Local disk is unavailable. Fixing "Disk access denied" error

It may happen that after reinstalling Windows or for some other reason, the system will deny you access to some folders or files on local drives, especially if a previous version of Windows remains on one of these drives.

But what if, say, you have important files on your old desktop or in your downloads folder, or in your documents folder, or in some other special place? This article examines this issue and presents two ways to regain access to such folders or files. As an example, the suggested solutions were performed on Windows 10, but the following applies to Windows 8 and Windows 7.

First way

Right-click on the restricted folder and select the "Properties" context menu command. In the folder properties dialog box that opens, switch to the “Security” tab, then in the “Groups and Users” list, find the item with the name of the account under which you are logged in and click on it. In the lower field you can see the access rights to the folder.

You may also not see your account listed as shown in the image above. In any case, click on the "Edit" button to change your account's access rights to the folder. If your account is listed in the top field, skip this paragraph and read further, otherwise click on the “Add…” button.

In the dialog that appears, enter your account name in the bottom field and click on the “Check names” button.

Select the item with your account name in the top field, and in the bottom box, check the box next to “Full Control”, then click the “Apply” button.

If while applying the parameters you see the message:

Error applying security settings to... Failed to enumerate objects in container. Access denied.

or message:

Then close all dialog boxes and try the second method.

Second way

Right-click on the restricted folder and select the "Properties" context menu command. In the folder properties dialog box that opens, switch to the "Security" tab, then click on the "Advanced" button.

In the new window, in the owner line, click on the “Change” link; if you are required to enter your account password, enter the password and confirm the action.

A search and add account dialog box will open, the same as in the first method described above. Enter your account name in the bottom field and click on the "Check names" button.

The system will find and format your account name. Click on the "OK" button to add the found account.

The dialog box will close and in the previous window, in the “Owner” line you should see the name of your account. Be sure to check the "Replace owner of subcontainers and objects" checkbox below it to access all subfolders and files in the folder you are trying to access, then click the "Apply" button.

Agree to the warning that you want to change the permissions for this folder so that you have full control rights by clicking on the "Yes" button.

In the next information message, also click "OK".

As a result, you should see only one item in the change owner window with your account name.

Click OK and close the main folder properties dialog box by clicking OK.

All! The folder should open as usual.

no access to drive "D" access denied

If after installation Windows writes (access denied), you need to format the disk
Here's what helped me:
1. Right-click on the desired drive and select Properties;
2. The disk properties window will open. Go to the Security tab;
3. Click the Advanced button;
4. Go to the Owner tab;
5. Click the Change button at the bottom;
6. Select the Change owner to: Your user account from the list, check the Change owner of subcontainers and objects checkbox and click OK. If an additional request appears, agree. When the additional window closes, click on OK to close the permissions window.
Next, change the disk permissions:
7. Similar to steps 1-3, open the access permissions window for the disk;
8. Click the Change permissions button at the bottom;
9. Uncheck Add permissions inherited from parent objects; in the additional window that appears, click Remove. If the checkbox is not checked, proceed to the next step;
10. If, after completing the previous step, there are still elements in the list, delete them manually using the Delete button;
11. Now that the list is empty, click the Add button;
12. Enter the text All in the Enter the names of the selected objects field. Click OK;
13. In the new Permission Item for... window, check the Full Control box in the Allow column. This will automatically select all the checkboxes in the column. Click OK;
14. Check the Replace all child object permissions... checkbox and click OK again. If an additional request appears, agree;
15. After applying the settings, click OK again and OK again to close the disk properties window.
right-click on the screw, properties, security, additionally, owner, become the owner, then safely set your account to full access and that’s it.
But what should I do if there is no security in the disk properties?
My account is listed in the owners, but there is still no access, I tried to set it to “all”, it doesn’t set it, it says access denied
Great answer!, I did it!
1. First display the Security tab:
Start -gt; Execute -gt; gpedit.msc -gt; User configuration -gt; Administrative Templates -gt; Windows Components -gt; Explorer -gt; Remove the Security tab
2. then open the properties of the folder (or the entire disk) that you want to access.

