XP Folder Ownership Problems - Same issue can be resolved on Win2k, but Not XP

From: John Martin (john.martin@runbox.com)
Date: 06/07/02 

From: "John Martin" <john.martin@runbox.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 00:49:01 -0700

I know what the cause of the problem is, and I know how to
fix it .... on Win2K, XP on the other hand is crap.

The problem we are all facing (me included at the moment),
is that when you restore your files from a backup, it
includes the GUID of the user who created them, this user
no longer exists, or it would if this was all happening in
a domain, but lets not go there.

Now XP has no idea of what who this GUID belongs to, and
it wont let you do anything at all with the file, and
there seems to be no equivalent to the "Take Ownership"
command as found on WinNT/2K

Unfortunately I cant remember the exact process I went
through on Win2K to get around exactly the same problem,
but it involved deleting everything I could find with
regards to security permissions, and inheritance from a
parent directory.

I've tried using explorer from a winnt machine, but so far
no joy, similarly, I havent had any luck at all with cacls

I'm still looking for a workaround, but if anybody else
out there finds one, I'd love to hear it.

>-----Original Message-----
>>From the looks of things a lot of us are having problems
taking control of
>permissions for whatever reason (see below) and there
seems to be no easy
>way to accomplish our goal. I know all about
permissions and inheritances
>and none of that worked for me even though the
problematic folder tells me I
>own it as an administrator; access is still denied.
There has to be a way
>to strip these folders of these problematic rights. Any
thoughts would be
>greatly appreciated
>
>Posted by Kent:
>I encountered a similiar problem with XP Pro. Everything
>worked. Then I converted my primary drive to NTFS and
made My Documents
>private. Then something happened and I reformated and
reinstalled XP Pro on
>the NTFS drive. When I copied back My Documents from my
backup drive, XP
>kept telling me Access Denied, even though I created them
and I am an
>Administrator. Well, don't follow my lead because I
temporarily made things
>even worse (but now better).
>First, I re-applied the Setup Security Template in MMC,
>thinking it would reset all permissions. It did for all
>the XP system type files but did not affect My Documents.
>So I copied the Setup Security Template and added Admin
permissions to
>Documents And Settings. Then I was really hosed. All my
Office XP apps
>stopped working telling me I wasn't a user and to
reinstall (reinstalling
>didn't help).
>Somehow there must be an easy way to Remove All Security
and Permissions on
>all non-systems files but I haven't found it. I am sure
the answer lies in
>applying the
>correct security template. Odd thing, whenever I try to
>change security by right mouse clicking on a folder or
>file in Windows Explorer, the permissions and change
owner check boxes are
>always grayed out. So, I have been unable to assume
ownership.
>HELP !
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>Taking ownership doesn't work. I have a similar problem
because I lost
>about 100 files of varying types by doing the same
thing. I can see them on
>>the hard drive as the specific file type (Word doc,
>Access db or whatever)
>>but when I try to open them it tells me I don't have
>permission even though
>>I am the administrator and only user of this computer.
>I'm always tweaking
>>this computer and normally backup the contents of My Docs
>by copying the
>>files to an additional hard drive but this time I was
>lazy and copied the
>>Documents and Settings folder before doing a complete new
>installation of
>>WinXP Pro because I'd replaced my CPU and motherboard,
>and even though I
>>always use the same log-on, it doesn't allow me to gain
>control of files in
>>this folder.
>>
>>Thoughts appreciated on how to gain access to these files
>because most of
>>them are very important and I need access to them.
>>
>>"David Yeshulas" <DYeshulas@attbi.com> wrote in message
>>news:eL3lvG$CCHA.2572@tkmsftngp05...
>>> You need to take ownership of the folder.
>>>
>>> "Wayne" <waynelwilliams@btinternet.com> wrote in
message
>>> news:9e7501c20be7$4fcb9c50$9ee62ecf@tkmsftngxa05...
>>> > I've just re-installed XP and since doing so I've
>been un-
>>>{w$'<4<  > able to access my documents
folder which is on a
>seperate
>>> > hard drive. The folder was made private under the
>>> > previous installation under an administors account.
>I've
>>> > set up the same account with the same password but I
>am
>>> > unable to access the folder.
>>>