Permissions problem after inplace upgrade to Windows 10 build 2004 (20H1)

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by mehargags, May 3, 2020.

  1. mehargags

    mehargags MDL Member

    Dec 1, 2008
    128
    7
    10
    I always do a clean install... this is the first time I wanted to try out an inplace upgrade so I just upgraded my 1909 to Windows 10 2004 (20H1). All went nearly smooth but see some permission screw up here and there. The default shares C$ / D$ are not accessible... says access denied.

    Could not open hosts file either... had to recreate it.
    All other files in C:\ or C:\Windows\xxx seem to NOT honor the "administrator" I'm logged in and pose a UAC prompt.

    Any good utility / Command / script to fix this ?
     
  2. AndyMutz

    AndyMutz MDL Senior Member

    Jun 30, 2011
    343
    639
    10
    are you using the built-in administrator account?

    -andy-
     
  3. freddie-o

    freddie-o MDL Expert

    Jul 29, 2009
    1,571
    2,615
    60
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  4. Windows_Addict

    Windows_Addict MDL Expert

    Jul 19, 2018
    1,365
    4,300
    60
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  5. kaljukass

    kaljukass MDL Guru

    Nov 26, 2012
    3,451
    1,345
    120
    @mehargags
    If this story is correct, what You said in the first post, I would still recommend You do a clean installation.
    True, you can try to reset permissions, but it will take long enough and if the list of original permissions is damaged, this operation will fail.
    To this You not need use any third party widget, it is Windows tefault option. But I don't think, it is the only problem You have. There must be more problems about You haven't still told or have not still discovered.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  6. kaljukass

    kaljukass MDL Guru

    Nov 26, 2012
    3,451
    1,345
    120
    What kind of password it needs. I have used this feature for years and regularly and have never need use or input any special password.
    Clarify a bit which or what password You're talking about.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  7. freddie-o

    freddie-o MDL Expert

    Jul 29, 2009
    1,571
    2,615
    60
    it's by the download link in red
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  8. spedia

    spedia MDL Senior Member

    Jul 13, 2009
    315
    121
    10
    @mehargags

    More details about how you did the in-place upgrade?
     
  9. mehargags

    mehargags MDL Member

    Dec 1, 2008
    128
    7
    10
    Yes, I was using the built-in administrator account. Does that have any implications ? Been doing that since 20 years as I'm the sole user of my PC always...and I'm a sysadmin :p
     
  10. kaljukass

    kaljukass MDL Guru

    Nov 26, 2012
    3,451
    1,345
    120
    It's not a very smart thing to do, never do that again.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  11. mehargags

    mehargags MDL Member

    Dec 1, 2008
    128
    7
    10
    Old habits die hard... yet if I'm the only user (and experienced) I don't see a point not for doing that. It saves unnecessary UAC prompts and the need for "run as administrator" to use elevated commands. Call me lazy but if you know what you are doing, it isn't a no go as such
     
  12. spedia

    spedia MDL Senior Member

    Jul 13, 2009
    315
    121
    10
    Well, now you know.
     
  13. kaljukass

    kaljukass MDL Guru

    Nov 26, 2012
    3,451
    1,345
    120
    Of course you are the one who decides and does exactly what you want, but everything in the world is not exactly as you think and want.
    And one of them is built in administrator account, it can't be used as user account with administrator privileges.
    And the thing you called laziness is also called a little differently, but I'm not going to say that.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  14. AndyMutz

    AndyMutz MDL Senior Member

    Jun 30, 2011
    343
    639
    10
    no worries, I do that myself on my personal PCs :)
    but, if you do an in-place upgrade with the built-in administrator account, the UAC for admins GPO gets enabled after the upgrade, which would explain your problems.
    disable it and reboot.
    GPO_UAC-Admin.png

    -andy-
     
  15. jellybelly

    jellybelly MDL Member

    Oct 30, 2009
    159
    29
    10
    I had the same type of problem yesterday. I figured I'd do some pc work but instead of doing an actual reinstall I tried Win10's reset option, to save some time. Worked ok but then I couldn't "do" anything. All the permissions were screwed up. Tried taking ownership of some but it was just a pain in the arse. The entire C:\ drive was "owned" by TrustedInstaller, and I couldn't do much of anything.

    Played around a bit and said screw it, reinstalled Windows entirely. Guess what? Still had the problem, mostly. It's not as bad as it was with the reset but it's not full control like usual.

    On the reinstall I did something different though, instead of using a MS user account (never do), didn't unplug my network to allow the creation of a local account, I tried the 'join domain' user account option and that seemed to be ok and work easily enough. I'm wondering now if that was the cause of the remaining permission issues... I changed the policy setting that's mentioned above and that seemed to help, but I don't like the fact that it's a "workaround" to the problem.

    So next time, which might soon anyways with 20H1 coming out, I'll be sure to create a local user account and hope that it solves all these issues. This was a new experience for me also.

    Microsoft.................... sigh.
     
  16. mehargags

    mehargags MDL Member

    Dec 1, 2008
    128
    7
    10
    You are my man :worthy::clap:
    Made the GPO changes and everything seems normal, even the default network shares C$ D$ are working back as before. I knew it would be stupidly simple... thats what Microsoft updates are all about:hummer:

    @jellybelly
    Can't comment much... the update for me went pretty smooth other than the permissions screw up. For Windows users it can be quite daunting as the concept of permissions isn't that refined/ taught for. I'm a sysadmin using Windows as daily PC, Linux for servers and maintaining many MacOS machines... so I knew NOT to try and overdo things with permissions and hence opened this thread to have a quick opinion.

    Fact check... I believe doing inplace upgrades is not to be taken easy for Windows... I did this first time in my 20+ years of IT life and I can say it is nowhere near how MacOS or Linux dist-upgrades work. DO A CLEAN INSTALL!!
     
  17. jellybelly

    jellybelly MDL Member

    Oct 30, 2009
    159
    29
    10
    @megargags, Well I just did a fresh install in a VM, in my "normal" routine, offline user account, etc.. and still have the permission issues. I've been installing Windows since 3.0 and only now am I starting to have issues with permissions.

    I have a feeling that MS has started to lock down the drives in the name of security. In the past all 'annoyances' were removed by turning off UAC. But now even with UAC off, you still have to give permission to do anything in Program Files, for example.

    It's annoying, stupid, and I don't care about MS's version of security when it interferes with what I want to do.