Windows 7 "Access is denied" when writing changes to a file on an older partition

[misterten]

A friend of mine was going to install Win7 on a free partition of a hard drive. On the second hard drive he has three partition, where on the first one his XP was running. From XP he started the Win7 installation. I was installing Win7 by booting from DVD and following errors didn't occure on my machine:

He isn't able to take the ownership. We already made all steps to do that, changing owner for the whole partition, adding/editing users and theirs permissions. But he's just able to read the files from the old XP partitions, which is used to be the current partition to work with. He cannot change/overwrite them. Copying a file to the current system's partition doesn't allow changes there, either. Must each file's ownership be taken seperately?? Or is anything else wrong here?

As I've written, I had XP, too, and I was able to copy all files from the XP partitions even without taking ownership. What's different here? Is it because installing 7 from running XP?

regards

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems like your friend is encountering issues with taking ownership and modifying files on partitions that were previously used by Windows XP after installing Windows 7. Here are some insights and possible solutions to address the problem:

Differences in File Ownership and Permissions between Windows XP and Windows 7:​

1. File System Changes: Windows 7 uses a different security model compared to Windows XP. This can result in differences in how file ownership and permissions are handled.
2. User Account Control (UAC): Windows 7 introduced UAC, which can restrict certain actions even for users with administrative privileges. This might affect file access and modification.

   Steps to Resolve File Access Issues:​

3. Explicit Ownership: While changing the ownership of the partition should generally apply to all files and folders within it, some files or folders might still retain their previous ownership settings. In such cases, taking ownership of individual files or folders might be necessary.
4. Correct Permissions: Ensure that the correct permissions are set for the users on the partition. Even if ownership is transferred, restrictive permissions can still limit actions like file modification.
5. Compatibility Mode: Running applications in compatibility mode can sometimes resolve issues related to file access. Your friend can try running the applications that require file modification in compatibility mode for Windows 7.
6. Check UAC Settings: Verify the UAC settings on the Windows 7 system. Adjusting the UAC level can sometimes resolve permission-related issues.
7. Boot from Windows 7 Installation Media: In some cases, booting directly from the Windows 7 installation media and performing a clean installation (instead of upgrading from Windows XP) can prevent certain compatibility issues.

   Possible Reasons Why You Didn't Encounter the Issue:​

8. Clean Installation: Since you installed Windows 7 by booting from the DVD and performing a clean installation, the file ownership and permission settings might have been set up correctly during the installation process.
9. Unrelated Settings: It's possible that the specific configuration or software on your friend's system is causing the issue, which may not have been present on your system during the Windows 7 installation.

   Further Recommendations:​

10. Backup Important Files: Before attempting any major changes, ensure all important files are backed up to prevent data loss.
11. System Restore Point: Creating a system restore point before making changes can help revert to a stable configuration if issues arise. Encourage your friend to carefully follow the steps mentioned above to troubleshoot and resolve the ownership and file access issues on the Windows 7 system.