How Do I Repair User Permissions in XP?

N

Nobi125

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
2,004
I had to hard reboot my computer a few times yesterday and upon rebooting the last time, I got a message saying that Windows had to recover the registry and that it was successful.

Ever since then all the access restrictions on my User account (admin type account not restricted), have been all messed up.

For example, I cannot get into the Catalyst Control Center to adjust my video card's options.

How do I repair my user permissions?
 
I dont know how extensive the issue is, but you could try logging in as the true administrator, and edit the permissions from local group policy for the User account you use that has admin rights.

I did have a similar issue on a clients computer, and I ended up just creating a new user account with admin rights, and transferring the personal documents over (then deleting the first account)......he had very little to transfer though.
 
How do I get to the place where I'm supposed to edit local group policy? If it's the thing in folder options, I've already done that.

I tried making another account with admin rights and it didn't work.

I also tried demoting my account to a limited one and then setting it back to an admin account and that didn't fix it either.

I guess I'll have to try a repair install..............:(
 
Try a System Restore before a repair install.

Which version of XP? Home doesn't come with group policy (you can edit it somewhat through the registry), whereas Pro does.

gpedit.msc is your Group Policy Editor (if you have Pro). Edit- Thought I should add you run this from Start- Run if you didn't know.
 
zacdl said:
Try a System Restore before a repair install.

Which version of XP? Home doesn't come with group policy (you can edit it somewhat through the registry), whereas Pro does.

gpedit.msc is your Group Policy Editor (if you have Pro). Edit- Thought I should add you run this from Start- Run if you didn't know.
Click to expand...

I tried to do a System Restore twice, it goes through the whole process, then when the system reboots, it says my system cannot be restored and says no changes were made.

It's pretty awesome.
 
Nobi125 said:
I tried to do a System Restore twice, it goes through the whole process, then when the system reboots, it says my system cannot be restored and says no changes were made.

It's pretty awesome.
Click to expand...

You get gpedit to work?

Being as I normally don't screw with user accounts in XP, I can tell you something about the Server environment which I assume is true for XP.
Each account is assigned an SID (like a unique ID number... the system actually uses this number to assign permissions, but all you end up seeing is the name of the user or group or OU). For simplicity sake, if you had an account called "Nobi", the sytem may assign it an SID of 5. If you delete that account and re-create it, the same exact information as before, same account name and everything, the system may assign it a PID of 11.
So in the end, it sees it as a different user. Your permissions will be lost.

I really don't think that is what is happening here, but have you deleted this account or anything like that recently?
 
zacdl said:
You get gpedit to work?

Being as I normally don't screw with user accounts in XP, I can tell you something about the Server environment which I assume is true for XP.
Each account is assigned an SID (like a unique ID number... the system actually uses this number to assign permissions, but all you end up seeing is the name of the user or group or OU). For simplicity sake, if you had an account called "Nobi", the sytem may assign it an SID of 5. If you delete that account and re-create it, the same exact information as before, same account name and everything, the system may assign it a PID of 11.
So in the end, it sees it as a different user. Your permissions will be lost.

I really don't think that is what is happening here, but have you deleted this account or anything like that recently?
Click to expand...

I have not tried gpedit, yet.

I haven't deleted my account lately.

I had no problems until Windows had to recover my registry.

I think my registry is just all messed up.
 
Says it cannot find gpedit.msc.

I guess home edition doesn't have it.
 
Nobi125 said:
Says it cannot find gpedit.msc.
I guess home edition doesn't have it.
Click to expand...

Yep :)

zacdl said:
Home doesn't come with group policy
Click to expand...

If System Restore does not work, and the system appears to be running fine, I am really not sure what the problem would be.

I have two other possibilities:
Have you tried removing the latest update (the one that was probably installed right before this happened?)
Have you tried running sfc /scannow (Start Run- sfc /scannow). Make sure your XP disk is in the drive (this replaces all your corrupted Windows files with good ones).
 
zacdl said:
Yep :)



If System Restore does not work, and the system appears to be running fine, I am really not sure what the problem would be.

I have two other possibilities:
Have you tried removing the latest update (the one that was probably installed right before this happened?)
Have you tried running sfc /scannow (Start Run- sfc /scannow). Make sure your XP disk is in the drive (this replaces all your corrupted Windows files with good ones).
Click to expand...

The system appears to be running alright, but I cannot access Catalyst Control Center for example, so I can't modify my video card's settings or enable HDTV resolutions for my projector (which is extremely important for me).

I would try sfc /scannow but my Windows Disc is at my parents' house. I'm borrowing a friend's disc tomorrow. Although his is the Professional version, I hope it won't matter too much.

The problem occurred in between boots so there's nothing to be uninstalled.
 
