I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's arrived
with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during the week (ie
installing Office etc and generally customising stuff) howewver
something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files -
getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user account,
from something like "user" to "David". It's the only account, and is a
full Administrator one.

I can, however, delete files by selecting [SHIFT][DELETE] - ie permanent
deletion, not sending them to the Recycle Bin. On the thought that the
Recycle Bin was corrupt or something, I tried deleting the C:\RECYCLER
folder from a DOS window and let XP recreate it on re-boot - however, it
made no difference at all. I can also delete files manually at the DOS
prompt.

What on earth's wrong - any ideas please?
Cheers
David

On 04/03/2012 19:45, Lobster wrote:
I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's arrived
with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during the week (ie
installing Office etc and generally customising stuff) howewver
something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files -
getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file location.

What format has been used on the hard drive (i.e. NTFS or FAT), the
former has far more security options one can fiddle with ;-)

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user account,
from something like "user" to "David". It's the only account, and is a
full Administrator one.

What happens if you change it back?

What about creating a new Admin account?

I can, however, delete files by selecting [SHIFT][DELETE] - ie permanent
deletion, not sending them to the Recycle Bin. On the thought that the
Recycle Bin was corrupt or something, I tried deleting the C:\RECYCLER
folder from a DOS window and let XP recreate it on re-boot - however, it
made no difference at all. I can also delete files manually at the DOS
prompt.

Also check the obvious[1] DOS level read only flag on the recyler/d
folders... (attrib name)

[1] Obvious, in that after hours of attempting to get a network driver
loaded and getting weird errors from an installer about be unable to
wire files, and trying every trick in the book to reset file security
permissions to default etc. I eventually thought to do a attrib command
in the system32\drivers folder, and noticed read only flags on a few files!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:45:14 +0000, Lobster
wrote:

I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's arrived
with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during the week (ie
installing Office etc and generally customising stuff) howewver
something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files -
getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user account,
from something like "user" to "David". It's the only account, and is a
full Administrator one.

I can, however, delete files by selecting [SHIFT][DELETE] - ie permanent
deletion, not sending them to the Recycle Bin. On the thought that the
Recycle Bin was corrupt or something, I tried deleting the C:\RECYCLER
folder from a DOS window and let XP recreate it on re-boot - however, it
made no difference at all. I can also delete files manually at the DOS
prompt.

What on earth's wrong - any ideas please?
Cheers
David

Have you tried setting up a new user account with admin rights?
Areyou usinf NTFS file permissions, try turning it off (turn on
"Simple file sharing")


--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

On Mar 4, 7:45*pm, Lobster wrote:
I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's arrived
with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during the week (ie
installing Office etc and generally customising stuff) howewver
something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files -
getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. *The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user account,
from something like "user" to "David". *It's the only account, and is a
full Administrator one.

I can, however, delete files by selecting [SHIFT][DELETE] - ie permanent
deletion, not sending them to the Recycle Bin. *On the thought that the
Recycle Bin was corrupt or something, I tried deleting the C:\RECYCLER
folder from a DOS window and let XP recreate it on re-boot - however, it
made no difference at all. *I can also delete files manually at the DOS
prompt.

What on earth's wrong - any ideas please?
Cheers
David

What's wrong? Someone installed windows. Sorry to not be helpful, but
honestly I'm so much more at peace with the universe since I ditched
windows altogether. The number of OS complaints has dropped by a huge
factor. I can only suggest doing likewise, so this kind of trouble
doesnt repeat.


NT

On 04/03/2012 20:40, NT wrote:

What's wrong? Someone installed windows. Sorry to not be helpful, but
honestly I'm so much more at peace with the universe since I ditched
windows altogether. The number of OS complaints has dropped by a huge
factor. I can only suggest doing likewise, so this kind of trouble
doesnt repeat.

OK, for an example Linux session problem, at the moment I've got a files
window open on a desktop, that which is a FreeNX session exported from a
LinuxMint 12 physical machine. In files I can only navigate partitions
in the root, but not other partitions on that machine. "Unable to mount
{partition}, not authorized" However, working directly on that machine
(same user account) I have access to all partitions.

I set the whole thing up, so I know how to mess about in terminal and
eventually fix it to gain geek stripes. I can google. But lets humor
this slightly.

Say the accursed linux machine was in the hands of a novice. What would
be the fix? Could it be diagnosed by the user, or do these things just
not happen?

--
Adrian C

On Mar 4, 9:33*pm, Adrian C wrote:
On 04/03/2012 20:40, NT wrote:

What's wrong? Someone installed windows. Sorry to not be helpful, but
honestly I'm so much more at peace with the universe since I ditched
windows altogether. The number of OS complaints has dropped by a huge
factor. *I can only suggest doing likewise, so this kind of trouble
doesnt repeat.

OK, for an example Linux session problem, at the moment I've got a files
window open on a desktop, that which is a FreeNX session exported from a
LinuxMint 12 physical machine. In files I can only navigate partitions
in the root, but not other partitions on that machine. "Unable to mount
{partition}, not authorized" However, working directly on that machine
(same user account) I have access to all partitions.

I set the whole thing up, so I know how to mess about in terminal and
eventually fix it to gain geek stripes. I can google. But lets humor
this slightly.

Say the accursed linux machine was in the hands of a novice. What would
be the fix? Could it be diagnosed by the user, or do these things just
not happen?

At the risk of stating the totally obvious, all OSes have issues. And
those of us that have switched to linux see a dramatic drop in the
number of issues.


NT

On 05/03/2012 07:45, NT wrote:

Say the accursed linux machine was in the hands of a novice. What would
be the fix? Could it be diagnosed by the user, or do these things just
not happen?

At the risk of stating the totally obvious, all OSes have issues. And
those of us that have switched to linux see a dramatic drop in the
number of issues....

.... which gives more time to work on the unfathomable ones (or give up).

Are there stats available on OS churn rates?

Per month, how many "uninstall X, install Y, reinstall X"?

How many netbooks bought with X are now running Y?

--
Adrian C

"Adrian C" wrote in message
...

How many netbooks bought with X are now running Y?

That's hard..
I know that when you could easily buy netbooks with linux in retail stores
nearly all the linux ones were returned.
I once helped a local Staples restore a load of returns back to factory
defaults and they were all linux returns.
They reckoned that at least 90% were returned and exchanged for XP.

It probably didn't help that as shipped they would keep forgetting the
wireless network settings every time you booted and when you did get them
connected the first thing they did was update the wireless manager so
everything was different.

Its why its difficult to buy a linux netbook retail, nobody actually wants
one.

Adrian C wrote:
On 05/03/2012 07:45, NT wrote:

Say the accursed linux machine was in the hands of a novice. What would
be the fix? Could it be diagnosed by the user, or do these things just
not happen?

At the risk of stating the totally obvious, all OSes have issues. And
those of us that have switched to linux see a dramatic drop in the
number of issues....

... which gives more time to work on the unfathomable ones (or give up).

Are there stats available on OS churn rates?

Per month, how many "uninstall X, install Y, reinstall X"?

How many netbooks bought with X are now running Y?


In my case zero. Haveing got linux to work, I have better things to do
than resinatll it - or even go through the pain of a major upgrade.

In a years time I probaby will need more power and RAM and that will
mean a reinstall/upgrade. Yuk. I don't fancy it.

I routinely upgrade the few bits of it that have 'issues' in the hope
these will go away.

Sometimes they do.

--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.

On Mar 5, 10:33*am, Adrian C wrote:
On 05/03/2012 07:45, NT wrote:



Say the accursed linux machine was in the hands of a novice. What would
be the fix? Could it be diagnosed by the user, or do these things just
not happen?

