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

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'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...

No, you need to read more carefully. I said that after you activated that
account you should log in under that account. You have successfully activated
the Administrator account. You can believe me when I say that this account
exists in addition to your AAD account. Now you need to log off, and then log
on as Administrator. (No password will be required.) If you are not allowed
access to the drive when logged on as Administrator, then you're going to
have to try a different tack. Like placing the drive in a different system
and using another installation of Vista to try to change the Access Control
Lists on that drive.

From here on I really can't, in good conscience, try to talk you through by
way of newsgroup messages. You said you had important data on that drive. Did
you make a copy of it as I suggested? If you don't understand the
explanations you get when you type TAKEOWN /? at the CMD line, then I fear
that you aren't familiar enough with the administrative concepts involved to
proceed. That's what got you into trouble in the first place. There's no
shame in that. It's just not something with which you're familiar. But, if
that data is important to you, you need to calm down and proceed SLOWLY and
WISELY. Please remember that you can make matters even worse than they
already are. I promise you that someone who knows what s/he is doing can get
that data back. (Well, I'm almost sure. I'm not really quite certain about
the exact steps you took to get where you are.) But someone with experience
and judgement in supporting the OS is going to need to look at this and
handle it if you are going to be sure of recovering the data. Impatience is
your worst enemy right now. As long as you are doing nothing to that drive,
then nothing is changing in your situation. Please consider what I'm saying.
Operating systems do what you TELL them to do, NOT what you WANT them to do.



"AAD213" wrote:

> 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...

I did create a backup of the most crusial day to day data but the rest of the
data that I now don't have access to, it is important but just a little less
than the latter.

Anyways thank you for your input, I just hope that I can resolve this issue
eventually...

By the way the "CACLS" command has now been deprecated to "ICACLS".


"jimmuh" wrote:

> No, you need to read more carefully. I said that after you activated that
> account you should log in under that account. You have successfully activated
> the Administrator account. You can believe me when I say that this account
> exists in addition to your AAD account. Now you need to log off, and then log
> on as Administrator. (No password will be required.) If you are not allowed
> access to the drive when logged on as Administrator, then you're going to
> have to try a different tack. Like placing the drive in a different system
> and using another installation of Vista to try to change the Access Control
> Lists on that drive.
>
> From here on I really can't, in good conscience, try to talk you through by
> way of newsgroup messages. You said you had important data on that drive. Did
> you make a copy of it as I suggested? If you don't understand the
> explanations you get when you type TAKEOWN /? at the CMD line, then I fear
> that you aren't familiar enough with the administrative concepts involved to
> proceed. That's what got you into trouble in the first place. There's no
> shame in that. It's just not something with which you're familiar. But, if
> that data is important to you, you need to calm down and proceed SLOWLY and
> WISELY. Please remember that you can make matters even worse than they
> already are. I promise you that someone who knows what s/he is doing can get
> that data back. (Well, I'm almost sure. I'm not really quite certain about
> the exact steps you took to get where you are.) But someone with experience
> and judgement in supporting the OS is going to need to look at this and
> handle it if you are going to be sure of recovering the data. Impatience is
> your worst enemy right now. As long as you are doing nothing to that drive,
> then nothing is changing in your situation. Please consider what I'm saying.
> Operating systems do what you TELL them to do, NOT what you WANT them to do.
>
>
>
> "AAD213" wrote:
>
> > 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...

Sorry about CACLS vs ICACLS. I was rushed, but the deprecated commands lead
you to the extant ones.

Did you log on as Administrator and see if you could get access to the drive
now? If that doesn't work I think you're pretty much left with setting the
drive up in another system as a data drive amd trying to work with it from
there. I do, however, still think it highly advisable to seek local help --
if there's anyone who works as a system administrator (with MS Windows
systems). I am NOT talking about the local guy who "knows computers". I'm
talking about someone who really does know how to use the admin tools. I know
it can be hard to know who to trust. But that's true of online conversations,
too.

;-)

Your situation has convinced me that I should, if and when I ever get time,
test a Vista system to destruction in just this manner -- just to satisfy my
curiosity. This is not the sort of situation I've ever had to deal with
because I lock my users down so they couldn't possibly get into this type of
trouble.

That "Deny" setting has caused a lot of people trouble in the past, but it
had been quite a while since I had heard of a situation like this, like NT4
and Windows 2000 days. I don't actually remember anyone denying access to the
whole system drive, but I'm certain it has been done. It is usually easy
enough to fix an issue where Deny has been applied just to a particular
directory structure, but denying root and all subdirectories, which is what I
think you have done, is something I just haven't ever seen or heard of.

