When connecting a hard drive from a Windows XP system to a Windows 7 PC, you may see the following message when trying to access certain folders:
“You don’t currently have permission to access this folder. Click Continue to permanently get access to this folder.”
If you click “Continue”, another error appears:
“You have been denied permission to access this folder. To gain access to this folder you will need to use the security tab.”
Trying to change the folder’s permissions may result in:
“An error occurred while applying security information. Access is denied.”
Also, even after gaining access to the folder, subfolders and files may still be inaccessible.
Cause:
This happens because the files were created under an administrator account on Windows XP, and Windows 7 does not have permission to access them due to ownership and permission differences.
Solution:
Step 1: Take ownership and grant full access permissions
-
Right-click the folder and choose “Properties”.
-
Go to the “Security” tab and click “Advanced”.
-
Go to the “Owner” tab and click “Edit”.
-
Select your current user name or “Administrators”, and check “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects”. Click “OK”.
-
Go back to the “Security” tab, click “Edit”.
-
Click “Add”, type
Everyone, click “Check Names”, then click “OK”. -
Select
Everyone, and check “Full control” under “Allow”. Click “Apply” and then “OK”.
Step 2: Use the built-in Administrator account if access is still denied
-
Click Start > All Programs > Accessories.
-
Right-click “Command Prompt” and choose “Run as administrator”.
-
Type this command and press Enter:
net user administrator /active:yes -
Restart your computer.
-
Log in with the “Administrator” account that now appears.
-
Try accessing the external drive again.
Optional:
To disable the built-in Administrator account later, run this command as admin:net user administrator /active:no
Note:
You may need to repeat the above steps for each top-level folder. For bulk operations, consider using a tool like TakeOwnershipEx.
This method has helped many users regain access to XP-era data on newer systems.