administrator priviledges problem on external drive

I have an issue pertaining to admin permissions and read-only files. It seems all my files and folders are read only, and when I remove read only it automatically reverts back to read only when I check again. I am administrator with full privileges. Sometimes I get a prompt saying 'i need admin privileges to change a file' even though I'm logged in as admin.

It seems on my local c drive, despite the read-only status of files, I can still modify them, but when I try to modify files on my external harddrive, I can't. I have to save as a new file. It's so frusterating! With the external hard-drive, I think it has something to do with having reformatted my C drive.

any thoughts on this?

The permissions/sharing can be a major pain in Windows 7 and Vista. Try changing the sharing to Everybody and give full permissions. What brand external?
Joe

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Originally Posted by flyagaricus

I have an issue pertaining to admin permissions and read-only files. It seems all my files and folders are read only, and when I remove read only it automatically reverts back to read only when I check again. I am administrator with full privileges. Sometimes I get a prompt saying 'i need admin privileges to change a file' even though I'm logged in as admin.

It seems on my local c drive, despite the read-only status of files, I can still modify them, but when I try to modify files on my external harddrive, I can't. I have to save as a new file. It's so frusterating! With the external hard-drive, I think it has something to do with having reformatted my C drive.

any thoughts on this?

You cannot manage the read only or system attributes of a file or folder in Windows 7 using the GUI Shell (Explorer.exe)
Read this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549
It explains it pretty well and also explains how to use a command prompt and the attrib command to alter such attributes.
Additionally often when external hard drives are attached to Windows 7 Machines they come with GUIDs (from another computer and or operating system) that are unknown to the current OS. Globally Unique Identifiers that were / are particular to the former system.
To overcome this you may have to Take Ownership of the parent container (folder or root of drive) and cascade that change to all child objects.
There is a utility discussed here Add "Take Ownership" to Explorer Right-Click Menu in Win 7 or Vista - How-To Geek that may make your life a little easier in regards to that task.
Regards
Randy

A very good article indeed.
Few more can enhance the quality.
I think the article of Russel Sc can help you to understand file permission system of windows 7 where he describes the process step by step.

Thank You