At the risk of stating the totally obvious, all OSes have issues. And
those of us that have switched to linux see a dramatic drop in the
number of issues....

... which gives more time to work on the unfathomable ones (or give up).

I'm not sure there's any need in practice. I've tried linux installs I
had some issue with, but the simplest remedy is just try another one.
If you pick the right ones, like ubuntu mint, antix, puppy, they're
user friendly, novice friendly, and have in my limited experience far
less problems than windows.


Are there stats available on OS churn rates?

Per month, how many "uninstall X, install Y, reinstall X"?

How many netbooks bought with X are now running Y?

Even if the data exists somewhere, I'm not sure how well it would
reflect satisfaction levels. A lot of people stick with whatever it
came with, regardless of how bad it is, as they dont have the skill to
change OS and arent willing to pay someone. There's a huge pool of
unhappy windows users out there,

If anyone knows as OS with a higher bugcount than windows, I will have
learnt something.


NT

What's wrong? Someone installed windows. Sorry to not be helpful

That's an understatement

On Mar 5, 10:17*am, stuart noble wrote:
What's wrong? Someone installed windows. Sorry to not be helpful

That's an understatement

no, its not

On 05/03/2012 13:09, NT wrote:
On Mar 5, 10:17 am, stuart wrote:
What's wrong? Someone installed windows. Sorry to not be helpful

That's an understatement

no, its not

No, I think it was....

As has been commented here in the past, answers to questions of the form
"I have a particular problem with product x, anyone know how to fix it?"
which simply say "use technology y instead" are rarely helpful since
they make a whole host of possibly invalid assumptions, and in most
cases probably represents a much greater hassle to actually do, than
that required to solve the original problem. This is true even if
product y is superior.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 04/03/2012 19:45, Lobster wrote:
I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's arrived
with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during the week (ie
installing Office etc and generally customising stuff) howewver
something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files -
getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file location.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081

--
Adrian C

On Mar 4, 8:58*pm, Adrian C wrote:
On 04/03/2012 19:45, Lobster wrote:

I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's arrived
with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during the week (ie
installing Office etc and generally customising stuff) howewver
something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files -
getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file location.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081

Wikipedia:

Steve Gibson was involved with a notable controversy over the
Microsoft WMF vulnerability, an issue raised in 2006 where a Windows
Metafile image could trigger execution of arbitrary code. Gibson
analyzed an unofficial patch issued by Ilfak Guilfanov, and publicly
speculated both on a podcast called Security Now! as well as on his
web site

that Microsoft may have intentionally included this vulnerability because of the use of an API called SetAbortProc which was originally intended as a mechanism for canceling print jobs, which in his view made no sense.

When Slashdot, a technology news web site, picked up the assertion, an
Internet rumor that Microsoft intentionally built a back-door to its
operating systems was promulgated.

Gibson has been associated with a number of other controversies in the
computer security field, including his prediction of

the "XP Christmas of Death" in 2001 describing the outcomes of Microsoft's implementation of the SOCK_RAW protocol.

Gibson is also known for attempting to replicate functionality of a
tool called SYNcookies written by Dan Bernstein and Eric Schenk
rebranded by Gibson as GENESIS as a preventative mechanism for SYN-
flood attacks.

I was looking at his background as I remembered something about an
attempt to coax a little more life out of hard drives of which I have
a number I'd like to get back in action long enough to copy stuff
from.

I messed up a boot into an XP drive instlling Linux with some
difficulties on the other on this reconditioned computer.

The 3 months warranty is almost up and I can't decide whether to go
and get the other drive put back or just kick it in the buttocks.

Windows XP is antiquated and dangerous it is almost out of support.
And if it wasn't because it IS windows and I just might have a need of
it but can't remember...

Anyway I don't have any real need of a system 90% of the upgrades for
which are from third party programmers working for free.

Why not go the whole hog and get a real system, completely free?
And never again bother with antiviarlware and firewalls?

