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Permissions/ACL screwed up on fresh Windows 11 install

Anonymous
2024-02-21T22:57:55+00:00

I recently did a full reinstall of Windows 11 from a USB stick. It saved my old stuff in C:\Windows.old.

Since then, it seems a lot of my permissions are screwed up. I am unable to browse to C:\ in explorer at all. Task Manager brings up a UAC prompt before I can run it. I mentioned several other problems here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/task-manager-is-an-app-from-an-unknown-publisher/f0def521-a85f-487b-9f99-483b199fc2eb

When I look at the Advanced Security Settings for my C: and D:, I get a lot of weird gibberish that looks like it's not supposed to be there.

How did this happen, and how can I fix it?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Install and upgrade

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-02-26T23:07:17+00:00

    Ok, I deleted all partitions and reformatted the hard drive, and reinstalled Windows. That seems to have taken care of the problem.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-02-23T00:51:45+00:00

    Yes, Igor, from within recovery environment, same result.

    X:\Windows\System32>icacls c:\* /Reset /t /c /l /q

c:\cygdrive: Access is denied.

c:\cygwin64: Access is denied.

c:\HP Universal Print Driver: Access is denied.

...

...

Successfully processed 29 files; Failed processing 54188 files

    @_AW_ I assumed that I got the Access is denied errors because the command prompt in recovery mode is not elevated. Therefore, I tried using an elevated command prompt from within Windows. That's when I got the "un-usable ACL" message.

    > A clean install will never produce that permissions mess.

    I mean, I reinstalled Windows and that's what I got. Is a "clean" install different from what I did?

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-02-22T20:42:53+00:00

    I just installed it, though. What would prevent this from happening again on yet another new install?

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  4. _AW_ 67,206 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-02-22T10:22:58+00:00

    I think the only way that permissions mess is getting fixed, which is also the cause of the other issues, is to wipe the current installation and clean install.

    Here's the permissions on my Win 11 installations.

    Image

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  5. Igor Leyko 110.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-02-22T00:42:16+00:00

    Hi Peter,

    My name is Igor, it's a pleasure for me to help others and I'll try to help you.

    Please run Recovery environment, run command prompt, check the c: is system volume and run

    icacls c:\* /Reset /t /c /l /q

    command. If a Windows disk has another letter in this environment, correct the command.

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