You need to assign your account as the owner of the files.
3. Once you have permissions for the files, you can change the access rights to them:
- set the value to disabled.
Z.Y. Administrator rights are required.
If it doesn't help (method 2):

Recently, Virus.VBS.Small.a and others like it have been encountered frequently, after removal of which the antivirus stops opening disks in “My Computer”. A message appears stating that the autorun.vbs file (or copy.exe, ms32dll.dll.vbs, etc.) cannot be found. To treat and eliminate these consequences, you must do the following:
1. Launch Explorer, enable showing hidden and system files: Tools - Folder Options - uncheck "Hide protected files"
system files" and check "Show hidden files and folders".
2. View the root directories of all partitions on hard drives and all available removable drives (including cameras and MP3s)
players), as well as the WindowsSystem32 folder and delete all files there with the name autorun and any extension. Important: open the specified
places exclusively by clicking on the left side of the Explorer window, in the directory tree, and not by double-clicking on the disk icon, because in the latter case,
By opening an infected disk, you again infect your computer.
3. Launch the registry editor (Start - Run - regedit.exe) and do two
things:
a) Reveal the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/Current Version/Winlogon and check the value of the Userinit parameter. It should contain
C:WINDOWSsystem32userinit.exe, and nothing more.
(If your system is installed in a different partition or folder, instead of C:WINDOWS there will be the path of your system folder).
b) Delete the entire key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current
Version/Explorer/MountPoints2.
Repeat the last step for all system users, then reboot.
Thank you, now I have access)))
Autorun virus. Download the utility from Doctor Web and scan

Hello again, dear readers! Today we'll talk about fixing the error " Access denied".

Many of you, probably after reinstallation Windows encountered the fact that they forgot to copy the folder " My Documents", and when you tried to access it (unless, of course, you deleted it when installing a new OS) you received the message: "Access denied".

Today, we will talk about how to gain access to such a folder, which (ultimately) will help you save information that is quite valuable to you.

To begin with, it should be said that to solve this problem, you need to disable simple file sharing and become the owner of the folder, thereby gaining rights to access and change it.

Solution " Access denied" for 7 / 8 / 10

It's simple:

Done, use the daddy, as they say, to your health!

If you have an old system, then...

Solution " Access denied" For Windows XP

Click " Start" and select " My computer";
On the menu " Service"select command" Folder properties" and go to the " tab View";
In chapter " Extra options"uncheck" Use simple file sharing(recommended)" and click " OK";
Right-click the icon for the folder whose owner you want to change and select " Properties";
Open the tab " Safety" and click the " button OK" if a security message appears;
Click " Additionally" and go to the " tab Owner";
In the column " Name"highlight your username, entry" Administrator" (if logged in using the account " Administrator") or group " Administrators". To become the owner of the contents of the folder, select the " Replace owner of subcontainers and objects";
Click " OK";
You may receive the following error message (folder is the name of the folder whose owner you want to change): "You do not have permission to read the contents of the folder. Do you want to change the permissions for this folder so that you have Full Control rights? All permissions will be changed if you click the button " Yes»";
Click " Yes";
Then, click " OK" and configure security settings for the folder and its contents.

Let's move on to the option for more modern operating systems.

Afterword

That's it, it's simple ;)

If you have any questions, write them in the comments, because the article was originally written for users Windows XP, and then it was supplemented to meet the needs of modern users (therefore there may be some shortcomings).

See you on our wave! ;)

Any digital storage medium, be it a regular flash drive or a hard drive, is not protected from failures in its operation. It may happen that when you try to open folders or files, the error “Disk access is denied” appears. In such cases, an inexperienced user immediately despairs of restoring the device’s functionality and runs to a technician for help or simply buys a new drive. But this is not at all necessary. This article will tell you how to fix the “Disk access denied” error in Windows 7. But it’s worth clarifying right away that the instructions that will be provided below are suitable not only for the “seven”, it is also feasible in other versions of the operating system systems from Microsoft.

How to solve the "Disk access denied" problem

Before talking about ways to fix the error, you need to understand the reasons why it can happen. They are as follows:

insufficient user rights;
software malfunctions;
the drive is infected with a virus;
the drive is damaged.

If the first three reasons can be dealt with through some manipulations in the operating system, then if the drive itself malfunctions, nothing can be done. In some cases, of course, you can send the device in for repair and hope that it can be fixed.

Method 1: using standard OS tools

If an error appears when you try to open a partition on your hard drive, “Access denied” may appear due to restricted user rights. Moreover, most often this is exactly the case. By the way, this happens not only with a solid-state drive, but also with a regular flash drive. In this case, the problem can be solved without resorting to using third-party software, but directly using the tools of the OS itself.