Anyone on here know of a friend of a friend who has a cousin that met
someone in a pub who used to know someone wh knws a person that has
used Tiny Vista?

If so how did he rate it?

I've this god-awful Vista Compaq Laptop that seems overweighted with
an office, some browser add ons and a few office and picture files
that need replacing with a system that works properly.

(With 1GB Ram and originally 150 GB drive, now cut down to less than
3/4 of that but I have no idea why. Slower than I can remember my
first computer being.)

Lobster wrote:
I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's
arrived with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during
the week (ie installing Office etc and generally customising stuff)
howewver something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete
any files - getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file
location.
It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user account,
from something like "user" to "David". It's the only account, and is
a full Administrator one.

Thats what did it. You've got the drive NTFS format.

You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

I can, however, delete files by selecting [SHIFT][DELETE] - ie
permanent deletion, not sending them to the Recycle Bin. On the
thought that the Recycle Bin was corrupt or something, I tried
deleting the C:\RECYCLER folder from a DOS window and let XP recreate
it on re-boot - however, it made no difference at all. I can also
delete files manually at the DOS prompt.

What on earth's wrong - any ideas please?

On 04/03/2012 21:31, Rod Speed wrote:
Lobster wrote:
I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's
arrived with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during
the week (ie installing Office etc and generally customising stuff)
howewver something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete
any files - getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file
location.
It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user account,
from something like "user" to "David". It's the only account, and is
a full Administrator one.

Thats what did it. You've got the drive NTFS format.

You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

or the command line version:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...8WS.10%29.aspx


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Lobster wrote

I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's
arrived with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during
the week (ie installing Office etc and generally customising stuff)
howewver something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't
delete any files - getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of
file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The only relevant thing I can think of is that I
renamed the user
account, from something like "user" to "David". It's the only
account, and is a full Administrator one.

Thats what did it. You've got the drive NTFS format.

You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

or the command line version:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...8WS.10%29.aspx

Doesnt work with his XP.

Yeah in theory, I think it only works when there is q in the month..
I have not seen a reply from him, so maybe he has topped himself...

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...
John Rumm wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Lobster wrote

I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's
arrived with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during
the week (ie installing Office etc and generally customising stuff)
howewver something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't
delete any files - getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of
file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user
account, from something like "user" to "David". It's the only
account, and is a full Administrator one.

Thats what did it. You've got the drive NTFS format.

You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

or the command line version:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...8WS.10%29.aspx

Doesnt work with his XP.

Brian Gaff wrote
Rod Speed wrote
John Rumm wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Lobster wrote

I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's arrived with a clean install). I've been getting
it 'sorted'
during the week (ie installing Office etc and generally
customising stuff) howewver something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files - getting
'Access is denied' error regardless of file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here.
The only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user
account, from something like "user" to "David". It's the only
account, and is a full Administrator one.

Thats what did it. You've got the drive NTFS format.

You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

or the command line version:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...8WS.10%29.aspx

Doesnt work with his XP.

Yeah in theory,

Nope, in practice too. Its a VERY well known problem.

I think it only works when there is q in the month..

Fraid not.

I have not seen a reply from him, so maybe he has topped himself...

Or he's one of those that just does what is suggested and
doesnt bother to reply or hasnt checked for replys yet.

On 05/03/2012 03:31, Rod Speed wrote:

You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

or the command line version:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...8WS.10%29.aspx

Doesnt work with his XP.

Yes sorry, my mistake.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 04/03/2012 21:31, Rod Speed wrote:
Lobster wrote:
I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's
arrived with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during
the week (ie installing Office etc and generally customising stuff)
howewver something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete
any files - getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file
location.
It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user account,
from something like "user" to "David". It's the only account, and is
a full Administrator one.

Thats what did it. You've got the drive NTFS format.

