Opera error “Can’t open user profile directory, because you lack sufficient privileges.” after Power Loss

Question

I am getting this message when I try to open Opera:

Opera
Can't open user profile directory, because you lack sufficient privileges. You might want to contact the administrator of this machine.
OK

• I am the Admin on my PC and current User name is also on Admin group.

• Had 1st power failure few days ago while active on PC, & after restart Opera worked fine.

• Then did the recent Opera security update and/ or update to latest Opera and this time the PC was idle and opera had bunch of tabs open, when the 2nd power failure happened.

Solution pathways: ??

• Is there a within Opera fix for this? OR Does it have to be a Windows level fix?

• Would downloading a full Setup of latest Opera and installing on top (maybe as Admin) work to fix this issue?

• Should I do something like a "Take Ownership" on certain folders/ folder tree via Windows Explorer or similar?

Please let me know how to ENSURE I get access to this without losing my profile info. Thanks.

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Additional info:

Since, this showed up I figured I should do a typical system check that I do using Image-Health which includes DISM & SFC command via an easy to run Menu system.

DISM ran fine, but SFC stopped at 23% and created at report (most of its lots of Hex/ Binary style info that doesnt share any file/ folder names of issue).

Now, for those saying SFC is not significant, let me repeat - All said checks, that I've used many times have worked fine before.

So, I believe this Opera & SFC both facing permissions issues is kind of connected.

The only other addition was installation of Windows 8.1 Security Rollup before these 2 power failures.

SFC - System File Checker stuck at 23 24% - Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation

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Permissions Screenshots combined: PS: At first this was concerning, but then the Read Only attrib is there on the AppData folders of all Applications, so I figure that may be the norm?

Solution 1

Opera browser uses the launcher.exe at C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera in this folder you will see the latest updates version(76.0.4017.123) in a folder and the last used version(64.0.3417.73) also in a folder.

Now rightclick on the Opera browser shortcut on your desktop and select "properties".

Under the "shortcut tab" edit Target from C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera\launcher.exe to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera\old version(64.0.3417.73)\Opera.exe

It worked for me.

Solution 2

Opera Browser stores browser data in two folder in Windows::

• "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Opera Software" (only for cache)
• "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software" (for all browser/user data and preferences)

Backup bookmarks and you may delete/rename that folders (rd /s /q command) to solve your issue if you have not any valuable data in your Opera browser. Here are the path of that files to be backed up::

• Bookmarks:: "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software\Opera Stable\Bookmarks"
• Preferences:: "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software\Opera Stable\Preferences"

tl;dr; delete two folders and run Opera.

Download Opera offline installer:: https://get.geo.opera.com/pub/opera/desktop/

Comments

[Ramhound]

Provide the ACL for the folder in question. Please provide all relevant tabs ina single screenshot of an appropriate size

[Alex S]

@Ramhound - I suspect the folder in question is "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software" - I understand ACLs, but how would you like me to enumerate/ share them with you? I am taking screenshots for now - Is there a better ACL enumeration mechanism?

[Alex S]

@Ramhound - Posted screenshots - Any thoughts/ responses?

[Alex S]

How are these 4 different? - get.geo.opera.com/pub/opera/desktop/45.0.2552.881/win - Also I'd like to ensure all my settings and extensions are not lost and usable as they were - superuser.com/questions/951095/…

[Alex S]

I cant afford to lose all the "data" inside the extensions - This was an issue in Chrome (linked), why I moved to Opera (also based on chromium( and now similar data loss in Opera.

[Biswapriyo]

Alright then try takeown and icacls command to set ACL recursively to all files and folders.

[Alex S]

I am aware of that option, the issue is - I already have ownership - atleast from what I see in the ACLs - Also compared it to other Applications - Going to try with a different username to see how permissions are similar

[Biswapriyo]

Try to set all the owners and Grant permission to 'Everyone'

[Alex S]

I just did a TakeOwnership (from being logged into existing Users\Username1) on the existing "Opera Stable" folder under AppData, using the Context Menu (already had it installed) thing from here: eightforums.com/tutorials/… Upon trying to open Opera I got the same message. PS: Also, logged into separate Users\Username2 and Opera opens up. So, it seems something inside existing profile is off. Do I need to create a fresh Profile folder and copy stuff into it or should a Take Ownership be enough?