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Why is everything in "My Documents" marked read only?

Ever since installing SP2 on my WinXP Home OS the "My Documents" folder and everything in it has become "Read Only". Despite unchecking the "Read Only" check box in the folders properties and applying that change to the contents of the folder, it reverts to "Read Only" as soon as I recheck. Why is that and how can I change it?

Dave's Answer:

Re-checking the "read only" box on My Documents is normal behavior for XP for some reason (it's not all-out checked, it's a grayed checked box, meaning something under there is read only, not everything). I'm sure it's likely not set and staying set on the files.

Not sure if upgrading to SP2 converts XP Home drives to NTFS, but it might. Or, it may have been NTFS already and got the perms screwed up on upgrade.

I'd open Explorer, go to C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\ (where %username% is the name of your user account), right click on the My Documents folder, and click Properties. Click the Security tab, and make sure the person's user account is listed there with at least modify permissions (probably should have "Full Control" though). If not listed, click the Add button and add your user account with Full Control permissions.

If it is listed, sometimes NTFS permissions can get messed up and re-applying them resolves problems. Click Advanced, and check the "Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects" box, and click OK.

Alternatively, you can follow the specific steps to take ownership of a file or folder from the Microsoft site directly (from their How To):

How to take ownership of a folder

Note: You must be logged on to the computer with an account that has administrative credentials. If you are running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, you must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an account that has Administrative rights to have access to the Security tab.

If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must disable Simple File Sharing. By default, Windows XP Professional uses Simple File sharing when it is not joined to a domain.

For additional information about how to do this, check out the article How to disable simplified sharing and set permissions on a shared folder in Windows XP.

To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:

Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message: You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control? All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes. Note folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.
Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

How to take ownership of a file

To take ownership of a file, follow these steps:

Right-click the file that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click Administrator, or click the Administrators group, and then click OK. The administrator or the Administrators group now owns the file. To change the permissions on the files and folders under this folder, go to step 5.
Click Add.
In the Enter the object names to select (examples) list, type the user or group account that you want to give access to the file. For example, type Administrator.
Click OK.
In the Group or user names list, click the account that you want, and then select the check boxes of the permissions that you want to assign that user.
When you are finished assigning permissions, click OK.

That should get you going!

Thanks to Chris Buechler, Chris Thomas, and Tommy Martin for their help.

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Comments

RE: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/why_is_everything_in_my_documents_marked_read_only.html

I think the question relates to this problem rather than the one described here.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/24940/24940.html

Posted by: rob at December 13, 2005 3:46 PM

I have read your reply to Why is everything in my documents is read only. I have the same problem but my system is FAT32 so is this the reason I do not have a surcurity tab in the folders properties, or is it that I run this PC in classic mode.
I changed the attributes using DOS attrib -r, suggested by microsoft, but this did not work.
The files in my folders are WMP files and my problem is that I cannot download the into my Creative Zen Touch player, (similar to iPod). I have tried this on another computer and it works fine.

Posted by: Tom Hagan at May 16, 2006 12:41 PM

Hi Dave,
I had a terrible time trying to solve this problem until I came upon your clearly written
instructions....I unlocked the read-only with just a few clicks....Please have a Chai whatchamacallit on me!!

Thank you very much!

Posted by: RC Connelly at August 31, 2007 8:53 PM

iam facing similer problem bcoz when i connected my frends pen drive to my pc some virus has infected to my pc and all the fles and folders in my pc has changed into read only...and i'm facing another problem that is before login into my pc iam getting a meesage as "IAM MESSAGING FROM YOUR COMPUTER PLESE DONT KILL ME"...like this..........i dont now how to over come this problem ...even i formatted my c drive and re install the windows xpsp2......plese help me out.........

Posted by: neo at December 16, 2007 11:20 AM

I've done all these directions to the tee, and it still reverts to read only.
Is this the tipping point, should I just give up all my windows knowledge and programs and switch to mac?
So darn frusterating.
Do what you say, do what MS says.
Cpu wont do what I say
rargh

Posted by: Danb at February 13, 2008 1:46 PM

Ive tried all these steps to get rid of the Read Only and nothing is working could this be a permanent virus...?

Posted by: Irritated at March 10, 2008 6:05 PM

This guide was very unhelpful. All it's done is add another reason why I love Linux. This does not help remove the read only permission from a folder. I now think of this problem as a VIRUS that MS puts on your computer since it corrupts data and takes control of your own files and folders away from you. What the hell were they thinking when they did this. It pains me to have to continue to use windows when problems like this exist.

Posted by: Htown at April 2, 2008 5:25 PM

It should be noted that if you are dealing with a system folder, the correct is given in the first comment. A registry edit and a reboot and this issue is resolved.

Posted by: Badtz Maru at June 19, 2008 12:02 PM

Hi Dave! My girlfriend and I just moved in together and she has a computer that a friend gave her.Her friend "Mae"is apparently the main administrator of the pc and my girlfriend is a guest on the pc. My girlfriend cant recall her password to log in, so we both use "Mae" to long on.This is the issue, we caant download anything or do certain stuff without the permission of the administrator, who is now long gone and cant find. So how do i change the administrator account so we can do what we wnat on the pc? I've been to ASK.COM for help, but have had no luck. Please help.

Posted by: Kyle ruffin at January 27, 2009 5:52 PM

I can only echo Danb's comments from Feb 2008:

"I've done all these directions to the tee, and it still reverts to read only.
Is this the tipping point, should I just give up all my windows knowledge and programs and switch to mac?
So darn frusterating.
Do what you say, do what MS says.
Cpu wont do what I say
rargh" !!!

I'm only just breaking in this new Dell Latitude E6500 so I'm not about to abandon it for a Mac - tempted though I may be.

If it makes any difference to your analysis of the problem, I am trying to copy "My Documents" from my old laptop via a Maxtor external hard drive.
Patrick

Posted by: Patrick at April 24, 2009 4:58 AM

Hey there i have had this read only on all of my files and cant do anything, e.g. i uninstall a program cant because im changing folder and so on. i have tried all of the above and nothings working for me any help would be wideley appreciated . Also ican only delete folders from my hardrive in safe mode admin nothing els would do it .

Posted by: Wyn at June 26, 2009 10:30 AM

I have a lot to say, but ...

I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!