External drive Access Denied with password protection on

Hello, Just found you guys. I sent my old notebook to HP for repair under an ADP plan and they shredded it by mistake! Now I have a new 64 bit PC. Looks like a motorcycle paint job and came installed with MS Win Vista Ultimate, 4 GB RAM, Core Duo 2 CPU@2Ghz.
My problem is that if I apply any password to try and protect my data, I can not access or take ownership of certain files and folders. This access denied problem isn't just with /My Documents or thhe /document folder but files on other drives like my backed up .pst file from Outlook located on drive g:/.
I have 1.25TB of external storage and I have done 2 restore to factory settings to access the files but as soon as I apply a password I am denied access to my files and folders.
I have worked as a Tech Support Rep III, Network Admin Assistant [BA Comp Science and AAS Mech Drafting] and I am now a freelance consultant. I have been reading about Vista for years but have not used or suggested that any of my clients use it until MS gets the bugs out. Now that it has been forced on to me, I need some help. I do not see how the average user could use or benefit from this OS. Sure it has a lot to offer but the user needs an understanding of network server setup and account setup/maintenance.
I have done all of the steps listed here for a resolution but even after the default Admin account is activated and logged in, I only have access to all files/folders until I reboot the PC.
Did I mention that I am using the PC with no password protection and that I can access anything on the PC that I want to?
As Arny says, I'll be back.

Hello again,
My issue is not confined to external drive access but with all files and folder access.

I have some good info on this site and on Page 2 - Finding the User Settings in Vista - Using VS which has a chart showing where files used to be stored on earlier versions of Windows and help with taking ownership that is also listed in a post or 2 on this site.

I am still not out of the woods and will be using all tutorials available.

Thank you very much. Your site is the easiest to navigate and search.:D

normoose said:

Hello again,
My issue is not confined to external drive access but with all files and folder access.

I have some good info on this site and on Page 2 - Finding the User Settings in Vista - Using VS which has a chart showing where files used to be stored on earlier versions of Windows and help with taking ownership that is also listed in a post or 2 on this site.

I am still not out of the woods and will be using all tutorials available.

Thank you very much. Your site is the easiest to navigate and search.:D

Click to expand...

This won't solve your internal files and folders but if your external data source is an old NAS device, then VISTA security may need adjusting. Open Administrative Tools>Local Security Policy and then select Local Policies>Security Options on the left pane. Then scroll down in the right pane to 'Network Security - LAN Manager and double click. Change the option in the drop down list box to 'Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated.'

Hope this helps. Have you tried turning UAC off to to see if the problem remains.

Regards
UKMedia

UKMedia said:

normoose said:

Hello again,
My issue is not confined to external drive access but with all files and folder access.

I have some good info on this site and on Page 2 - Finding the User Settings in Vista - Using VS which has a chart showing where files used to be stored on earlier versions of Windows and help with taking ownership that is also listed in a post or 2 on this site.

I am still not out of the woods and will be using all tutorials available.

Thank you very much. Your site is the easiest to navigate and search.:D

Click to expand...

This won't solve your internal files and folders but if your external data source is an old NAS device, then VISTA security may need adjusting. Open Administrative Tools>Local Security Policy and then select Local Policies>Security Options on the left pane. Then scroll down in the right pane to 'Network Security - LAN Manager and double click. Change the option in the drop down list box to 'Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated.'

Hope this helps. Have you tried turning UAC off to to see if the problem remains.

Regards
UKMedia

Click to expand...

Thanx UKMedia but I tried these steps after setting user password and can not access files or take ownership until after setting up as admin and activating the default admin account so I have no password protection now.

Norm:D