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How can I gain access to my own locked files? Changing permissions doesn't work.

Hello everyone,

For years now I have transported an old hard drive around because on the hard drive are all my old photos from college (circa 2004). I would really like to get them because there are literally hundreds of my memories stored there. 

This is how they show up to me:



I have tried going into the ownership of the file and making sure that I have full control permission.  That doesn't do anything helpful. 

As you can see here, I have full effective access to the file(s).

Security Audit shows this Principal User S-1-5-21-24..... I guess this is a security identifier but i'm not 100% sure if it's from my current Windows 10 machine or if it's from the old computer long ago (probably with xp on it but can't be sure). 


I cannot copy the file to the current machine. If I try, it looks like this:

If I attempt to provide administrator access, this happens:
If anyone is able to help, I would be most grateful. I don't want to lose all of these, but the drive has been around the block. So, I'd like to get the files up on the cloud and have them saved.

Thanks!
JD

I thought I'd add that I also tried going through the cmd line as an administrator and using the "takeown" command. I tried it on an individual file and it said that I had successfully taken ownership, but the padlock is still on the fill and it still won't open and says I need permission.

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Try first changing the owner (click the "change" next to the owner) to you. Then, as owner you should be able to change the permissions for yourself.

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Hi JD,

This issue occurs if your new system is not recognizing your files from your old hard drive, that is why it is asking for permission. We suggest that you check the troubleshooting steps in this link, and follow the resolution for Windows 8 since it also the same with Windows 10.

We would appreciate it if you could get back to us and provide us your feedback.

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I can change the permissions successfully, but it doesn't allow me to do anything with the file and it stays locked. Further, when I am the owner, the file still behaves as if I am not the owner. 

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I'm aware of all the responses below and have been trying all of those methods for years (including today). None of them do anything. I should note that it is not ALL the files. 

Out of the 1600 or so on the drive that I'm trying to get, only about 300 of them are locked. 

One of the things on the link from Michael Gall was that the files could be encrypted. So, I took a look. 

Seems that some of my files ARE encrypted. There's where it shows the box checked and there it's got my name (from old computer years ago) as the User with Access as well as a certificate thumbprint. I'm not sure how some of the files ended up encrypted and the rest not (unless it's corrupted somehow and just reading that way), but I'm not sure not what the next step would be. 

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Hi Michael, in your post I found about the possibility of encrypted files and posted more on the thread with screen caps. Take a look if you get a chance please. 

Thanks,

jd

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https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/how-to-decrypt-jpg-files.171375/

Found this in another forum and it sounds pretty identical to my problem. Had a computer crash probably back then, built a new machine and copied over the folder with pictures in it from the hard drive. Couldn't get to them all but didn't want to lose them. I vaguely remember using some corrupted file recovery software many years ago that I think let me see thumbnails of the pics but I couldn't get them. Can't remember now. It's been well over 10 years. 

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We appreciate your response. For further resolution on your concern in gaining access to your files, we suggest that you run Check Disk. By doing this, it will check your hard drive and correct any errors. Also, it can be useful for troubleshooting read errors and other storage related errors. Kindly refer to the following steps:

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Click on This PC.
  3. Right-click the Hard Disk you wish to run CHKDSK on.
  4. Click on Properties.
  5. Click on Tools in the Properties window.
  6. Under Error-Checking, click on Check.
  7. CHKDSK will now start to run on Windows 10.

Your reply is most important to us to ensure we assist you accordingly.

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Last updated May 5, 2024 Views 12,160 Applies to: