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permissions
ISSUE1:
This is what I get when I try to open my C:/Documents and Settings.Although I am the owner of the computer I was denied permissions to open the folder. So, I changed the owner of Documents and Settings from SYSTEM to Fasih(HP-PC\HP) and this is me. Still I cant access.
Also, I wanna revert the owner back to SYSTEM, just in case to prevent anything stupid. So I retraced the steps and now.. I cant change the owner back to SYSTEM (strange).
Help!
NOTE: I realized from another question that this folder doesnt exist anymore. So please tell me how to revert the Owner back to SYSTEM

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Came to know after I lent him mine, a lil late – Fasih Khatib Aug 19 '12 at 17:55
no no, I changed the permissions on C:/ Drive to try to access Documents and Settings – Fasih Khatib Aug 19 '12 at 17:59
I will rephrase the entire questions! – Fasih Khatib Aug 19 '12 at 18:00
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Changing permissions on the system drive C: is a bad idea, back up your data and reinstall the OS, too many different permissions on sub folders on C, may be impossible to restore them. – Moab Aug 19 '12 at 18:01
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Putting two completely different problems in one question is a really bad idea. I suggest you to remove your first question to prevent your question from being closed as it is likely answered in superuser.com/questions/49582/… anyway. – Gurken Papst Aug 19 '12 at 18:37
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1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote accepted

While the owner should not matter, you can change it back to the default by running icacls "C:\Documents and Settings\" /setowner SYSTEM

Looks like official documentation for Windows 7 is missing but you can find it for Windows Server here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753525(v=ws.10).aspx - Behavior should not differ.

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Well, if the owner doesnt matter then I wont worry about it. How does the owner matter anyways? – Fasih Khatib Aug 20 '12 at 1:35
Being the owner of a file system object always allows you to change permissions on that object, even if you do not have the explicit right to change permissions for that object. This is why you had to become the owner of the junction point to change the permissions. Learn more about permissions in Windows NT based systems on technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783530(WS.10).aspx. – Gurken Papst Aug 20 '12 at 16:32

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