How to Fix Acess Denied Error in Windows Vista

In Windows Vista when you try to open certain folders you get “Access Denied” error. Windows gives this error because you don’t have the ownership of the file by default instead the system has the ownership.

So you are not allowed to open the folders. One such folder is “Documents and Settings” folder.Now in order to access the contents of these folders you need to take full ownership of them.

Steps to Fix Acess Denied Error in Windows Vista

Right click on the folder you want to take ownership of then go to properties.
Now click on the Security tab and then move to the Advanced tab at the bottom.
Now again select the Owner tab in the next windows. There you will see the current owner and also other owners that can be assigned to that folder.
Now click on the Edit button. In the next windows that comes up select your username in the ‘Change owner to’ field. If you see the Replace owner of subcontainers and objects option then select it.
Now click Apply and OK on all the dialog boxes that are open. That’s it you have taken the ownership of all the contents of the that particular folder.

Sometimes you still get the Access Denied error to some folders within restricted folder. Just follow the same procedure to take the ownership of that folder also.

Now you can access all your files.

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Chandrashekhar is the owner and editor of Tech-Chand. A enthusiast geek and tech freak.If you like this post, you can follow techchand on Twitter.Subscribe to Tech-Chand feed via RSS or EMAIL to receive instant updates.