Can't Install ACCESS DENIED

[Silencer_RPMs]

my friend sent me his comp cause his modem, sound card, and Video doesn't work.  So I give myself admin account, and I have the CD and when I update the driver it says.  

There was a problem installing this hardware: an error occured during the installation of the device. Access Is Denied.

any ideas?

[pcdoc4christ]

If this is a Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional system, you might be trying to install files that are in an encrypted folder.  Make sure none of the folders are encrypted, or that the operating system is Windows XP Home Edition, or another flavor of Windows that does not have file and folder encryption.

Doc

[Silencer_RPMs]

checked its not encripted. i'm using the exact same CD as the OS. XP Home

[GX1_Man]

Are you sure those are the right files for that specific hardware? WHich one gives that message. The modem or what?

[Silencer_RPMs]

modem, vga, and audio. and yes i'm 100% sure. its the cd that came with the computer, and i double checked the hardware.

[GX1_Man]

Let's just do one at a time like the modem.

What if you copy the modem file to a folder on the hard drive called say "modemy" then change the attributes to full access (CD's are read only by nature) and then try to run the install. What happens?

What if you use the "Add New Hardware" in Control Panel and just direct the install to the files on the CD (assuming they are not compressed in some fashion)?

What kind of computer and how is the modem file(s) labeled on the CD?

What happened to the computer that caused the reinstall to be necessary? What other problems does it have? I assume it used to work in some fashion? The more details the better.

[Silencer_RPMs]

ok guys i figured out what the problem is. the folder c:/windows is at read-only. I tried changing the attributes but it won't let me. every time i do and apply it goes through all folders. then i click on the folder again and it says Read-Only.  I went into safe mode, trying multiple things, i have all perms, except for special permissions which is for the owner only. i set owner to administrators, and it still won't let me do it. any ideas.

[GX1_Man]

If you are not logged in as Admin, then you cannot change it. That issue will have to be resolved first.

[Silencer_RPMs]

I have admin access. I signed in as admin. I used every single acct on the comp. that was the first thing i checked for

[Rob Pomeroy]

Try changing the permissions of just one file under C:\windows.  What error do you get?  Is anything noted in the event logs?

[pcdoc4christ]

Is the PC on a client-server network?  If so, your permissions in the Active Directory on the domain controller must be set to allow you to change the read-only permission.  Contact the IT administrator.

If it is not connected to a network, someone may have changed the permissions in the local security database of Windows to not allow you to change the read-only permission.  Since Windows XP Home Edition does not give you the option of changing the security permissions for individual users, the only way to fix that situation is from the command line or by upgrading to Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Media Center.

I had a similar problem at work when a Trojan Horse infected my PC.  In that case, the root directory (local disk C:) was changed to read-only.  Changing it back did the trick.  See if that works for you.

Doc