“Access Denied” or other errors when you access or work with files

Cause You may receive an “Access denied” error message for one or more of the following reasons:

• The ownership of the folder has changed

.

• You do not have the proper permissions

.

• The file is encrypted.

Resolution

Windows 8

You may not have ownership of a file or folder If you recently upgraded your PC to Windows 8 from an earlier version of Windows, some of your account information may have changed. Therefore, you may no longer have ownership of some files or folders. You may be able to resolve this issue by restoring ownership of files and folders. To take ownership of a file or folder, follow these steps:

1. Press and hold the folder you want to take ownership of, and then tap Properties. (If you’re using a mouse, right-click the folder, and then click Properties.)

Tap or click the Security tab, tap or click

2. Advanced, and then tap or click Change. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Type the name of the person to whom you want to assign ownership, and then click

3. Check Names

   .

   Note The account name is displayed

of the person to whom you are assigning the property. Click OK.

4. If you want this person to own the files and subfolders contained in this folder, select the Replace owner in subcontainers and objects check box.

5. Click

6. OK.

You may not have the appropriate permissions The problems that you experience when you try to access files and folders may be related to permissions. Permissions are rules that determine whether you can access or change files and folders. To check

permissions on a file or folder, follow these steps:

1. Press and hold or right-click the file or folder, and

then click Properties.

2. Tap or click the Security tab

.

3. Under Group or user names, tap or click their name to see the permissions they have.

To open a file, you must have Read permission. To change the permissions for a file or folder, follow these steps. Important You must be logged on as an administrator to change file and folder permissions.

1. Press and hold or right-click the file or folder, and then tap or click

Properties. Tap or click the Security tab.

2. Under Group or user names, tap or click their name to see the permissions they have.

Tap or click Edit, tap or click

3. your name, select the check boxes for the permissions you must have,

and then click OK.

The

file or folder may be encrypted Encryption can help protect files and folders from unwanted access. You cannot open an encrypted file or folder without the certificate that was used to encrypt it. To determine whether a file or folder is encrypted, follow these steps:

Press and hold or right-click the file or folder, and then tap or click Properties. Tap or click

1. the General tab, and then tap or click Advanced.

If the Encrypt content to protect data check box is selected, you must have the certificate that was used to encrypt the file or folder before you can open it. In this situation, you must obtain the certificate from the person who created or encrypted the file or folder, or have that person decrypt the file or folder.

Windows 7 You may

not own a file or folder If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 7 from an earlier version of Windows, some of your account information may have changed. Therefore, you may no longer have ownership of some files or folders. You may be able to resolve this issue by restoring ownership of files and folders. To

take ownership of a file or folder, follow these steps: Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties. Click the Security tab, click

Advanced, and then click the

1. Owner tab.

2. Click Edit

   .

   Note If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation

3. tag.

4. Click the name of the person you want to give ownership to.

5. If you want this person to own the files and subfolders in this folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.

6. Click OK.

You may not have the appropriate permissions The problems that you experience when you try to access files and folders may be related to permissions. Permissions are rules that determine whether you can access or change files and folders. To determine

the permissions for the file or folder, follow these steps: Right-click the file or folder, and then click Properties. Click

1. the Security tab

.

2. Under Group or user names, click your name to see the permissions you have.

To open a file, you must have Read permission. To change the permissions for a file or folder, follow these steps. Important You must be logged on as an administrator to change file and folder permissions.

1. Right-click the file or folder, and

then click Properties. Click

2. the Security tab

.

3. Under Group or user names

, click your name to see the permissions you have. Click Edit, click

4. your name, select the check boxes for the permissions that you must have, and then click OK.

For more information about permissions, see What are permissions?.

The

file or folder may be encrypted Encryption can help protect files and folders from unwanted access. You cannot open an encrypted file or folder without the certificate that was used to encrypt it. To determine whether a file or folder is encrypted, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the file or folder, and

then click Properties. Click

2. the General tab, and then click Advanced.

If the Encrypt content to protect data check box is selected, you must have the certificate that was used to encrypt the file or folder before you can open it. You must obtain the certificate from the person who created or encrypted the file or folder, or have that person decrypt the file or folder. For more information, see Import or export certificates and private keys.