I had no idea it would have such profound implications... would have
just left it alone if I'd realised. Why on earth to MS simply allow
users to edit usernames like this if it totally can screw things up;
without so much as a 'Are you sure?' warning?!


You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421


Thanks for all the replies; much appreciated. Anyway. the above
certainly looks highly plausible as a cause! I've followed the
instructions in 308421 to the letter, however, but it hasn't helped

I actioned the instructions at drive level (I only have a drive C, and
XP went off and spent 5-10 mins altering permissions on the whole drive...

When I get to the "Advanced Security Settings for Local Disk (C"
window, it now says:
------------------------------------------------------------
"You can take ownership of an object if you have appropriate permissions."

Current owner of this item:
David (TIGER\user)

Change owner to:
Administrators (TIGER\Administrators)
David (TIGER\user)
-------------------------------------------------------------

Does that look right? Under User Accounts, there's only the one account
listed (David) which is an administrator account.

I haven't tried setting up any new user accounts as suggested elsewhere
in the thread - would rather try to undo what I've done wrong, and that
sounds like it could get me into more of a tangle...

David

Lobster wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Lobster wrote

I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's
arrived with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during the week (ie installing Office etc and generally
customising stuff) howewver something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files - getting 'Access
is denied' error regardless of file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The only relevant thing I can think of is that I
renamed the user
account, from something like "user" to "David". It's the only
account, and is a full Administrator one.

Thats what did it. You've got the drive NTFS format.

I had no idea it would have such profound implications... would have just left it alone if I'd realised. Why on earth
to MS simply allow users to edit usernames like this if it totally can screw things up; without so much as a 'Are you
sure?' warning?!

You do get the warning with the later OSs.

You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

Thanks for all the replies; much appreciated. Anyway. the above
certainly looks highly plausible as a cause! I've followed the
instructions in 308421 to the letter, however, but it hasn't helped

I actioned the instructions at drive level (I only have a drive C, and XP went off and spent 5-10 mins altering
permissions on the whole drive...

When I get to the "Advanced Security Settings for Local Disk (C"
window, it now says:
------------------------------------------------------------
"You can take ownership of an object if you have appropriate permissions."

Current owner of this item:
David (TIGER\user)

Change owner to:
Administrators (TIGER\Administrators)
David (TIGER\user)
-------------------------------------------------------------

Does that look right?

Yes.

Under User Accounts, there's only the one account listed (David) which is an administrator account.

I haven't tried setting up any new user accounts as suggested
elsewhere in the thread - would rather try to undo what I've done
wrong, and that sounds like it could get me into more of a tangle...


You could use the restore point approach instead
if you just want to reverse the change to the user.

Rod Speed wrote:
You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

And set up the system so there are at least two users.
An Admin user with full admin privileges for admin tasks.
Your normal day-to-day user for absolutely everything else.

NEVER use an admin user account for normal day-to-day work.

JGH

jgharston wrote
Rod Speed wrote

You just need to 'take ownership' of the drive now.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

And set up the system so there are at least two users.
An Admin user with full admin privileges for admin tasks.
Your normal day-to-day user for absolutely everything else.

NEVER use an admin user account for normal day-to-day work.

Dont agree with that, it works fine for me.

And plenty of laptops come with that config by default too.

This seems to be a feature of XP. The program I used from the start was I
think called Erunt. So when I changed the user name, which of course does
not actually change the actual user name at all, and nothing worked right
any more, I simply installed that mornings registry, and did a reboot and it
was fine. The only way I found to get around this other than this minor
inconvenience of having a different name was to create a whole new user then
log in as the admin and move the files over. Of course if you have installed
lots of software you are bound to find issues if its been installed as one
user and might not allow acces from another. its a pain for a single user
machine, but pro does have this and I suppose it was with good intentions
that its there. all I'll say is that 7 is a hundred times more complicated
in this respect!