Nobi125 said:
The system appears to be running alright, but I cannot access Catalyst Control Center for example, so I can't modify my video card's settings or enable HDTV resolutions for my projector (which is extremely important for me).

I would try sfc /scannow but my Windows Disc is at my parents' house. I'm borrowing a friend's disc tomorrow. Although his is the Professional version, I hope it won't matter too much.

The problem occurred in between boots so there's nothing to be uninstalled.
Click to expand...

Can you not totally reinstall your CCC and reinstall it, to reset all permissions on the program itself?
But the fact you can't even run System Restore still suggests a problem with Windows. I have never tried doing sfc /scannow with a Pro disc on a Home PC. I really would not recommend it, as Pro does use different files for the networking aspect of things.
 
If sfc /scannow appears to fix the issue, double check for Windows updates afterward. It will probably overwrite a few hotfixes.
 
Fire up Regedt32.exe (not regedit.exe).

Go to the ATI Key that controls what you are after, right click on it, and select "Permissions".

Now, what you actually set the permissions to is a bit trickier. For starters, just try everyone with all privilages and see if it helps, then go back and tweak it down as needed.

Check other hardware keys to see what they are set at.

-Larry


Nobi125 said:
The system appears to be running alright, but I cannot access Catalyst Control Center for example, so I can't modify my video card's settings or enable HDTV resolutions for my projector (which is extremely important for me).

I would try sfc /scannow but my Windows Disc is at my parents' house. I'm borrowing a friend's disc tomorrow. Although his is the Professional version, I hope it won't matter too much.

The problem occurred in between boots so there's nothing to be uninstalled.
Click to expand...
 
zacdl said:
Can you not totally reinstall your CCC and reinstall it, to reset all permissions on the program itself?
But the fact you can't even run System Restore still suggests a problem with Windows. I have never tried doing sfc /scannow with a Pro disc on a Home PC. I really would not recommend it, as Pro does use different files for the networking aspect of things.
Click to expand...

I've uninstalled and reinstalled CCC close to 10 times now and have used driver cleaner nearly as many times as well. No luck.
 
Right click on the folder and see who the owner of the folder is in the advanced security settings. You should be able to take ownership of all of them and fix your problem. I usually see this when a re-install involves a second drive or partition...its worth looking at.
 
TechLarry said:
Fire up Regedt32.exe (not regedit.exe).

Go to the ATI Key that controls what you are after, right click on it, and select "Permissions".

Now, what you actually set the permissions to is a bit trickier. For starters, just try everyone with all privilages and see if it helps, then go back and tweak it down as needed.

Check other hardware keys to see what they are set at.

-Larry
Click to expand...

I went down the line (of the main folders) and gave everyone control of everything.

Rebooted and it still didn't load CCC right.

I'll try reinstalling CCC again.
 
I think I need to get a hold of a Windows disc and have it rebuild my registry.

You can have it do just that right?

Also would it matter if the disc was Home or Pro if it's just doing that?
 
Nasty_Savage said:
Did you try my idea first?
Click to expand...

Looks like it to me:
Nobi125 said:
I went down the line (of the main folders) and gave everyone control of everything.

Rebooted and it still didn't load CCC right.

I'll try reinstalling CCC again.
Click to expand...

That means it shouldn't be a permissions issue, then.


Nobi125 said:
I think I need to get a hold of a Windows disc and have it rebuild my registry.

You can have it do just that right?

Also would it matter if the disc was Home or Pro if it's just doing that?
Click to expand...
I doubt that would fix anything, and I don't even know if it is possible. The Windows disk will not have the registry entries with CCC on there.

Do you know WHERE in the registry CCC values are stored? Uninstall it, and then delete these values. You might also search for any values that might be CCC.
 
zacdl said:
Looks like it to me:


That means it shouldn't be a permissions issue, then.



I doubt that would fix anything, and I don't even know if it is possible. The Windows disk will not have the registry entries with CCC on there.

Do you know WHERE in the registry CCC values are stored? Uninstall it, and then delete these values. You might also search for any values that might be CCC.
Click to expand...

I tried deleting the ATI folders (the ones in the two Software parent folders) in the registry after uninstalling CCC and that didn't do it.

`
 
Well here's the deal, I know it has something to do with the registry being messed up since the problem started happening after Windows had to recover my registry.

I just noticed that streaming videos from web pages with WMP is all messed up as well.

Man, my rig is hurting.
 
Monkey34 said:
If sfc /scannow appears to fix the issue, double check for Windows updates afterward. It will probably overwrite a few hotfixes.
Click to expand...

Got a hold of a Windows XP Home disc and tried it, didn't fix the problem.
 
Good news gentlemen, after obtaining a Windows XP Home disc, I did a repair install and all appears to be well.

I'd like to thank everyone that took the time to read this thread and provide suggestions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top