boot position. You would
> > want this drive to come up as a "data" drive. You would boot with the Vista
> > installation on the host machine and see if you can change the permissions
> > settings on this drive.
> >
> > It is important for you to consider that the changes you have wrought on
> > this system drive have probably led to the cessation of true usefulness of
> > this installation of the OS. After you have recovered your data the only
> > admissible procedure is to wipe that drive and reinstall the OS. I think it's
> > extremely unlikely that you'll ever get it back into proper functionality,
> > security-wise. My opinion only. Might be worth nothing.
> >
> > You should NOT be in a hurry. Get as much information before proceeding as
> > you can. You got where you are by using powerful tools without investigating
> > documentation beforehand. Do not continue in the same vein.
> >
> > -- begin small sermon --
> >
> > The first thing I can do to help you is to point out that you should have
> > learned TWO things (at least) so far in this adventure. The first (and most
> > important by far) is to keep current backups of all important data. When you
> > say that you have many important files on this system and that you need to
> > regain access to them you are tacitly admitting that you haven't been backing
> > up your data properly. A proper data backup is NOT copies of the data in
> > another directory, or on a different partition on the same disk, or on a
> > different disk in the same computer, or even on a different disk in a
> > different computer. It is multiple archives on durable, properly protected,
> > isolated storage media. That's if the data is truly important.
> >
> > The second thing I can do to help you is to point out that Vista DOES have
> > safeguards to prevent people from "accidentally" changing permission settings
> > so that NO ONE can access files on the system. You ignored the implications
> > of some dialogs to get where you were when you made those changes. And then
> > you didn't do any research concerning the consequences of applying the
> > changes you were making. This is not a fault in the design of Vista or UAC.
> > You were exploring without proper planning, and you got bit.
> >
> > -- end small sermon --
> >
> > "AAD213" wrote:
> >

> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I have come across a problem with the UAC. I was changing the security
> > > settings for all account users and set them all to deny. I admit I had no
> > > idea that by doing that it would deny access to me, the only system
> > > owner/admin on the Vista system.
> > >
> > > It logs me in but it does not let me go into my drive C: at all, or
> > > use/change important owner options. It always says "Access Denied" or does
> > > nothing when I click on an option. I'm the only Vista account owner but it
> > > won't let me have access to my files anymore.
> > >
> > > Why doesn't Vista have some type of protection to prevent the only account
> > > owner from locking themselves out when accidently changing all "User Account
> > > Control / Access Control" to deny all?
> > >
> > > Can someone please help me resolve this issue or tell me who else to contact
> > > for help? I have many important files on my hard drive that Vista is now not
> > > allowing me access to anymore, even though I'm the only account user/admin
> > > setup on the system. It doesn't let me set up a new account with admin rights
> > > or change the UAC options back to allow me access again. Please someone let
> > > me know how I can resolve this problem. Thank you...

> Jimmuh, I know I made a terrible mistake and lost my common sence there, but
> now I need help to hopefully fix this mistake.
>
> If I log into safe mode and click on Run it basicly says that admin
> privileges will be allowed.
>
> So I should type exactly as you typed:
>
> CLI.
>
> And then:
>
> CACLS /?
>
> Or:
>
> CMD.
>
> And then:
>
> net user administrator /active:yes
>
> Is all that correct?
>
>
>
> "jimmuh" wrote:
>

> > Shucks. I forgot to mention another command you should try at the CMD prompt.
> > You should try looking at the TAKEOWN command. That might be able to fix the
> > access issue. Again, just "TAKEOWN /?" to see the options.
> >
> >
> >
> > "jimmuh" wrote:
> >