You could try system restore to before you changed the name.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Lobster" wrote in message
news
I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire afternoon
on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's arrived
with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during the week (ie
installing Office etc and generally customising stuff) howewver
something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't delete any files -
getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The
only relevant thing I can think of is that I renamed the user account,
from something like "user" to "David". It's the only account, and is a
full Administrator one.

I can, however, delete files by selecting [SHIFT][DELETE] - ie permanent
deletion, not sending them to the Recycle Bin. On the thought that the
Recycle Bin was corrupt or something, I tried deleting the C:\RECYCLER
folder from a DOS window and let XP recreate it on re-boot - however, it
made no difference at all. I can also delete files manually at the DOS
prompt.

What on earth's wrong - any ideas please?
Cheers
David

Brian Gaff wrote
Lobster wrote

I hate to use this forum for IT support but I've spent the entire
afternoon on this and am at my wits' end - can anyone help please?

I've just acquired a new (to me) laptop running XP Pro SP3 (it's
arrived with a clean install). I've been getting it 'sorted' during
the week (ie installing Office etc and generally customising stuff)
howewver something's Gone Wrong and the upshot is that I can't
delete any files - getting 'Access is denied' error regardless of
file location.

It was working OK on delivery, so it's something I've done here. The only relevant thing I can think of is that I
renamed the user
account, from something like "user" to "David". It's the only
account, and is a full Administrator one.

I can, however, delete files by selecting [SHIFT][DELETE] - ie
permanent deletion, not sending them to the Recycle Bin. On the
thought that the Recycle Bin was corrupt or something, I tried
deleting the C:\RECYCLER folder from a DOS window and let XP
recreate it on re-boot - however, it made no difference at all. I
can also delete files manually at the DOS prompt.

What on earth's wrong - any ideas please?

This seems to be a feature of XP.

Its actually a feature of the NTFS file system.

The program I used from the start was I think called Erunt. So when I changed the user name, which of course does not
actually change the actual user name at all, and nothing worked right any more, I simply installed that mornings
registry, and did a reboot and it was fine. The only way I found to get around this other than this minor
inconvenience of having a different name was to create a whole new user then log in as the admin and move the files
over.

Its completely trivial to 'take ownership' of the drive.

Of course if you have installed lots of software you are bound to find issues if its been installed as one user and
might not allow acces from another.

Not if you install them properly in the first place.

its a pain for a single user machine, but pro does have this and I suppose it was with good intentions that its there.

Yep, its part of the protection system.

all I'll say is that 7 is a hundred times more complicated in this respect!

Yep, no more simple file system.

You could try system restore to before you changed the name.

The real solution is to 'take ownership' of the drive.

Easy to find a solution online by putting the error message into google.

Thats usually the best way to find the solution to anything like that.

In message , Rod Speed
writes

Its completely trivial to 'take ownership' of the drive.

Of course if you have installed lots of software you are bound to
find issues if its been installed as one user and
might not allow acces from another.

Not if you install them properly in the first place.

its a pain for a single user machine, but pro does have this and I
suppose it was with good intentions that its there.

Yep, its part of the protection system.

all I'll say is that 7 is a hundred times more complicated in this respect!

Yep, no more simple file system.

You could try system restore to before you changed the name.

As an aside rather than an attempt to hijack the thread, my XP (sp3)
does not *do* system restore! There are plenty of restore points and it
happily goes through the motions but then comes up with an *unable to
restore* message. I have vaguely assumed this was due to having Norton
running.

The real solution is to 'take ownership' of the drive.

Easy to find a solution online by putting the error message into google.

Thats usually the best way to find the solution to anything like that.

regards



--
Tim Lamb

On Mon, 5 Mar 2012 09:17:54 +0000, Tim Lamb
wrote:

As an aside rather than an attempt to hijack the thread, my XP (sp3)
does not *do* system restore! There are plenty of restore points and it
happily goes through the motions but then comes up with an *unable to
restore* message. I have vaguely assumed this was due to having Norton
running.

