Windows: access to hard drive is denied
- The file or folder is assigned to a different user, you will be denied the access. You are not an Administrator, you can't solve the Problem unfortunately.
- To open the folders of other users, you must have certain permissions. For System files, certain permissions are needed, since these are blocked for security reasons. How you can still access those files, read in the next paragraph.
- Under the circumstances, the contents of the folder or the file has been encrypted, too. Right-click on the file and select "properties". Via the Button "Advanced" you will see whether the Option "is enabled to encrypt content" (see image).
- Another reason for the denied access may be damage to the file.
Windows: file is encrypted?
Permission to gain access
You have Administrator rights, you can force the permission to access.
- Click with the right mouse button on the desired file or folder and select "properties".
- You can switch to the tab "security" and select the Option "Advanced".
- Windows 8 and older: Go to the tab "owner" and click on the edit Button. Here you can select your account and click on the Button "Apply".
- Windows 10: Click below on the "Add" Button on "select a principal" and enter the name of your user. Confirm with "OK" and enable all of the desired permissions.
- Close all Windows with "OK" and open the "properties" by right-clicking.
- You go back to the "security" tab and click under the category of "group or user name" on the "edit"Button.
- Select your account and enable the Option "full access".
- Close all Windows with "OK" and try again to access the file.
Permission to access
Windows: No access to the hard disk
In some cases, also an error on the hard disk may lead to the access problem.
- Start the command prompt as an Administrator.
- Now enter the command "chkdsk X: /f /r" and confirm with the [Enter] button.
- Replace the letter X with the letter of the desired drive (usually C). Your hard drive will now be checked for errors.
- The process can take several hours. You can continue to use your PC: To speed things up, you should leave Windows alone.
- An error is found, Windows will automatically try to eliminate the Problem.
Disk error check
In the next practical tip we show you how to create a file with denied access without great effort delete.
