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tom1194

asked on

cannot access c:\ access denied

computer comes up, normal login, as desktop comes up - error message box
"c:\windows\system32\system\systempropertiescomputername.exe"
"the parameter is incorrect"
click ok
next error
"backweb error"
"cannot start HP Connections: socket init failed"
click ok
goes to desktop slowly
hp has two partitions on the drive c:\ and d:\
c:\ should carry all operating system and programing
in My computer - c drive shows up as "access denied c:\ and I cannot get in to view or manipulate
d:\ is hp system recovery
d drive shows up as "hp recovery" i can get in no problem
CANNOT do system restore or recovery  paging file has been moved over to the small recovery partition - 32 mb left  machine doesnt seem to have the ability write to c:\
Control panel  most icons get a Incorrect parameter error message
Basically customer is able to use office and other applications already there
Cannot add or uninstall programs
Cannot access administrator profile
cannot access computer management
can access user account  -but won't allow management or changes
any ideas besides new computer or bullet???
thanks
tom
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dfxdeimos
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Is this computer a domain member or in a workgroup?
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Ghoti_AZ

Try booting into safe mode and logging in locally (as opposed to a domain, if applicable) as Administrator and seeing if the problem persists.
You seem to have spyware on your computer. The BackWeb error reveils that. This webpage describes how to remove it:

http://www.spyware-removal.com/backweb-removal.html

But I doubt that is the root-cause of your problem, because eventhough it is mallware, it is not written to lock down your c: drive.

The symptoms you describe mean that your Windows Installer is also disabled (this is also the cause that System Restore does not work). But the fact that you also can't use Admin privileges looks like viral behaviour to me, or something serious is corrupted.

If I were you I think I'd try to do an in-place Vista upgrade:

1. With Windows Vista running, insert the Windows Vista CD/DVD (if you have SP1 installed you probably need DVD of Vista with SP1 integrated!)
2. Run Setup.
3. When prompted, select Upgrade.
4. The process takes a LONG time.

It is a radical solution, but you don't seem to have many options. This process should preserve all your programs and documents, but I don't give any guarantees. Maybe you should backup all your important docs first. Good luck.
@ Heathcliff:

That is a major case of jumping to conclusions.

@ Question Asker

Lets be a little more judicious in our approach to solving this problem. First off, are you in a workgroup or a domain?
Avatar of tom1194

ASKER

sorry, workgroup - single computer by itself. I have booted into safe mode same scenario. also this is in a laptop.  I have taken the drive out and put it in an external case. In the "my computer" section c drive shows up as "access denied (c:\)"  -  the recovery partition is accessable. I deleted the pagefile off the recovery partition and rebooted in the laptop - pagefile is put back on revcovery partition. I have right clicked on c:\ went to share, went to security and tried to take posession - access denied

tom
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dfxdeimos
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ASKER

this is an hp\compaq   the recovery "disk" is the recovery partition on the drive - there is no cd or dvd
one of hp's better ideas.
I was able to run malwarebyte's anti-malware and it acted like it was checking c:\
Just making sure you got notification of my last post (we posted @ same time).
@dfxdeimos:

How is this jumping to conclusions? I gave this carefull thought and I concluded not very much is possible. When you can't install/uninstall and also no admin priv and also no write-access to c: very little is left. I already went through a lot of this with another person recently: https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/23866690/Vista-Windows-Installer-won't-uninstall-any-programs.html I'm not saying my proposed "solution" is the only solution, but given the situation, it is the only one I can come up with now. Of you have a better solution, then let's hear it! ;-)
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ASKER

i'm with you on deleting the page file. i was trying to see if it would wrtie it ove to c drive -  It didn't
i will check out the site mentioned above and be back in a miinute
You can change the location of the pagefile by going to:

Control Panel -> System -> Advanced system settings -> Advanced tab | Performance Settings -> Advanced tab | Virtual Memory -> Change

A rule of thumb to remember is that the pagefile will grow to be about 2x the size of your physical memory.

Do you have enough free space on C:\??
Avatar of tom1194

ASKER

yeah there is enough room on c  - but i get that "Incorrect parameter error" when clicking on system.
I lke that one thread heathcliff suggested It sounds almost identical to this problem and I had a feeling from the start it acts like a virus -malware - or somebody in an area of the computer they had no business in. I'' be back in a couple of minutes unless anybody posted while i was typing then i will answer now
Open my computer, right-click C drive > properties > is it NTFS or FAT32? If it's NTFS, there's a security tab, and there's a sharing tab > in security tab, make sure you have all permissions checked for yourself.

You will also need the following groups added:

-CREATOR OWNER
-SYSTEM
@ HeathCliff

"You seem to have spyware on your computer"
"The symptoms you describe mean that your Windows Installer is also disabled"
"If I were you I think I'd try to do an in-place Vista upgrade"

These are all conclusions that you couldn't reach based upon the information we have. I don't want to get into a pissing match here, but you couldn't possibly determine these things with any level of accuracy without first learning more about the situation.

@ Tom1194

First try the method that is written about in the forum thread that I posted a link to. This will allow your account to regain access to the C drive. You should then be able to figure out why the pagefile is being move / move it back to the proper location.


Avatar of tom1194

ASKER

ghoti -  in the laptop it shows 0 bytes used and 0 bytes free
in the external i think it did show something
dfxdeimos - 10-4
i am moving the drive as we speak er post.
be back in a minute
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ASKER

in the external drive it show 111gb ntfs healthy per computer management disk management in my machine running takeown program now
Cool. Keep us updated.
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ASKER

It looks like takeown did it  - i can at least see the files now -  got to reinstall hdd in laptop and check - get back to you in a minute
Cool
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ASKER

I'm an ID10T. I quickly scanned the posts and grabbed the wrong one to award the solution to. first question i ask and i mess it up.  dfxdeimos had the solution, not Heathcliff. The program takeown.exe was the solution and worked great. I don't know how to fix this. Sorry to both of you, especially dfxdeimos, you were dead on right. let me know if/how i can fix this.
tom
Hi, I'm glad you found the solution. Even if I wasn't the one who gave it. You should post a message at the Community Support page and ask a mod to give the points to dfxdeimos.

Please look at the link I provided for BackWeb spyware: http://www.spyware-removal.com/backweb-removal.html

As I stated in the beginning. I didn't think this spyware was the cause of your problem, but you still seem to have this spyware on your machine and you'll be better off without it!

@dfxdeimos:

No offence taken. I don't mind an discussion. I'm glad you found a solution that is not as drastic as the solution I proposed. Nevertheless, I still think my solution would have worked in this situation too, but we'll probably never know that for sure. Also, I made some conclusion, but I don't think they are irrational. If you look at the links I provided you'll see that I'm not unexperienced in the area. Based on the BackWeb error it is very likely he does have this spyware. And the persmission problem, you solved also invalidated the Windows Installer. When you don't have a proper functioning Windows Installer you can get locked in very easily. You provided a fix for it, but my solution does a more radical system repair. It repairs permissions and also corrupt system files. Anyways, it doesn't matter now. Problem solved. Good luck.
Did you ever take a look at the security tab to make sure that you (and the computer itself) have write-access to the drive?
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ASKER

Thanks dfxdeimos
that takeown program was exactly what i needed. sorry about the mixup on credit. heathcliff's answer would have worked but that was way down the road for me to format the drive. thanks also for the link to some good tools at the petri site. I went to your site also - cool stuff
tom