Mine did that, too. Eventually I just got fed up with it and installed
7, as it was waiting in the wings anyway.
Mind you, XP had given years of trouble-free service up to that point.

"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...
In message , Rod Speed
writes

As an aside rather than an attempt to hijack the thread, my XP (sp3) does
not *do* system restore! There are plenty of restore points and it happily
goes through the motions but then comes up with an *unable to restore*
message. I have vaguely assumed this was due to having Norton running.


Had this problem before. The answer is to run System Restore from Safe
Mode. Get into Safe Mode by pressing F8 when the PC boots and before
Windows starts. This should bring up a text menu where you can select Safe
Mode. Don't panic when you see the screen, Safe Mode does not load your
graphics driver (or much else) but System Restore should then run OK.
--
Tinkerer

In message , Tinkerer
writes

"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
.. .
In message , Rod Speed
writes

As an aside rather than an attempt to hijack the thread, my XP (sp3) does
not *do* system restore! There are plenty of restore points and it happily
goes through the motions but then comes up with an *unable to restore*
message. I have vaguely assumed this was due to having Norton running.


Had this problem before. The answer is to run System Restore from Safe
Mode. Get into Safe Mode by pressing F8 when the PC boots and before
Windows starts. This should bring up a text menu where you can select Safe
Mode. Don't panic when you see the screen, Safe Mode does not load your
graphics driver (or much else) but System Restore should then run OK.

Thanks for that. *Keep* button ticked:-)

regards

--
Tim Lamb

It's kinds interesting that a slightly OT thread e.g. computing, get a far larger number of replies than many of those to do with traditional DIY. Is the growth of GSI a contributory factor?

In message
2571223.3480.1330963449835.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@vbai14,
82045 writes
It's kinds interesting that a slightly OT thread e.g. computing, get a
far larger number of replies than many of those to do with traditional
DIY. Is the growth of GSI a contributory factor?

I think it is a form of *Willy waving* but very helpful to us
ignorami:-)

regards

--
Tim Lamb

82045 wrote:

OT thread e.g. computing, get a far larger number of replies than
many of those to do with traditional DIY. Is the growth of GSI

Speaking for myself it's the result of too many started DIY projects and
not enough finished ones, I need a big dose of kick-ass to get going
again ...

On Mar 5, 8:52*pm, Andy Burns wrote:
82045 wrote:
OT thread e.g. computing, get a far larger number of replies than
many of those to do with traditional DIY. Is the growth of GSI

Speaking for myself it's the result of too many started DIY projects and
not enough finished ones, I need a big dose of kick-ass to get going
again ...

It's because we like mucking with things till they don't work and come
here for delightenment.

That and the argumainlys.
(It's a titsosorone thing.)

"82045" wrote in message
news:2571223.3480.1330963449835.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@vbai14...
It's kinds interesting that a slightly OT thread e.g. computing, get a far
larger number of replies than many of those to do with traditional DIY. Is
the growth of GSI a contributory factor?


GSI??? You got me there, what is it then? All I can come up with is Get
Stuck In.
--
Tinkerer

On 08/03/2012 23:32, Tinkerer wrote:
wrote in message
news:2571223.3480.1330963449835.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@vbai14...
It's kinds interesting that a slightly OT thread e.g. computing, get a far
larger number of replies than many of those to do with traditional DIY. Is
the growth of GSI a contributory factor?


GSI??? You got me there, what is it then? All I can come up with is Get
Stuck In.

Get Someone In perhaps?

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Tinkerer wrote:
"82045" wrote in message
news:2571223.3480.1330963449835.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@vbai14...
It's kinds interesting that a slightly OT thread e.g. computing, get a far
larger number of replies than many of those to do with traditional DIY. Is
the growth of GSI a contributory factor?


GSI??? You got me there, what is it then? All I can come up with is Get
Stuck In.


Groin Strain Injury?


--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.