Thanks for the smilies bit. unfortunately, that's the only bit that worked. I gave myself as much control as I could in the advanced tab before my first post. I went thru the first set of steps, and it said I had full control, but basically said that it couldn't apply to any sub-folders.
Study that tut again. You have to perform all the steps to have recursive "Full Control" Administrator permissions. I'll lay it out here:
Enable the built-in Administrator account (see previous post) from your regular account, logoff, then login as Administrator.
Open the "Folder Options" dialog box. click the "View" tab, and select the following:
- Uncheck: "Display simple folder view in Explorer's Folder list"
- Check: "Show hidden files and folders"
- Uncheck: "Hide extensions for known file types"
- Uncheck: "Hide protected operating system files"
- Uncheck: "Use simple file sharing"
Now, click the "Apply to ALL Folders" button, then click "Apply", and click "OK" to exit the dialog box.
Navigate to the Windows folder you want to access:
- Right-click that folder and from the drop-down menu select "Properties". The folder properties dialog box opens.
- Click the "Security" tab then click the "Advanced" button. The "Advanced Security Settings" dialog box opens.
- Under "Permission entries:" you'll see a list of names. Be sure that "Administrator" and/or "Administrators" are listed with "Full Control" permission that apply to "This folder, subfolders, and files". If "Administrator" isn't listed, add it.
- Now, click the "Owner" tab. You'll see the "Current owner of this item": "Administrator" and "Administrators" should be listed. Change owner to "Administrator".
- Check the box: "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects", then click the "Apply" button. A small progress window may open, then will close automatically when finished.
- Click the "Permissions" tab again. Now, check the box: "Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects", then click "Apply". A small progress window may open, then will close automatically when finished.
- Click "OK" to close the "Advanced Security Settings" dialog box.
- Click "OK" to close the folder properties dialog box.
You'll now have Full Control permissions on the Windows folder and all it's contents. If you want full control of an entire drive; right click on the drive letter itself and apply this same procedure, logged in as built-in Administrator.