Windows 8 Permissons: Copying a File, Access Denied, Despite Take Ownership

Question

I just wiped my hard drive with Windows 7 and did a fresh install of Windows 8. I backed up my files on an external hard drive. When I tried copying my music over to Windows 8, I got this message for about two albums worth of songs:

So I clicked "Continue" and then I got this message:

(I blacked out my computer name and email address in the screenshots for privacy reasons.)

At first, it said I needed permission from my old Windows 7 user account. So I searched online and all the tutorials told me that I needed to "Take Ownership" of the file so I could copy it.

I used this Microsoft Support tutorial which is for Windows XP, but the process is generally the same for Windows 8. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

And when I'm finished the "Advanced" window in the file's Security Properties looks like this:

I made my user the Owner, AND I made my user have "Full" permissions (when you highlight my username in the "Permissions" box, click the "Edit" button and then check the "Full Control" option.) (Also, while trying to get this working, I deleted the "SYSTEM" user permissions, and the "Everyone" user permissions, just by some crazy off-chance that might work. No luck.)

What am I doing wrong here? The Properties window says I'm the owner and have permission, but when I copy, it still gives me the "File Access Denied" error, just like before! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Solution

So this isn't really the answer I was looking for, but anyway...

What I ended up doing was copying the whole folder over again. I realized Windows 8 was just choking on about two folders (two albums of music) with the rest of the 15GB copying just fine. I copied what I could, then I plugged my iPod into my computer and pulled the two folders of music manually from there and just placed the files where they normally should have copied. So I guess the lesson of the day is: backup, and then make another backup!

Comments

[user1055604]

what permissions you have on the folder containing the files... could that be the cause of the problem?

[ChrisJF]

I doubt it. I've taken ownership and changed the permissions on the folder as well, because I really want to copy the whole folder. No luck.

[GaTechThomas]

I had a similar situation a while back in which, after taking ownership, I had to specifically give myself permissions as well.

[Canadian Luke]

This will break Windows, giving yourself full control to everything. I have another question about reversing the horrible effects, where the only acceptable solution was to wipe and reload