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Question

files not opend or saved

Aug 31, 2013 1:38AM PDT

Hi,
i have a problem with opening files from my external drivers.
i have 3 external drivrs which never gave me any problems before.
for some reason i can no longer open files from them (or any other place - so it seems...) but my desktop.
to give an example: i have a pdf file in a folder on my desktop. when i try opening it - acrobat says "There was an error opening this document.
but - when i copy the verey same file into the desktop - it opens it.
almost all files give me the same broblems in other software (the error message can vary.
in other programms it says "file does not exist or has been moved" - when i know for a fact that it should not matter where the file is - it should have opened it.

same goes for when i try saving a file, it only saves it to either the desktop or to the itnitial directory which is opend upon clicking save (before you change it to where you want to save).

i dont know why its does that...
any idea??

thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
There can be issues with
Sep 1, 2013 5:42AM PDT

It's possible to create this issue in many ways. I can't tell which it is but you can work each area.

1. The path is too long.
2. The pathname is non-standard. That is contains non-alphanumerics.
3. There are issues with ownership or permissions with the folders or names.
4. There is some virus or malware on the machine.

You have a great question but it makes you wonder how folk tackle nutty issues like this. I wish my list was shorter but without being at your PC it's up to you to look into all this.
Bob

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Thank you for replying. I think this is an ownership issue.
Sep 2, 2013 2:00AM PDT

I'll try playing with that although I'm not entirely familiar as to how it works.
Anyway, I don't understand why ownership settings have been changed for no reason...

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Sorry about that.
Sep 2, 2013 2:05AM PDT

CACLS and DACLS (oh my!) are widely discussed.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490872.aspx

I've run into this for over a decade and causes are so wide spread that any I note are likely not the cause here. But it does happen and I'm finding myself looking at security tabs of the files and folders to add my user name to the access control list (ACL).

All this brings up a really good question and it's something like "Should MSFT re-vamp NTFS for consumer products?"
Bob