A File Cannot Be Deleted or Accessed on an NTFS Volume

ID: Q159199


The information in this article applies to:


SYMPTOMS

A file or directory on an NTFS volume cannot be deleted or accessed. Windows NT returns an "Access Denied" error message when you attempt to manipulate the file. You are not able to view the permissions, the owner, or the contents of the file. The file does, however, show up in a DIR listing in File Manager and in Explorer. This occurs even though the user trying to access the file has permissions to the file. Even an administrator will be unable to take ownership of this file.


CAUSE

There are two causes:


RESOLUTION

The following are the resolutions to the above causes, respectively:

Additional query words: delete


Keywords          : kbother ntfilesys NTSrvWkst 
Version           : winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : 

Last Reviewed: July 23, 1999