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Question

Folders Locked

Nov 22, 2012 5:12AM PST

I have no idea what happened honestly. Malewarebytes and my antivirus programs don't show any kind of virus's. However for whatever reason the "My Music" "My Pictures" and the "My Videos" folders have what appears to be a hidden shortcut and an additional folder with a lock on it. If I click either one it pops up with a message saying "is not accessible. Access is denied" I can get to the folders with no problem if I go through the links on the start menu so it's basically just a minor annoyance but still would like to figure out what happened. Thank you

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Shortcut issues
Nov 22, 2012 5:25AM PST

Right-click the problem(s) shortcut and click Properties in the drop-down. I assume the ones with the problem are on the desktop.

What does it say? What does the Target path say? Check your sharing tab as well, and post back what you find.

NEXT: Right-click your shortcut using the Start Menu and do the same as above. Are they the same?

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Folder issues
Nov 22, 2012 6:04AM PST

That's part of the problem. The shortcuts are actually listed in the "documents" folder right with the folders that are locked. I right clicked on the shortcuts and went to properties like you said. It doesn't list anything as a target path and on sharing it says "not shared" I clicked it to share with myself but still getting the same message.

When I click properties on the shortcuts in the start menu they are different. In the start menu folders it just lists "library"

I included some links to screenshots so you can better see what I'm seeing. I'm horrible at explaining Happy

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e149/hollowed454/documents.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e149/hollowed454/documents1.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e149/hollowed454/documents2.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e149/hollowed454/documents3.jpg

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Thank you for the pictures
Nov 22, 2012 1:01PM PST

Running XP Pro SP3 here tho.

Images of file paths for XP a little bit different from what appears to be Win7, but the same principle will apply:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?uxf993ueg3drsu4

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?8b2cn2sdicybmou

(Click the Download button to download the file so you can see it for both files)

In Win7 personal files are kept in Libraries and these can be set in many different ways.

This link may help you understand: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Redirect-a-folder-to-a-new-location
Also this: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-files/redirecting-the-target-of-my-documents-folder/83052359-37db-4500-9518-9ca49fb222dc

We are trying to restore everything back to default. Using the target/location (win7) path you would attempt to use the default location to get the desktop to be the same as the start menu. Note there is a 'Default' reset button in XP. and also in Win7. This should work for you.

Otherwise, if it fails, malware on your system may be a cause.

Try Grif's tools here to see if this helps: http://forums.cnet.com/7726-6132_102-5098912.html