> > > I'll admit up front that I'm not sure just how I would proceed at this point.
> > > I'm participating in your thread as much to see if I can learn something as
> > > to see if I might be able to help you. I am including a small sermon at the
> > > end of my post to make a point. Because it is a sermon, you may wish to skip
> > > it.
> > >
> > > ;-)
> > >
> > > But before I get to that -- IF THERE IS DATA ON THIS SYSTEM WHICH CANNOT BE
> > > REPLACED, AND IF THAT DATA IS TRULY IMPORTANT TO YOU, THEN YOU NEED TO
> > > PROTECT IT. (Forgive me for shouting. But I want to emphasize that you must
> > > not keep on working on this drive until you have made a copy of it. The first
> > > law of holes is this: "When you are in over your head, stop digging."
> > > Ideally, you would make a complete image of this drive onto another drive by
> > > using one of the available Vista-compatible third party image software
> > > packages which allows you to boot from a CD/DVD which contains the software
> > > and make a full copy of this drive onto another drive. You might also
> > > consider consulting a data recovery facility. They will charge you, of
> > > course. Only you can determine what your data is worth.)
> > >
> > > Now (bearing in mind that I've never had to go through this myself, so you
> > > might want to consult someone who has) --
> > >
> > > 1. Are you able to open a command prompt with Administrator privileges?
> > > (Right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut under Accessories in the Start
> > > Menu. If so, it would be interesting to see if judicious use of the CACLS
> > > command with appropriate options (You can get the info on the options by
> > > issuing "CACLS /?" at the CLI.) could fix your problem. I suspect not.
> > >
> > > 2. If CACLS doesn't work, are you able to issue this command --
> > >
> > > net user administrator /active:yes
> > >
> > > from the CLI. If this command is issued successfully, are you able to log on
> > > as Administrator and regain control of your drive? (I genuinely don't know.
> > > Microsoft has somewhat changed the rules about how admin accounts work in
> > > Vista. I don't know just how "special" this normally disabled admin account
> > > might be.)
> > >
> > > 3. I would be interested to see if you could take ownership of the drive and
> > > fix the problem if you placed this drive in another Vista system. If you try
> > > this you MUST be certain that it isn't placed in the boot position. You would
> > > want this drive to come up as a "data" drive. You would boot with the Vista
> > > installation on the host machine and see if you can change the permissions
> > > settings on this drive.
> > >
> > > It is important for you to consider that the changes you have wrought on
> > > this system drive have probably led to the cessation of true usefulness of
> > > this installation of the OS. After you have recovered your data the only
> > > admissible procedure is to wipe that drive and reinstall the OS. I think it's
> > > extremely unlikely that you'll ever get it back into proper functionality,
> > > security-wise. My opinion only. Might be worth nothing.
> > >
> > > You should NOT be in a hurry. Get as much information before proceeding as
> > > you can. You got where you are by using powerful tools without investigating
> > > documentation beforehand. Do not continue in the same vein.
> > >
> > > -- begin small sermon --
> > >
> > > The first thing I can do to help you is to point out that you should have
> > > learned TWO things (at least) so far in this adventure. The first (and most
> > > important by far) is to keep current backups of all important data. When you
> > > say that you have many important files on this system and that you need to
> > > regain access to them you are tacitly admitting that you haven't been backing
> > > up your data properly. A proper data backup is NOT copies of the data in
> > > another directory, or on a different partition on the same disk, or on a
> > > different disk in the same computer, or even on a different disk in a
> > > different computer. It is multiple archives on durable, properly protected,
> > > isolated storage media. That's if the data is truly important.
> > >
> > > The second thing I can do to help you is to point out that Vista DOES have
> > > safeguards to prevent people from "accidentally" changing permission settings
> > > so that NO ONE can access files on the system. You ignored the implications
> > > of some dialogs to get where you were when you made those changes. And then
> > > you didn't do any research concerning the consequences of applying the
> > > changes you were making. This is not a fault in the design of Vista or UAC.
> > > You were exploring without proper planning, and you got bit.
> > >
> > > -- end small sermon --
> > >
> > > "AAD213" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi,
> > > >
> > > > I have come across a problem with the UAC. I was changing the security
> > > > settings for all account users and set them all to deny. I admit I had no
> > > > idea that by doing that it would deny access to me, the only system
> > > > owner/admin on the Vista system.
> > > >
> > > > It logs me in but it does not let me go into my drive C: at all, or
> > > > use/change important owner options. It always says "Access Denied" or does
> > > > nothing when I click on an option. I'm the only Vista account owner but it
> > > > won't let me have access to my files anymore.
> > > >
> > > > Why doesn't Vista have some type of protection to prevent the only account
> > > > owner from locking themselves out when accidently changing all "User Account
> > > > Control / Access Control" to deny all?
> > > >
> > > > Can someone please help me resolve this issue or tell me who else to contact
> > > > for help? I have many important files on my hard drive that Vista is now not
> > > > allowing me access to anymore, even though I'm the only account user/admin
> > > > setup on the system. It doesn't let me set up a new account with admin rights
> > > > or change the UAC options back to allow me access again. Please someone let
> > > > me know how I can resolve this problem. Thank you...

