Windows 7 Can't access my C: Drive and lost my administrative rights.

Docle8

New Member
I was changing my security settings on my C: Drive and somehow it thought I clicked DENY... Now I can't open my Local C: Drive and somehow I lost my admin rights too. I tried enabling the secret Administrator, and it still says Access Denied. I also tried system restore, but it says I don't have any restore points. If I try installing Windows 10 will it help anything? Can I try to reinstall Windows 7, and not lose my personal files? Please somebody help me.
 
Hi Docle8! Big BOBO! Please post make and model of your PC. You have a lot of questions. Very strange that you don't have any restore points.
I'm thinking there is more to this. No, trying to upgrade to W10 will not solve your problem! I can see restoring back to factory as a option maybe; if you have that option still available. You may get more replies from members latter. Post the make and model of your PC and be patient!;)
What media to you have to reinstall W7?? The chance of losing your personal files is very probable
 
Hi Docle8! Big BOBO! Please post make and model of your PC. You have a lot of questions. Very strange that you don't have any restore points.
I'm thinking there is more to this. No, trying to upgrade to W10 will not solve your problem! I can see restoring back to factory as a option maybe; if you have that option still available. You may get more replies from members latter. Post the make and model of your PC and be patient!;)
What media to you have to reinstall W7?? The chance of losing your personal files is very probable
Hi, I can't get to my specs right now, but I know for sure it's not a hardware problem. I just really messed up by clicking deny on the security tab for my user. I have the W7 instal disc. I think this is fixable, I just need help.
 
Hi! I'm sure you will get this solved. Just be patient and someone will have some suggestions latter. I'm running W10 and I've forgotten W7.
If you have the W7 installation media, should be a easy fix! We all are volunteers here with different knowledge levels of Windows and we all have different tine zones. You will get help here. Just be patient!;):)
 
Hi! I'm sure you will get this solved. Just be patient and someone will have some suggestions latter. I'm running W10 and I've forgotten W7.
If you have the W7 installation media, should be a easy fix! We all are volunteers here with different knowledge levels of Windows and we all have different tine zones. You will get help here. Just be patient!;):)
Hi, for some reason I can't log in to my account so I had to make a new one. Thank you for the kind words, and I hope we can fix it. I have a few ideas right now.
 
Hi! Thanks for the update! Keep us informed on your progress. If you have any questions, I'm betting someone here will try very hard to have a answer!;)
 
Try to reopen Windows Explorer and run it as administrator. Follow these steps:
1. Open the task manager. Find the process "Explorer", right-click on it and terminate the process.
2. Click the File menu, select "Run new task".
3. Type explorer, and tick the checkbox "Create this task with administrative privileges".

This time Windows Explorer will run as admin. I hope you can then access the C:\ drive.
 
The best way to reset these would be to boot something like Windows DaRT and reset file permissions, however if you were capable of creating a new account that means you have admin privileges. I offer no warranty that this will work at all, infact it may make it worse, you do this at your own peril... there's my disclaimer.

This option should at least get yourself access to files again, however I would use it as an option to recover your data, and do a fresh install as you've most certainly disturbed the great Microsoft gods and goddesses and god only knows what folder permission issues you will have in the future. Deny is one of those permissions that should be used SPARINGLY and with great WISDOM.

Launch a Command Prompt as administrator and type the following
c:
cd \
icacls * /T /Q /C /RESET
takeown /R /F *

Try to access files now.
 
Yes, DENY supersedes allowed permissions so you basically removed your own access. You should still be able to take ownership of files and grant yourself allow access though.
 
@neemo: if he's lucky!! I agree about the DENY permission. Bad-Bad! <<<BBJ>>>

Hi Docle888,
Sorry to hear about this problem. If I was you, I would STOP what you are doing and REMOVE that hard drive from your computer and either take it to a licensed computer Tech at your local repair shop. Josephur gave you some good advice, but that is high risk stuff and you can lose all your data. Do you have it backed up somewhere on external media such as an external hard drive, USB flash drive, DVD disc, or a online Cloud Account on the Internet? If not, I would suggest you go another route and get your files and data back before proceeding further which can cause irretrievable DATA LOSS!! :eek:

If you are a DIY guy, you can purchase what we call a drive-caddy for under $25 and plug in your hard drive you removed from your desktop PC or laptop and recover the data on a different working Windows computer (any modern computer will do Windows7x and later will do). Here's a link to buy the "drive-caddy": Vantec SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter CB-ISATAU2 - Newegg.com

Next, download yourself a copy of Kubuntu Linux for free here to recover your files on a 2nd working Windows computer. Here's the link to get that software: Download Ubuntu Desktop | Download | Ubuntu
Current version of Ubuntu/Kubuntu is v16.04LTS. I've tested versions v14 and above they will all work for your purposes.
I'd also recommend you burn a LiveCD onto DVD media (new Ubuntu versions won't fit on a standard 700MB CD disc; you must have a DVD disc). You can also burn a bootable Ubuntu onto a USB stick (this will produce a Kubuntu, or slightly different version of Linux but it will still work the same and allow you to recover your data files). It's much harder to make a Kubuntu USB stick that works; it took me over 1 year to figure out how to do it, and it takes advanced computer skills to do it. It's covered in the instructions on the Ubuntu website, but the tools they mention didn't work for me. Like I said, make the bootable DVD disc as it's easiest, plus a DVD disc on only 20 cents where a 16GB flash drive is $10-$15.:)

If you need help with any of this post back; there are several of us here who are experts in Data Recovery. I was one of the first people in California to ever recover data from a hard disk drive and have been doing it since 1980. :modest:

Once you get your data recovered [if and only if you don't have it backed up somewhere else!], you can disconnect your hard drive from the drive-caddy and the 2nd borrowed computer and reinsert into your original computer where you can try the other suggestions mentioned and see if you have any luck. If you don't, you can often purchase Factory Recovery Media directly from the computer Maker. They cost between $29-$99 US. If you'd be willing to provide us with the Make/Model of your computer (i.e.: Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc.), we can assist you with how to order those. In some cases you can order on a 2nd working computer from the company website depending on what country you live in. In some cases you have to call on the phone to get.


If you brought your computer into my shop and were paying me money to fix this problem, this is how I would proceed.

Hope this proves useful to you and best of luck! :encouragement:
Remember there are no stupid questions when it comes to DIY computer repair!

<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>




 
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Hey @BIGBEARJEDI Here's what I use. I'm a cheap skate.:rofl:
X-Media UB-2235S-OTB IDE/SATA to USB 2.0 Cable Adapter w/One Touch Button Backup
UB-2235S-OTB_l.jpg
 
Gary: Did you check my link? Yours is the EXACT same price as mine: $14.99!!! you're losin' it Bro!:rofl:

BBJ
 
I had same thing happen to me where I lost access to the Admin user account and all the icons on the desk top became blank. This happened when I was trying to do a MS update and got an error (Error #80004005). So I tried to use a software from "SmartPCFixer" which claimed that they could fix it and got into a deeper problem. I tried everything and finally I had to restore the OS ( C drive) from my back up. Fortunately I keep all my data on a separate partition (D drive), so that was available once I got the OS working again. Thank God for the Back up !!!
 
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