Clean Install/Macrium

Rayal said:

....This was successful but of course I lost all data and files. I have a backup on Macrium reflect and thought I could just use "explore image" and navigate to "users," then copy files back to new copy of windows 10.
However it seems that I am locked out ,I receive a message saying I do not have "permission to access this file".
I tried taking ownership but another message states "File is write protected" and I cannot take ownership. Can anyone tell me of a way to unlock these files.

By default when you mount a Macrium image all the ntfs permissions apply, also the image is mounted 'read only' by default so you cannot change permissions. With an image created on another PC all the permissions were for accounts on that PC, so on this PC you don't have access. And yes, your clean reinstall of windows effectively makes this a new PC, even if the user account names are the same they will have a completely new SID number and be treated as being a different account from an account with the same name on the old PC.

There is a simple fix. When mounting the Macrium image tick the box at the bottom to 'Enable access to restricted folders' which will bypass all ntfs permissions.