First of all, you need to check disk access. This task can be accomplished as follows:

Double click on "My Computer". If there is no such shortcut on your desktop, then open the “Explorer” file manager and go to the “My Computer” section in the left panel.
A list of disk partitions and external drives will appear. Right click on the one you need.
In the menu that appears, select “Properties”.
A new window will appear where you need to go to the “Security” tab.
In the window interface, find the “Change” button. It is located under the “Groups or Users” list.
Review all the options and see if there are any restrictions. If they are, then correct them.
Click OK and close all windows.

This should help resolve the "Disk access denied" error. However, if you did not notice any restrictions or simply could not change them correctly, then you can use the second method:

Open the system registry. Press Win+R and in the window that appears, run the regedit command.
In the window that appears, you need to go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder, then to SOFTWARE, then to WINDOWS, CURRENTVERSION and EXPLORER_MOUNTPOINTS2. There will be a folder with your drive letter. Go to it.
You will find a directory called SHELL. It must be removed. This is done simply: select the folder and press the Delete key.

After this, all that remains is to restart the computer. If the problem was that the virus replaced the files in this directory, then the error will disappear.

Method 2: Remove Malicious Software

It happens that when you try to open an external drive, “Access Denied” appears due to a virus hiding in the system. Moreover, this virus can be located both on the drive itself and on the computer’s hard drive, so it is recommended to scan all sections of the computer using an antivirus. What software to use for this is up to you.

Method 3: Format and restore data

It happens that access problems arise due to some system failures. In this case, the best option would be to format the drive. However, to prevent data from being lost, it is better to restore it before doing so. In this article, the R-Studio program will be used for such purposes.

Launch the application.
Select the drive from which you would like to recover information.
Files suitable for recovery will appear on the right. Select the one you need and right-click on it.
From the list of options that appears, select “Restore”.
In the new window, navigate to the folder where the files will be transferred.
Click Yes.

After recovering all important data, you need to format the flash drive. This is done through Explorer.

Open My Computer.
Right-click on the section.
From the menu, select the "Format" option.
In the window that appears, click “Start”.

All that remains is to wait until the formatting process is completed, after which the partition or drive should work properly.

Conclusion

So we figured out how to fix the “Disk access denied” error. As you can see, there are not so many reasons for its occurrence, and accordingly there are only three ways to eliminate it. It is recommended to attempt solutions one by one, following the methods in the article.

You can find a dozen cases online where the user cannot access the F, C or D drive on which the Windows 10 system is installed. As a result of this error, it is impossible to boot from Windows 10 and the PC, in fact, becomes inoperative. What to do in this case, what actions to take to solve the problem?

Causes of a locked drive problem

If, when you turn on the PC, a message appears on the monitor screen stating that there is no access to drive D or Windows 10 access is denied, this indicates that the 100 MB boot partition (Reserved by the system) is damaged or missing.

Ways to solve the problem

If the drive on which Windows is installed, be it C or F, is locked, you should do the following:

We boot into the BIOS and set the boot priority from the disk. Boot from the installation media. At the initial stage, select the installation language and region. Click “Next”.

Next, select “System Restore”.

A window called “Select Actions” will appear. Select "Diagnostics".

In the new window, click “Advanced options”.

In "Advanced Options" select "Command Line".

Next, we enter the following commands one by one. After entering each, press “Enter”.

select disk X, where X is the drive letter on which Windows 10 is installed;

A list of disks should appear. It should also display a 100 MB partition. If it is not there, enter the following commands.

create partition efi size=100;

format quick fs=fat32 label="System";

assign letter="S";

Don't close the command line. The exit command is required to exit the diskpart utility.
Next, enter the following commands on the command line:

BCDBoot c:\Windows /s s: /f UEFI.

After executing this command, you need to remove the installation disk and reboot the system (do not forget to set boot priority from the hard drive in the BIOS).

Also, there is another method on how to use the command line to unlock the F or C drive on which Windows 10 is installed. To do this, we perform all the same steps to get to the command line as described above. When the console is launched, you should enter the following commands:

bootrec /fixmbr;

bootrec/fixboot;

bootrec /rebuildbcd.

These are commands to repair damaged hard drive partitions. They will also help solve the problem when the hard drive is locked.