> I tried the following at the cmd. prompt ( C:\Users\AAD> ):
>
> net user administrator /active:yes
>
> It then says "The Command Completed Successfully" but when I click on my C:
> drive it still says "Access Denied". By the way AAD is the only Vista user on
> my Vista PC.
>
> Also at the cmd. prompt ( C:\Users\AAD> ) I tried:
>
> TAKEOWN /?
>
> And a bunch of options that I do not understand show up.
>
> For instance my important directories and files are under the directory:
>
> C:\1-Saved
>
> But when I try ( TAKEOWN /F C:\1-Saved /R /D Y ) at the cmd. prompt
> (C:\Users\AAD>):
>
> I get "ERROR Access Denied" message.
>
> Can someone please tell me the exact way to allow me to take back ownership
> of my 1-Saved directory under my C: drive?
>
>
> "AAD213" wrote:
>

> > Jimmuh, I know I made a terrible mistake and lost my common sence there, but
> > now I need help to hopefully fix this mistake.
> >
> > If I log into safe mode and click on Run it basicly says that admin
> > privileges will be allowed.
> >
> > So I should type exactly as you typed:
> >
> > CLI.
> >
> > And then:
> >
> > CACLS /?
> >
> > Or:
> >
> > CMD.
> >
> > And then:
> >
> > net user administrator /active:yes
> >
> > Is all that correct?
> >
> >
> >
> > "jimmuh" wrote:
> >

