This post technical support for fix Access Denied error occur in Windows Vista. Access is denied while trying to access My Documents folder in Windows Vista
Cause: This behavior occurs because files in the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos folders in Windows XP are transferred to the following folders in Windows Vista:
? %systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Documents
? %systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Music
? %systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Pictures
? %systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Videos
The My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos folders in Windows Vista are junction points. A junction point is a protected operating system folder that points to another folder. The junction point is an important part of application compatibility and does not contain any data or other files.
When you upgrade Windows XP to Windows Vista, Windows Vista sets the Read permissions of the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos folders to Deny. Therefore, you cannot access these junction points. However, if you try to access these junction points, you are redirected to the following folders:
?%systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Documents
?%systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Music
?%systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Pictures
?%systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Videos
By default, a junction point has the following settings after you upgrade Windows XP to Windows Vista:
?The attribute of a junction point is hidden.
?The Read permission of a junction point is Deny.
If you change these default settings, the system will become unstable.
Solution: If the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos links in the Start menu do not point to the Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders, you must manually redirect these links to the correct folders. To redirect these links, follow these steps:
1.Click Start, right-click the link, and then click Properties.
2.On the Location tab, replace the wrong target location with the correct target location. For example, to redirect the My Music folder to the Music folder in Windows Vista, enter %systemdrive%\Users\user_name\Music.
3.Click Apply.
In some cases, when you upgrade Windows XP to Windows Vista, the upgrade does not correctly transfer files from the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos folders in Windows XP to the Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders in Windows Vista. If you cannot find these files, search for them in the following hidden folders:
?%systemdrive%\$INPLACE.~TR\Machine \Data\Documents and Settings\user_name\My Documents
?%systemdrive%\$INPLACE.~TR\Machine\Data\Documents and Settings\user_name\My Documents\My Music
?%systemdrive%\$INPLACE.~TR\Machine\Data\Documents and Settings\user_name\My Documents\My Pictures
?%systemdrive%\$INPLACE.~TR\Machine\Data\Documents and Settings\user_name\My Documents\My Videos
To view files in the hidden folders, follow these steps:
1.Open Windows Explorer.
2.On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3.Click the View tab.
4.In the Advanced settings list, click Show hidden files and folders under Hidden files and folders, and then click OK.
When you try to install Windows Vista, you may receive one of the following Stop error messages:
STOP 0x0000000A IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
STOP 0x000000D1 DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Warning This workaround may make a computer or a network more vulnerable to attack by malicious users or by malicious software such as viruses. We do not recommend this workaround but are providing this information so that you can implement this workaround at your own discretion. Use this workaround at your own risk.
If you receive a “Stop: 0x0000000A” error message or a “Stop: 0x000000D1″ error message when you try to upgrade to Windows Vista, follow these steps:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Roll back the installation to the previous operating system.
3. Use the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor to check for known issues.
4. Disconnect any external hardware devices that are connected to the computer. Additionally, remove or disconnect any hardware that the computer manufacturer does not support. Also, remove any hardware that you recently installed.
5. If you receive either of these error messages during the first phase of the upgrade installation,
follow these additional steps:
a. In the previous operating system, update any installed antivirus and antispyware programs, and then scan the computer for problems.
Note If you find any problems, we recommend that you perform a clean installation of Windows Vista.
b. After you scan the computer for viruses and for spyware in the previous operating system, uninstall any antivirus and antispyware software.
c. Contact the computer manufacturer for information about any known Windows Vista compatibility issues and about how to obtain and to install a BIOS update.
6. Try to upgrade to Windows Vista again.
