Access to "C" drive denied in Vista

nate42nd

Learing every day
Member
I recently used an upgrade disc I had and upgraded from XP to Vista. It was very old and didn't even have SP1. I did it successfully and installed SP1 and SP2. Everything went fine. Last week I was trying to get printer sharing n my network. I rarely use this computer so last week I got the printer to share over the network and turned it off.

Forward to this week, I turned the system on to get the updates posted from WU. The 1st thing I noticed is I had no access to "C". I went into advanced security and changed permissions so now I have access. However any system tools like defrag, restore, UAC, etc.....no access.

Any help would be nice, Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    The Terminator
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
    Memory
    4X2GB GSkill 1066Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 932 bw 19" and Syncmaster 2033 20"
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900 and 1600 X 900
    Hard Drives
    Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD
    WD Black 640GB
    PSU
    Corsair 750HX
    Case
    Lian Li PC-B70
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7
    Keyboard
    An old e-machines PS-2 (I have HUGE fingers and it works)
    Mouse
    Microsoft wireless laser mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    7 Mps
it sounds like SP2 is having major issues, everybody who has upgraded to SP2 soon there after has issues. i would try to do a system restore to before SP2 and see if you can get access back or not.

other wise not sure. never had that issue
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    CUSTOM BUILT BY ME
    CPU
    AMD PHENOM II X3 710 2.6GHZ Overclocked to 3.25GHZ Stable
    Motherboard
    Ecs Gf8200a Phenom-2 X4 Quad Core Mboard
    Memory
    8BG PC5300 4 x 2GB OCZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    PCI-E ATI HD 4670 1GB Overclocked 4GB Total
    Sound Card
    Onboard 7.1 HD AUDIO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    55" Vizio LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200 HD
    Hard Drives
    1TB Seagate, 1TB Hitachi, 250GB Maxtor, 250GB Seagate
    PSU
    Kingwin ABT-610MM Maximum Power 610 Watt ATX 12V
    Case
    GENERIC
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS7500-AlCu LED Universal CPU Cooler, 4 CASE FANS
    Keyboard
    MICROSOFT WIRELESS KEYBOARD
    Mouse
    MICROSOFT WIRELESS MOUSE
    Internet Speed
    CABLE 15MBPS
Hi Nate,

You might check to see if the C: drive has the owner set as the default TrustedInstaller.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
it sounds like SP2 is having major issues, everybody who has upgraded to SP2 soon there after has issues. i would try to do a system restore to before SP2 and see if you can get access back or not.

other wise not sure. never had that issue

I don't have access to restore, Thanks for the idea though.
Hi Nate,

You might check to see if the C: drive has the owner set as the default TrustedInstaller.


Hope this helps,
Shawn

I am glad to see this....I had no idea this existed. This is where I went to try to take control of the drive. I will try this in the afternoon and let you know if it worked. Thanks brink!

I tried it, but there's a long list of potential users. It was an upgrade from XP (which is the problem) Making the "trusted installer" the owner didn't work.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    The Terminator
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
    Memory
    4X2GB GSkill 1066Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 932 bw 19" and Syncmaster 2033 20"
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900 and 1600 X 900
    Hard Drives
    Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD
    WD Black 640GB
    PSU
    Corsair 750HX
    Case
    Lian Li PC-B70
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7
    Keyboard
    An old e-machines PS-2 (I have HUGE fingers and it works)
    Mouse
    Microsoft wireless laser mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    7 Mps
Back
Top