Unable to change folder permissions

Nolf-JobNolf-Job Inside each and every one of you!
edited March 2007 in Hardware
I'm visiting a friend and her laptop has been having all kinds of problems. I've been trying to install both avg and adaware, but neither of them run because it says the temp directory is full or inaccessible. The permissions are set to read-only for every single folder, and when I change them through the properties menu, i can switch it on and off but it resets back to read only. I can't seem to figure out anyway to fix it under safe mode or admin logins.

There seem to be other issues. I'm not sure if they're related or not. I can't uninstall Norton completely, it gives an error when it tries. Firefox downloads cause the browser to freeze. Has anyone run into this before?


System:
Acer Aspire 5000
XP Home SP2

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Are you logging on as Administrator?

    This info refers to Norton, but the principle involved could well affect other programs. What happens when you try to manually empty the temp folder?

    Try going to...

    C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp

    ...then manually deleting the contents. Don't worry if you can't get them all - just keep trying, skipping the files it says you can't delete.

    Since you mentioned that you can't uninstall Norton completely, see if you can stop any running processes related to it which may be lingering. You can also search Symantec's site for a removal tool.

    Let us know if this improves matters any. :)
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    What version of Windows? XP? Professional or Home? You may need to force ownership of the directories then change permissions, then change "read Only"... its a pain but it works. Well it works on WinXP Pro. Home doesn't have those security features.

    Restarting in Safe mode and logging in as ADMINISTRATOR will accomplish the same thing, usually.
  • Nolf-JobNolf-Job Inside each and every one of you!
    edited March 2007
    Thanks prof and qch. It really had nothing to do with permissions. Emptying the temp folder from the admin login fixed all the problems. Funny how its usually the easiest things that get overlooked.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    No problem.... glad it was an easy fix. :thumbsup:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Glad you got it. :cheers:
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