Couple folders went 'access denied' in Windows. Why and how to fix?

Question

So, after a failed Windows 7 install, I put XP back on, and had a adrenaline shot when I got an access denied on a couple of my backed up folders. I already tried the instructions here at Microsoft KB, but it didn't fix it. I did add myself with full permissions on the main section of the Security tab, though, and that gave me access into the folder (I could do it in XP Home because of the Windows NT SP4 Security Configuration Manager). However, it appears some subfolders are still inaccessible.

Two questions, then. Why exactly did this happen and how do I fix it?

Answer 1

Why did it happen?

The user account associated with the permissions isn't the one trying to access them. The folders were probably backed up to an NTFS drive, which kept the permissions intact.

You can try using cacls to take ownership of the files recursively from the command line:

cacls "C:\path\to\folder" /E /T /C /G "Administrator":F

Explanation of the switches:

/E - this edits the access control list currently in place, instead of 
replacing it

/T - this allows it to function recursively

/C - this will continue on access denied errors

/G - this grants the user you specify the access rights you specify in
the form of user:permissions. R = Read, W = Write, C = Change, 
F = Full control.

Replace C:\path\to\folder with the location of the folder giving you problems. This will look inside that folder recursively and try to change access permissions on everything inside it. Replace Administrator with the administrative account you are taking ownership with.