"AAD213" wrote:

> I did create a backup of the most crusial day to day data but the rest of the
> data that I now don't have access to, it is important but just a little less
> than the latter.
>
> Anyways thank you for your input, I just hope that I can resolve this issue
> eventually...
>
> By the way the "CACLS" command has now been deprecated to "ICACLS".
>
>
> "jimmuh" wrote:
>
> > No, you need to read more carefully. I said that after you activated that
> > account you should log in under that account. You have successfully activated
> > the Administrator account. You can believe me when I say that this account
> > exists in addition to your AAD account. Now you need to log off, and then log
> > on as Administrator. (No password will be required.) If you are not allowed
> > access to the drive when logged on as Administrator, then you're going to
> > have to try a different tack. Like placing the drive in a different system
> > and using another installation of Vista to try to change the Access Control
> > Lists on that drive.
> >
> > From here on I really can't, in good conscience, try to talk you through by
> > way of newsgroup messages. You said you had important data on that drive. Did
> > you make a copy of it as I suggested? If you don't understand the
> > explanations you get when you type TAKEOWN /? at the CMD line, then I fear
> > that you aren't familiar enough with the administrative concepts involved to
> > proceed. That's what got you into trouble in the first place. There's no
> > shame in that. It's just not something with which you're familiar. But, if
> > that data is important to you, you need to calm down and proceed SLOWLY and
> > WISELY. Please remember that you can make matters even worse than they
> > already are. I promise you that someone who knows what s/he is doing can get
> > that data back. (Well, I'm almost sure. I'm not really quite certain about
> > the exact steps you took to get where you are.) But someone with experience
> > and judgement in supporting the OS is going to need to look at this and
> > handle it if you are going to be sure of recovering the data. Impatience is
> > your worst enemy right now. As long as you are doing nothing to that drive,
> > then nothing is changing in your situation. Please consider what I'm saying.
> > Operating systems do what you TELL them to do, NOT what you WANT them to do.
> >
> >
> >
> > "AAD213" wrote:
> >
> > > 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...

Okay I rebooted and went into the Admin account but I still get the same
access denied message when I click on my C: drive it doesn't even let me
create/modify a accounts.

I guess no one on my PC can have any access to my drive C: anymore. Well
maybe by puting the drive on another Vista setup that will do the trick to
reset the access controls. Or maybe if I reinstall/recovery on the same drive
it will reset all user access settings. I just wonder if it will erase my
data at C:/1-Saved but I'll wait to see if I get more input from other folks
first.

Various input on this issue is welcomed...



"AAD213" wrote:

> I did create a backup of the most crusial day to day data but the rest of the
> data that I now don't have access to, it is important but just a little less
> than the latter.
>
> Anyways thank you for your input, I just hope that I can resolve this issue
> eventually...
>
> By the way the "CACLS" command has now been deprecated to "ICACLS".
>
>
> "jimmuh" wrote:
>
> > No, you need to read more carefully. I said that after you activated that
> > account you should log in under that account. You have successfully activated
> > the Administrator account. You can believe me when I say that this account
> > exists in addition to your AAD account. Now you need to log off, and then log
> > on as Administrator. (No password will be required.) If you are not allowed
> > access to the drive when logged on as Administrator, then you're going to
> > have to try a different tack. Like placing the drive in a different system
> > and using another installation of Vista to try to change the Access Control
> > Lists on that drive.
> >
> > From here on I really can't, in good conscience, try to talk you through by
> > way of newsgroup messages. You said you had important data on that drive. Did
> > you make a copy of it as I suggested? If you don't understand the
> > explanations you get when you type TAKEOWN /? at the CMD line, then I fear
> > that you aren't familiar enough with the administrative concepts involved to
> > proceed. That's what got you into trouble in the first place. There's no
> > shame in that. It's just not something with which you're familiar. But, if
> > that data is important to you, you need to calm down and proceed SLOWLY and
> > WISELY. Please remember that you can make matters even worse than they
> > already are. I promise you that someone who knows what s/he is doing can get
> > that data back. (Well, I'm almost sure. I'm not really quite certain about
> > the exact steps you took to get where you are.) But someone with experience
> > and judgement in supporting the OS is going to need to look at this and
> > handle it if you are going to be sure of recovering the data. Impatience is
> > your worst enemy right now. As long as you are doing nothing to that drive,
> > then nothing is changing in your situation. Please consider what I'm saying.
> > Operating systems do what you TELL them to do, NOT what you WANT them to do.
> >
> >
> >
> > "AAD213" wrote:
> >
> > > 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 direct