Windows 7 Cannot remove read-only attribute from ANY folder

Atomix

New Member
Hello,
I am experiencing a major problem - I cannot remove read-only attribute from ANY folder on Windows 7.
I have searched google and this whole forum about this problem and I've found that many people have a similar issue.
There were offered such solutions as to use ''attrib -r -s <pathToFolderHere>'' and using ''take ownership'' script and changing privileges - I did all that, but nothing worked. The blue square still stays there even after unchecking it and closing properties window.
This is a huge problem for me, because I'm writing android applications and I need to download source code using SVN checkout via cmd.exe, but I cannot do that, if read-only is enabled FOR EVERY folder on the whole system. It just gives me an error after downloading source code - permission denied. The software cannot write the downloaded file to my PC, because all folders are set to read-only.
Please help me out with this one, I'm really desperate here.

errorh.png
 
The only place where I can download source codes via cmd.exe is the very root folder of C:\\
But why would I want to download 5 thousand files there and then to separate from other folders? What is this stupid bug that hasn't been fixed yet, I don't think this is some minor thing that can be just ignored for a year or two.
 
First; that blue dot does not mean you have no access to that folder, it only means there is at least one read only file in the folder.
Second; there is nothing stopping you from making as many folders as you like on your system.

Here's a screen cap of the properties for my downloads folder... Note that it says Read Only... At the moment I took this I had 4 downloads in various states of completion and I saved the cap in there too...

Don't let that blue dot stop you. If the folder was genuinely Read Only, there would be a checkmark in that box.

DLProp.PNG
 
First; that blue dot does not mean you have no access to that folder, it only means there is at least one read only file in the folder.
Second; there is nothing stopping you from making as many folders as you like on your system.

Here's a screen cap of the properties for my downloads folder... Note that it says Read Only... At the moment I took this I had 4 downloads in various states of completion and I saved the cap in there too...

Don't let that blue dot stop you. If the folder was genuinely Read Only, there would be a checkmark in that box.

View attachment 7383


You don't understand, I'm not talking about standard http, ftp downloads via net browser or via torrents, but using SVN (apache subversion) to download an open source code from google code websites. They do not allow any browser downloading, but only via SVN, that is command prompt.
And after I execute the command to download a source code to ANY folder, except the root of hard drive (C:\\), it gives me an error: access denied and exits. That is because, it cannot write to a folder that has any kind of read-only attribute to it.

My concern is regarding the very issue of removing the blue dot from any folder I wish. Why cannot I do that? I cannot even change a folder's state to a marked read-only, it's like, windows is ignoring my actions. This never happened with XP.
 
Do regular downloads work?
Can you move,rename and delete files around on your system?

About the only thing I can think of that doesn't imply user error is the UAC... It's like the first thing to go when I set up a WIN7 system...

And, it might just be me getting all knit picky, but ... it's not C:\\ It's C:\ and yes it does matter.
 
Do regular downloads work?
Can you move,rename and delete files around on your system?

About the only thing I can think of that doesn't imply user error is the UAC... It's like the first thing to go when I set up a WIN7 system...

And, it might just be me getting all knit picky, but ... it's not C:\\ It's C:\ and yes it does matter.


Yes, I can rename, delete, use standard downloads. In fact, I ran on this system quite fine for some months, and only yesterday I was forced to notice, this problem, because I started programming android applications and needed source codes.
To what should I set the UAC?

C:\\ works just as well as C:\ just tried using both as destination places and they were both accepted.
 
Set the UAC OFF ... I program at Win-API level in C-99 and I only ever turn UAC on for testing (that is, to make sure my code isn't triggering it).

As for the C:\\ thing.... Wow... I just tried that and given the so called enhanced security, that is a major oversight on MS's part... C:/ works too! Talk about yer stupid security holes...

Ok, you're downloading from a command prompt, ya?
Can you not open a command window and do something like this...

cd c:\users\me\android
Download "http:\\www.android.com\resource\fancy_code.c" .\

In command parlance ".\" means "this directory" and "..\" means "this directory's parent" (But I bet you already knew that)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top