> > > Shucks. I forgot to mention another command you should try at the CMD prompt.
> > > You should try looking at the TAKEOWN command. That might be able to fix the
> > > access issue. Again, just "TAKEOWN /?" to see the options.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "jimmuh" wrote:
> > >
> > > > I'll admit up front that I'm not sure just how I would proceed at this point.
> > > > I'm participating in your thread as much to see if I can learn something as
> > > > to see if I might be able to help you. I am including a small sermon at the
> > > > end of my post to make a point. Because it is a sermon, you may wish to skip
> > > > it.
> > > >
> > > > ;-)
> > > >
> > > > But before I get to that -- IF THERE IS DATA ON THIS SYSTEM WHICH CANNOT BE
> > > > REPLACED, AND IF THAT DATA IS TRULY IMPORTANT TO YOU, THEN YOU NEED TO
> > > > PROTECT IT. (Forgive me for shouting. But I want to emphasize that you must
> > > > not keep on working on this drive until you have made a copy of it. The first
> > > > law of holes is this: "When you are in over your head, stop digging."
> > > > Ideally, you would make a complete image of this drive onto another drive by
> > > > using one of the available Vista-compatible third party image software
> > > > packages which allows you to boot from a CD/DVD which contains the software
> > > > and make a full copy of this drive onto another drive. You might also
> > > > consider consulting a data recovery facility. They will charge you, of
> > > > course. Only you can determine what your data is worth.)
> > > >
> > > > Now (bearing in mind that I've never had to go through this myself, so you
> > > > might want to consult someone who has) --
> > > >
> > > > 1. Are you able to open a command prompt with Administrator privileges?
> > > > (Right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut under Accessories in the Start
> > > > Menu. If so, it would be interesting to see if judicious use of the CACLS
> > > > command with appropriate options (You can get the info on the options by
> > > > issuing "CACLS /?" at the CLI.) could fix your problem. I suspect not.
> > > >
> > > > 2. If CACLS doesn't work, are you able to issue this command --
> > > >
> > > > net user administrator /active:yes
> > > >
> > > > from the CLI. If this command is issued successfully, are you able to log on
> > > > as Administrator and regain control of your drive? (I genuinely don't know.
> > > > Microsoft has somewhat changed the rules about how admin accounts work in
> > > > Vista. I don't know just how "special" this normally disabled admin account
> > > > might be.)
> > > >
> > > > 3. I would be interested to see if you could take ownership of the drive and
> > > > fix the problem if you placed this drive in another Vista system. If you try
> > > > this you MUST be certain that it isn't placed in the boot position. You would
> > > > want this drive to come up as a "data" drive. You would boot with the Vista
> > > > installation on the host machine and see if you can change the permissions
> > > > settings on this drive.
> > > >
> > > > It is important for you to consider that the changes you have wrought on
> > > > this system drive have probably led to the cessation of true usefulness of
> > > > this installation of the OS. After you have recovered your data the only
> > > > admissible procedure is to wipe that drive and reinstall the OS. I think it's
> > > > extremely unlikely that you'll ever get it back into proper functionality,
> > > > security-wise. My opinion only. Might be worth nothing.
> > > >
> > > > You should NOT be in a hurry. Get as much information before proceeding as
> > > > you can. You got where you are by using powerful tools without investigating
> > > > documentation beforehand. Do not continue in the same vein.
> > > >
> > > > -- begin small sermon --
> > > >
> > > > The first thing I can do to help you is to point out that you should have
> > > > learned TWO things (at least) so far in this adventure. The first (and most
> > > > important by far) is to keep current backups of all important data. When you
> > > > say that you have many important files on this system and that you need to
> > > > regain access to them you are tacitly admitting that you haven't been backing
> > > > up your data properly. A proper data backup is NOT copies of the data in
> > > > another directory, or on a different partition on the same disk, or on a
> > > > different disk in the same computer, or even on a different disk in a
> > > > different computer. It is multiple archives on durable, properly protected,
> > > > isolated storage media. That's if the data is truly important.
> > > >
> > > > The second thing I can do to help you is to point out that Vista DOES have
> > > > safeguards to prevent people from "accidentally" changing permission settings
> > > > so that NO ONE can access files on the system. You ignored the implications
> > > > of some dialogs to get where you were when you made those changes. And then
> > > > you didn't do any research concerning the consequences of applying the
> > > > changes you were making. This is not a fault in the design of Vista or UAC.
> > > > You were exploring without proper planning, and you got bit.
> > > >
> > > > -- end small sermon --
> > > >
> > > > "AAD213" wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Hi,
> > > > >
> > > > > I have come across a problem with the UAC. I was changing the security
> > > > > settings for all account users and set them all to deny. I admit I had no
> > > > > idea that by doing that it would deny access to me, the only system
> > > > > owner/admin on the Vista system.
> > > > >
> > > > > It logs me in but it does not let me go into my drive C: at all, or
> > > > > use/change important owner options. It always says "Access Denied" or does
> > > > > nothing when I click on an option. I'm the only Vista account owner but it
> > > > > won't let me have access to my files anymore.
> > > > >
> > > > > Why doesn't Vista have some type of protection to prevent the only account
> > > > > owner from locking themselves out when accidently changing all "User Account
> > > > > Control / Access Control" to deny all?
> > > > >
> > > > > Can someone please help me resolve this issue or tell me who else to contact
> > > > > for help? I have many important files on my hard drive that Vista is now not
> > > > > allowing me access to anymore, even though I'm the only account user/admin
> > > > > setup on the system. It doesn't let me set up a new account with admin rights
> > > > > or change the UAC options back to allow me access again. Please someone let
> > > > > me know how I can resolve this problem. Thank you...

> Hi,
>
> I have come across a problem with the UAC. I was changing the security
> settings for all account users and set them all to deny. I admit I had no
> idea that by doing that it would deny access to me, the only system
> owner/admin on the Vista system.
>
> It logs me in but it does not let me go into my drive C: at all, or
> use/change important owner options. It always says "Access Denied" or does
> nothing when I click on an option. I'm the only Vista account owner but it
> won't let me have access to my files anymore.
>
> Why doesn't Vista have some type of protection to prevent the only account
> owner from locking themselves out when accidently changing all "User Account
> Control / Access Control" to deny all?
>
> Can someone please help me resolve this issue or tell me who else to contact
> for help? I have many important files on my hard drive that Vista is now not
> allowing me access to anymore, even though I'm the only account user/admin
> setup on the system. It doesn't let me set up a new account with admin rights
> or change the UAC options back to allow me access again. Please someone let
> me know how I can resolve this problem. Thank you...