Networks·41,395 discussions

Windows Server 2003 SBS “access denied” problem

Locked

At my work we have 20 PCs all with win xp pro sp2, and a windows 2003 sbs R2 server.
All of our companies files are stored on the mapped drives of the server. Starting about a month ago, random files started saying “access denied. you do not have permission to open this file. contact your administrator” or something close. I went to the server it’s self and sat down and attempted to access the files, with no luck. I was logged in as both admin in our single domain and as local admin for the server.
I figured virus activity, scanned everything on the server fully, 2x over and nothing. I gave up at the time. Now apparently over a month or so, different directories and and files are “randomly” becoming inaccessible. These files are essential to my company, anyone have any ideas?

Topic

Clarifications

In reply to Windows Server 2003 SBS “access denied” problem

Clarifications

try

In reply to Windows Server 2003 SBS “access denied” problem

If they are inaccessible by the administrator, check the security tab to make sure the ACL is setup correctly. If it is, reapply the permissions and see if that helps. If all else fails, take ownership of the file and then reassign the security.

Problem…

In reply to try

These files are genuinely inaccessible. Properties for said files and folders shows 0kb data, probably due to access restrictions.
When i do attempt to re-apply security settings and permissions, it just skips over the files, unable to change their permissions…

Then

In reply to Problem…

Take ownership first, then try to apply the permissions. Although from what you are stating, it could be disk corruption…

The Mystery Deepens…

In reply to Windows Server 2003 SBS “access denied” problem

I am being given all kinds of hell with this issue. Here is a new twist however. I used the Server 2003 backup software and made a back-up of one of the drives in question where inaccessible are located. I then restored the files, but to an alternate location on a different physical drive, and bam, the inaccessible files can now been accessed!
I’m guessing my securities, permissions, ACL or Group Policy is affecting the access to these files. I also found our one of our Engineers had access to these files the whole time. HOWEVER, even sitting on the server myself with admin rights I can not access the files without the temporary backup fix I made. Any ideas of where to go from here? I’m guessing a total removal and redesign of the security policies is in order. If this is the correct course of action, could someone give me an idea of exactly how to go about this?

Help!

In reply to Windows Server 2003 SBS “access denied” problem

If anyone can assist me with this problem it would be awesome!

[Author]

Replies