Windows Vista and Read-Only Folders

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by FalTorPan, Aug 20, 2008.

  1. FalTorPan

    FalTorPan Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2000
    Location:
    Out there... thataway.
    Scenario:


    1. I right-click on a folder, and select Properties. The properties dialog shows the Read-only attribute as checked
    2. I uncheck the Read-only attribute and click OK
    3. In the Confirm Attribute Changes dialog, I click the "Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files" radio button, and then click OK
    4. Everything seems to work
    5. I right-click on the folder, and select Properties. The Read-only attribute is still checked!

    What am I doing wrong -- aside from using Windows Vista?

    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. FalTorPan

    FalTorPan Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2000
    Location:
    Out there... thataway.
    After making the post above, I tried entering this at the Command Prompt (while in the folder that I want to make read/write)...

    attrib -R /S

    ... and it didn't work. :scream:

    Any suggestions?
     
  3. scotthm

    scotthm Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2003
    Location:
    USA
    From the command prompt, go to the parent directory of the folder you wish to change the attribute of, and type attrib -r <ReadOnlyFolder>, where <ReadOnlyFolder> is the name of the folder you want to remove the read-only attribute of. This works on my Vista system.

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  4. FalTorPan

    FalTorPan Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2000
    Location:
    Out there... thataway.
    Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it, but it didn't work. I wound up having to disable User Access Control, which Microsoft calls a security no-no.

    Thanks again!
     
  5. LaxScrutiny

    LaxScrutiny Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2003
    Right click on the folder
    Choose Properties
    See that there are several tabs at the top of Properties
    Ignore the 'Read Only' checkbox and go to the 'Security' tab
    In the upper window you should see all of the Accounts available on your computer. If you only have one account with admin privileges, you will still see two, another hidden admin account.
    In the lower window see options for privileges for the folder. Set the privilege you want for the account you use.
    Click apply, OK, etc etc.
     
  6. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    The first thing I did on my system was disable User Access Control. Saves a lot of hassle.