I can access a file in one profile, but not in the other

As part of my on-going problems in setting up a new profile, I have encountered one that I do not understand:

When I started the new admin profile, there were some problems with both Firefox and Thunderbird. I am concentrating on Fx, where I found that the configuration file that tells Fx which Fx profile to use was quite wrong. I fixed that problem by copying from my current default profile to the new one the correct information.

That fixed some file access problems, but the profiles.ini file cannot be accessed in the new profile, so I have no way of editing it. I have checked the Security and Details tabs of the file's property sheet in both the default and new Windows profile; they are identical.

In both cases, the General tab for both shows that the file opens in Notepad, which it does in the default, but all I get in the new profile is `access denied.'

What can I do to fix this?

Not Myself said:

...all I get in the new profile is `access denied.'
What can I do to fix this?

It's a file permissions problem. Right-click on the file and select Properties. On the Security tab click Advanced and take ownership of the file.

Bree said:

It's a file permissions problem. Right-click on the file and select Properties. On the Security tab click Advanced and take ownership of the file.

At least I know why I could not find the thread, as I posted it in the wrong forum; perhaps a moderator would be kind enough to move it. I will blame that on my moving back and forth between profiles, trying to get things working correctly, being certain not to stop the hourly playing of music by Bach on SiriusXM's "Bach Friday."

Yes, that is the least lame excuse I can invent....

Now, as to your instructions, the mystery continues: In both profiles, the owner is the same, but even in the default profile, the owner is shown as being in the new profile. Despite that, as I stated, I can open it in the default profile.

Should I change the ownership in the new profile, and if so, how do I do that? As I have mentioned in my other, related, threads over the past several days, the entire process of creating a new profile is something that, as far as I know, I have never done--or perhaps more accurately, I think I did it once only to test something or another, and if I did do that, I deleted it immediately without ever looking at such things as file property sheets. Thus, I am floundering, because the process of creating and using the new profile has not been nearly as simple as I expected, and not anything I have any knowledge about.

Ownership and permissions are two different things. You can be the owner and not have permissions on an object. You should only need to grant the appropriate permissions to the top level of the user profile C:\Users\<username> and enable inheritance if it is not on.

Neemobeer said:

Ownership and permissions are two different things. You can be the owner and not have permissions on an object. You should only need to grant the appropriate permissions to the top level of the user profile C:\Users\<username> and enable inheritance if it is not on.

Profiles.ini, in both Firefox profiles, show that System/Administrators/ and John (Desktopxxx) have no inheritance, and that System/Administrators (second entry, same Desktop)/John were all inherited from C:\Users\John. All entries are of the Type Allow, and all have Access stated as Full Control.

(Some day, please remind me to thank you for offering assistance.)

I am closing this thread, because I was running into entirely too many problems in trying to create a new Windows profile, problems plausibly caused by my own failures. Having never done this, and having practically no knowledge as to how to proceed, I decided, having learned at least a modicum of how to properly create a new profile, I discarded the one for which I started this thread and started another new profile.