The "Access Denied" Folder

[Gregoshi]

I've got a bit of an annoying problem. I edited some picture files (TIFF files) and then used the right-click/drag/move files to relocated the edited pictures from a working folder to their permanent home (a sub-folder). When I went to examine the edited pictures, they wouldn't load and Picasa told me the picture files had an invalid format. Everything looked good regarding the files as far as file properties go, but they wouldn't load in any picture viewing utility I tried. After my Google-fu failed to locate a means of fixed corrupted TIFF files, I tried running the Windows Check Disk utility. This rendered the TIFF folder AND its parent folder inaccessible. Trying to enter, rename or delete the parent folder yields this pop-up window:

G:\SOR Work\Van Halen is not accessible. Access is denied.

Going into DOS, I get "Cannot find specified path" (or something like that) when I try to navigate to that directory. I've run Check Disk a couple of times to no avail. Working Google, Microsoft Knowledgebase, Tucows & ZDnet downloads and the Open Source thread stickied at the top of this forum has turned up no information or utilities to correct the problem. At minimum, I like to fix the file system so I can delete the folder and move on. It would be nice salvage the lost TIFF files since it will cost me over a days worth of work to re-do the image edits, but that is secondary at the moment. BTW, I've run a couple of "find lost/deleted picture" utilities that have failed to find the wayward TIFF pictures.

Any light that can be shed on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Beskar]

Looks be a harddrive problem, but it looks like you already used the windows tool for that.

[KukriKhan]

What device is the G: drive, an external HD, flashdrive, thumbdrive...? Can you access any other files/folders on that drive?

[naut]

This may help delete the folder.

Sounds like an access rights issue.

1. Right click on the problem folder --> Properties.
2. Select the Security Tab.
3. Mark your username and authorize full control.
4. Apply and Ok.
5. Now you can delete the folder without problems.

You may not have to delete the files/folder. Check the security tab in properties on the files/folder, perhaps in conversion the permissions have been altered?

The worst case might be what Beskar said, a bad sector/blocks. Is it a removable device?

[Gregoshi]

Thanks for the replies. The drive is an logical drive on an external harddrive. Doing some spot checking, this folder is the only one with any issues.

Regarding the access rights, I'm running under the administrator account. I'm running XP Home Edition (service pack 3). I don't see a "security tab" under the folder properties and in Folder Options/View/Advanced Setting there is no "use simple file sharing" box to uncheck to get a security tab.

Thanks for the link Psychonaut. I've tried a few of the DOS suggestions but get the "access is denied" in DOS as well.

I downloaded a utility Move On Boot with allows copy/rename/delete of files before Windows launches. I get the "Access is denied" on this when I click "finish" for the utility to setup the action before the reboot.

I'll try some things in Safe Mode in the morning.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Maybe it doesnt like Van Halen.

/which would be lame

[Pannonian]

This is the easiest unlocking utility I've found. It's integrated into the desktop UI, so if any file/folder needs deleting but is locked, you get the option to unlock/delete/cancel without having to do any fiddly stuff.

[KukriKhan]

Nice find, Pannonian. Hope it does the trick for Gregoshi. Still, I wonder how such a file got itself locked in the first place.

[Xiahou]

Regarding the access rights, I'm running under the administrator account. I'm running XP Home Edition (service pack 3). I don't see a "security tab" under the folder properties and in Folder Options/View/Advanced Setting there is no "use simple file sharing" box to uncheck to get a security tab.

In XP Home, you need to boot into Safe Mode to get the security tab. Once there, if you find you dont have rights to the folder, you can seize ownership as administrator under the advanced menu.

[Gregoshi]

This is the easiest unlocking utility I've found...

I get an unsafe website warning from IE when I click on the link.

Thanks for the info as well Xiahou. I didn't get much accomplished other than backing up stuff incase any additional measures go awry.

[R'as al Ghul]

I get an unsafe website warning from IE when I click on the link.

No, the website is fine. No worries.
I've been using the unlocker tool for quite some time now and I works great.

R'as

[Gregoshi]

Is there another site from which to get the unlocker utility? Windows security definitely does not like the web site (not just a popup, but the whole browser window background goes red with warning text - never ran into that before) and warns of viruses and potential exposure of personal/sensitive data on my PC. When I press on, and get linked to the Brothersoft(?) site which actually has the download, the unlocker download yields a second warning that the file has been reported as unsafe. I hear ya saying it okay, but I don't visit sites that invoke such a violent reaction from Microsoft (yes, I know talking about Microsoft...) and my warm and fuzzies about this have gone cold. Call me chicken.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind having the unlocker utility but I think I'm going to go with more extreme measures. I did manage to recover the "missing" TIFF picture files via Easeus' Data Recovery Wizard program. However, I've run into a couple of other folders on the drive that are experiencing the same issue and these folders have had nothing to do with the actions that caused the original problem (or so it seems). It seems the file system is hosed and seems unrecoverable. So what I've decided to do is to copy everything off the drive and onto another drive and then reformat the offending drive. I think I'll only use this physical drive as an backup/archive low activity drive rather than one with frequent activities.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[R'as al Ghul]

Is there another site from which to get the unlocker utility?

I downloaded the thing, scanned it with todays definitions and uploaded it to here: http://rapidshare.com/files/34476032...1.8.8.exe.html R'as

[Gregoshi]

Thanks R'as. You're the best!

[Gregoshi]

The unlocker utility worked perfect. It told me there was no "lock handle" (I think that was the term), but gave me the option to rename/move/delete anyway. That did the trick. The bad folders are gone. Thanks for that utility recommendation.

[R'as al Ghul]

The unlocker utility worked perfect. It told me there was no "lock handle" (I think that was the term), but gave me the option to rename/move/delete anyway. That did the trick. The bad folders are gone. Thanks for that utility recommendation.

Unlocker rocks.

[Gregoshi]

Three cheers for Western Digital!! My second external hard drive failed this morning (not the one with the "locked" folders) and as luck would have it, the warranty expired on January 24 - less than two weeks ago. I contacted WD about this situation and they have agreed to do a one time courtesy replacement of the failed drive. I really didn't expect they would go for my suggestion of getting a replacement but thought it wouldn't hurt to ask...and they have come through for me. I'm a happy boy.

[R'as al Ghul]

Three cheers for Western Digital!! My second external hard drive failed this morning

Western Digital Gah! The only harddrive to ever crash on me was build by them. I swore to never buy from them again. In fact, I'm still angry that their hd crashed and my precious files were lost. Good of them to give you a free one, though. Anyway, do yourself a favour and don't trust that disk with anything important you don't have elsewhere.
I'm curious, did you do a daily virus check on that drive? I've this theory that one shortens the lifespan of drives by doing these daily scans. They cause a lot of movement of the reading head and generally cause unnecessary stress. Instead of scanning daily, it's sufficient to scan that drive once. Every file that you're going to add to that drive, will be scanned by the resident shield of your Virus scanner anyway. If you don't add anything, there's no need to scan. If you boot up the machine every day and have the daily scan option turned on, not only will it put stress on your HD but it also eats up your performance until it's done.

[Gregoshi]

I only do weekly scans and because of the amount of files I have, I only scan the major working drives. The drive that failed was mostly used for archival storage (i.e. very light use). I don't scan it because it has only my files (pictures). I lost a hard drive years ago and got in the habit of backing up the stuff that is important to me.