Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
March 18, 2007
Volume 2, Number 40 — Sunday, March 18, 2007
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
3. Read-Only Files From CDROM
Reader jack Carmena wrote me this week with a question:
I am now caught up.
Many thanks.
The 3/11/07 issue has a very good article on file sharing that I think a lot of dummies like me will appreciate and learn something from.
Question: Why do files default to "read only"?
When I am moving, copying files, etc., I always run into that and never knew why.
jnc
You can get read-only files in several ways, but the most common way is to copy files to your computer from a CDROM.
Whether you copied files to the CDROM for backup and then copied some of them back to your hard drive, or whether someone else prepared the CDROM, the problem is the same.
Since CDROM means "CD Read Only Memory," as part of reading the CDROM, Windows knows that it can not edit the file again on the CDROM. Therefore, it reads the file in "read-only" mode.
Unfortunately, Windows continues to mishandle files when they're being copied to a hard drive -- it carries that "read-only" attribute and labels the new file on the hard drive as read-only.
Other ways you might run into read-only files include:
- While you're in a program like Word or Excel, if you already have a file opened, Word or Excel will let you open it again in Read-only mode.
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You, or anyone else with access to your computer, can label any file as Read-only. You can also set the "Archive" bit (meaning that the file has been changed and should be backed up — this information is used by backup programs like Acronis True Image
.
- One other type comes to mind, filenames starting with a period "." have a special meaning. These can automatically change into read-only status when you copy them. However, you can change them back to normal. Note also that many Windows programs, including Explorer, will not allow you to name a file with a name starting with a period.
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4. Administrator Problems in Windows XP
Last month, reader Russ Edwards wrote me about some problems he was having with Windows XP:
Terry, This is your old friend Russ again. I know you enjoy pointing people in the right direction. I am having trouble with my admin account. Some things I try to download and install come up and say "I don't have admin account authority" and the install aborts. I am the only user and don't know what happened to my admin account. I want everything completely accessible at all times (to me) . Can you tell me how to fix my administrator account? ....Russ
In a situation like this, we have to experiment. First, I'd try booting into Safe Mode and logging in with the name "Administrator" U— whether you normally have a user with that name or not, there is a special Administrator account that is available in Safe Mode.
How do you boot to Safe Mode?
The easiest way is to start the boot process and press the F8 key again, and again, and again... until you get the Safe Mode boot menu. This menu will give you several options including Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, and "Last Known Good Configuration."
When you log in as Administrator in Safe Mode, try it with no password. If that doesn't work, try your normal password, if you didn't make a note of it when you first started your computer. Most Windows installations, when you run the first time, will give you an option to set a password for the Administrator account.
If neither works, the Adminstrator password can be reset by any user who has Administrative privileges. You'll still have to do this in Safe Mode in order to see the Administrator account.
While in Safe Mode logged in as Administrator, check Users and the type user assigned to your normal ID. If it's not Administrator, you can change it.
In this case, it sounds like Russ already had an Administrator-type account. I suggested that he change it to an ordinary user and then change it back to an administrator account. Sometimes, this kind of change sequence is effectively fixes settings that have been messed up.
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Volume 2, Number 40 — Sunday, March 18, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.
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