C:\ is not accessible...help!

FanadMan

Hi

I was given a laptop (Samsung RV520) to take a look at. It is showing "Windows 7 Build 7601. This copy of Windows is not genuine". Normally not a difficult thing to fix - especially seeing as it is a pre-installed OS.

But I cannot access the C drive. It is showing in My Computer but when I try to access it I get "C:\ is not accessible. Access is denied". I reset the permissions to full - no change. Can't run Msconfig - same problem.

Was able to install and run MalwareBytes. It found quite a few items but was just the usual toolbar stuff you find.

I can fully access the C drive in safe mode so was able to back up the owners data in case I need to do a full factory restore.

Anybody got any ideas as to what could be wrong? The C drive accessibility is really puzzling me.

Ghost Train

FanadMan wrote: »

Hi

I was given a laptop (Samsung RV520) to take a look at. It is showing "Windows 7 Build 7601. This copy of Windows is not genuine". Normally not a difficult thing to fix - especially seeing as it is a pre-installed OS.

But I cannot access the C drive. It is showing in My Computer but when I try to access it I get "C:\ is not accessible. Access is denied". I reset the permissions to full - no change. Can't run Msconfig - same problem.

Was able to install and run MalwareBytes. It found quite a few items but was just the usual toolbar stuff you find.

I can fully access the C drive in safe mode so was able to back up the owners data in case I need to do a full factory restore.

Anybody got any ideas as to what could be wrong? The C drive accessibility is really puzzling me.

Can you create a new account with admin right, any difference from different account?

FanadMan

Ghost Train wrote: »

Can you create a new account with admin right, any difference from different account?

Was able to create a new admin profile but when I tried to log on got this message - "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded."

Overheal

FanadMan wrote: »

Hi

I was given a laptop (Samsung RV520) to take a look at.

By whom?

Last time I got access denied like that it had to do with migrating hardware and im pretty sure it was a security feature to stop my files from being accessed maliciously..

riclad

see here,
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-security/c-is-not-accessible-access-is-denied-error-message/f50b2db0-d535-4b74-b21f-eac2fed16e52

Quote ;

In NTFS volume, only the owner of an object (file, folder, ...) that can change permissions of that object. You need to take ownership of your drive C: somehow, after that only you can grant permissions to users.
Try to enter safe mode, login as "Administrator" (enable that account first if it is currently disabled). Then right click C:\ drive, click Properties. Navigate to Security Tab, then click Advanced. Go to Owner tab, then change the ownership to "Administrator" first. Then, grant permissions like these to these users [CMIIW]:
Authenticated Users: Read, execute, write, modify,
Administrators: Full Control
TrustedInstaller: Full Control
SYSTEM: Full Control
Users: Read, execute
Finally, change the owner once more to "TrustedInstaller".

FanadMan

riclad wrote: »

see here,
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-security/c-is-not-accessible-access-is-denied-error-message/f50b2db0-d535-4b74-b21f-eac2fed16e52

Quote ;

In NTFS volume, only the owner of an object (file, folder, ...) that can change permissions of that object. You need to take ownership of your drive C: somehow, after that only you can grant permissions to users.
Try to enter safe mode, login as "Administrator" (enable that account first if it is currently disabled). Then right click C:\ drive, click Properties. Navigate to Security Tab, then click Advanced. Go to Owner tab, then change the ownership to "Administrator" first. Then, grant permissions like these to these users [CMIIW]:
Authenticated Users: Read, execute, write, modify,
Administrators: Full Control
TrustedInstaller: Full Control
SYSTEM: Full Control
Users: Read, execute
Finally, change the owner once more to "TrustedInstaller".

Went through this but when I got to change SYSTEM: Full Control it gave "Error Applying Security" to C:\hiberfil.sys pagefile.sys and quite a few other things.

After reboot and logon - C: is still not accessible

Think am gonna have to bite the bullet and do a factory reset. Have the owners data backed up so just have to get the go ahead. But not till tomorrow......think after 6+ hours at this I need a beer :pac:

FanadMan

Overheal wrote: »

By whom?

Last time I got access denied like that it had to do with migrating hardware and im pretty sure it was a security feature to stop my files from being accessed maliciously..

By the owners mum. She bought 2 identical laptops for her twin daughters when they went to college. Was no hardware changes on this machine at all.

Other laptop is going great - is on the desk here beside the faulty one........just have to do a tidy up. Looks like about 5 million photos on the damn thing lol.

free_man

Me thinks its a file corruption issue.

I had this issue due to my tinkering (whats the point of buying a computer if you cannot tinker with it) but was able to fix it as per @riclad's suggestion.

Run scandisk on C: in safe mode. See if it bring up anything. Also try using system restore if its enabled on C: before using factory reset.

Irish Steve

No, it's a common issue with Windows, and if you google search on the specific error message related to the user profile service, there are a number of ways to edit the registry to fix it. some easier than others, and involving editing registry entries.

FanadMan

Tried system restore back to earliest restore point - all problems still there. After each restore I had to change ownership with no change. Spoke to the mother who said to "wipe the bloody" thing (her words lol) so just going through first time configuration as we speak.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys

superelliptic

FanadMan wrote: »

Was able to create a new admin profile but when I tried to log on got this message - "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded."

Hey - try to log onto the PC and go to SERVICES.MSC. Stop and restart the User Profile Service and reboot the PC. then try to log back in with the Admin account you created. The thing is that the original account you have access to may not be sufficiently privileged to run services.msc. =(

Another thing to try if you need to create an admin account on the PC is to download Pogostick. You need to burn the ISO to a disk but if you boot off it you can create a new account with full admin privileges on the PC. It works on WinXP for sure, I'm not so sure about Win7 but its worth a punt.

Good luck with it.

EDIT: Ah just noticed yout last post said you were wiping it - 8min ago . Too late with this post I guess.