Windows 10 Upgrade Set All Folders to Read Only and Can't Change

SpaceCadet · 16 May 2016

I am desperately needing help. I have a desktop PC that I built (ASUS motherboard, Intel i3 (first generation), Nvidia graphics card, 500 GB WD HD. It ran Windows 7 Pro. I upgraded to Windows 10 last week. Since then all the options in several of my programs (SpeedCommander, qBittorrent, MS Office 2010, Firefox, etc.) keep resetting every time I rebooted the computer. I tried to uninstall the programs, so I can reinstall them, but Windows 10 won't let me uninstall the programs. I tried to overwrite the programs by installing over them, but they failed also. Firefox is a Portable program, so I tried to delete it, but I couldn't delete it either. I checked the properties and found that the folders were somehow set to "Read Only". I unchecked the "Read Only" and applied to all the subfolders and they went through successfully. I tried to delete Portable Firefox again, but it failed again. I tried to uninstall qBittorrent and it also failed again. I checked the properties again and all the folders were again "Read Only". I set the options for Word 2010 the way I want it, then unchecked the "Read Only" and applied again. Then I rebooted the computer in hope that everything will be fixed. Once the computer was fully up, I checked the options for Word 2010 and I lost all the options I set again. I checked all the folders and they were back to "Read Only". I tried everything I can think of and I consider myself as knowledgeable to be dangerous, but I couldn't figure this problem out. Please help!

dalchina · 17 May 2016

Hello, given what you are reporting, you may prefer to try reverting to Windows 7, which you can within 30 days of the upgrade (and thereafter install Win 10 freely on that hardware). Note that some have found that procedure fails, though.

Your first priority should be to make sure you have a sound backup of any data.

It sounds as though you may have permission problems, but it's only a guess. I don't recall seeing such a problem before.
As such, you could try using Tweaking.com's repair tool (free) to reset permissions. It has a range of such options. Note the cautious steps, select only repairs you may need. I can't tell you if that will help, however.

If you see any error messages and numbers, you can research the exact text and number.

Standard recommendation: use disk imaging routinely, before and after major changes. E.g. Mactium Reflect (free). That means you have a very good chance of restoring your PC to a previously working state when things go wrong, as they did on my first upgrade attempt when Win 10 didn't let me log in. I restored Win 8 from my disk image.

Slartybart · 17 May 2016

Launch Disk Management

Is the status of the drive Online or ReadOnly?

Windows 10 Upgrade Set All Folders to Read Only and Can't Change-dskmgtreadonly.png

You can also check the status in Diskpart

Launch Command Prompt (Admin)
diskpart
lis dis
sel dis # (the 1st drive is disk 0)
attrib dis (If the read only attributes = YES, then reset the flag)
attrib dis clear readonly