Cannot change READ ONLY file attributes using Administrator Account

Anonymous
2009-10-31T21:41:55+00:00

I have tried windows explorer and a custom program called Directory Opus. I have tried creating several administrator accounts but no luck.

I cannot work with this problem existing.

I need a solution.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2010-02-27T20:39:32+00:00

I have the exact same issue.  Following the steps above did not work, the folder/subfolders remain Read-Only.  I am the owner of the folder and subfolders.  I'm not even sure how they became Read-Only to begin with.  Setting Read-Only on individual files works properly.  Changing folder settings does not.

***IMPORTANT EDIT:

According to a Microsoft Knowledge Base post:

You cannot view or change the Read-only or the System attributes of folders

To summarize, Windows ignores System or Read-Only settings on folders (it does not ignore those properties on FILES however).  Individual applications that you are running may not ignore the Read-Only status on a folder and may give an error.  In my situation, an application was attempting to create a new file in a folder that was marked as Read-Only and it honored the RO setting and refused to try to create the new file.

To actually change these attributes, the Properties menu will not work.  From the KB source:

  • If you click Apply changes to this folder only , the Read-only attribute is changed for all the files in the folder. However, the Read-only attribute is not changed for the folder, its subfolders, or any files in its subfolders. If you click Apply changes to this folder, subfolders, and files , the Read-only attribute is changed for all files in the folder and all files in the subfolders. However, the Read-only attribute is not changed for the folder or its subfolders.

In order to change these properties, the user must launch a command line terminal and execute the changes by hand, such as this command:

  • attrib -r +s c:\test

...which will remove the READ-ONLY setting and apply the SYSTEM setting to the folder.  Once again, changing properties of files (including files in subfolders) works as expected with the right-click Properties -> Security menu.

Knowledge Base source:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549

Bad support, MS.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-20T13:07:08+00:00

    OMG Seriously,

    Ok this is a bit ridiculous but on Vista it is the only way to fix my problem. My problem was after unzipping files and putting them in a directory I could not change the files permissions at all. But this solution has worked for me many times in the last couple of days( I was ready to go back to linux)

    Ok are you ready for this?

    Step 1:

    Copy all files and put them in another directory

    Step 2:

    Delete the files in the current directory

    Step 3:

    Change permissions on the file in the new directory

    Step 4:

    Copy the files in the new directory and put them back in the old directory (sometimes I have to change the permissions one more time)

    I probably just gave a hacker a new work around, but this issue is seriously annoying.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-09-10T13:32:58+00:00

    Hey i got it working. If you right click on the file you're trying to edit then click on security you should see a box with all the different accounts in. You need to be an administrator to do this but if you are, there is a button that says edit underneath the box. Click this and then select your admin account and check the tick box which says full control. You should now be able to edit the file in notepad. I use windows 7 personally but if anyone's using xp/vista then i'm sure there should be something similar.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-10-29T11:40:02+00:00

    Did help at first, but aftwerwards I noticed many files to be read-only again. It takes so much time to save a file under a different name and change the name of the file again. Is there no other solution?

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-11-18T00:16:52+00:00

    Solution:

    Open an elevated explorer window: Go to the start menu, go to the search, type in "explorer," find "Windows Explorer," right click, Run as Administrator, find the folders you are trying to change attributes for, open properties on the folder, uncheck Read-Only on the General tab, it will pause and prompt you for an administrator permission window, click "allow."

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