I'm dealing with a frustrating permissions issue on a Windows File Server. I've got an entire data partition, but several folders simply won't allow me to change any security permissions, despite me being logged in as a Domain Admin, Local Administrator, and the owner being Administrators or Domain Admins. I've also checked inheritance settings, and they seem inconsistent or disabled. When I attempt to modify the ACL, I'm met with an 'Access Denied' message. The only workaround I've found is to reset the file owner to local admins and then reapply permissions to subfolders, which is incredibly tedious since the file server holds about 2TB of data. I'm looking for advice on how to tackle this permission nightmare and restructure everything safely. I'm here to clarify if anyone has questions about my setup. Thanks!
3 Answers
I had a different situation but kind of similarly frustrating. Being logged in as a local admin didn't help until I explicitly added my own account with Full Control to the folder. It feels like a workaround, but it let me change permissions and access subfolders without issues.
I've faced a similar 'access denied' issue before. Have you tried accessing the drive from a different machine, like using the administrative share (\serverd$)? Sometimes that works for weird permission issues, but it doesn't always guarantee a fix. It might be worth a shot if you haven't already!
Sometimes it helps to access it on another machine, but I really want a permanent solution for this.
Check for any deny entries in the ACL. You can use the advanced security settings to check your account with the effective access feature. It’ll show you if you even have permission to change other permissions, which might be where the issue lies.
I checked my ACL, and it looks okay. All permissions are set to allow, and I only found 'change permissions' available under my local admin account. It's such a bizarre issue!
I totally understand! It's so annoying when it feels like nothing works as it should. Why can't Microsoft just fix these things?