Can't boot into Windows 10 after changing C:/ Owner

[ZeroInfinity]

Hi all!

I've had this recent error with my laptop, it suddenly won't allow me to create shortcuts on the desktop if it was coming from C:/ saying "Unable to create shortcut check if disk is full". There are 2 drives in my laptop, C:/ Which is the OS Drive, an SSD. And D:/ Which is an HDD for storing files. Now I tried changing the ownership of C:/ from Trusted Installer to Me via the Advanced Permissions and it actually worked and I rebooted.

Now I'm stuck at the spinning circle loading screen before the log in screen with the spinning circle at the center. The background color is light grey which is the one I use. I can't access safe mode using F8 or Shift F8

Help 🙁 Any Ideas on how to get this fixed? Its been like this for 2 hours now

Thanks in advance!

 

[13thmonkey]

I'm not sure why you changed what you changed.

you may need to use a repair disk and restore to a previous point in time. BUT I would wait for another couple of hours. If it is doing what i think it is doing it is having access every single file and change the permissions, on a data drive that's easy enough, on an OS drive there will probably be 100,000+ files, and that will take a long time.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Boot from windows install media / command prompt and change ownership back to previous value:

takeown /u TrustedInstaller c:

 

[ZeroInfinity]

I booted into safe mode and I can now access windows, so im really puzzled as to how and what causes it

 

[ZeroInfinity]

Tried doing clean boot from safe mode to no avail

 

[Colif]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from ZeroInfinity : "Will Windows 10 Reset, Reset Permissions on C:\ ( OS DRIVE )"

Hello All!

The Problem
Long Loading Circle before the Login Screen, it will enter login screen eventually but after about 4-5 Hours, can't access Safe mode through the F8 or Shift+F8 combo and Shift Restart won't work as well. I can only access 3 things when I ctrl+alt+delete during the Circle Loading which is Wi-fi, Ease of Access and the Power Options ( Shutdown, Restart, Sleep )
--------
What Caused it
I changed permissions for the ownership of Drive C from TrustedInstaller to myself
(MSI/Samuel) and afterwards when I restarted the problem Happened.
--------
I eventually just waited for it to boot to Login Screen which happened after a good 4-5 hours, now my question is would performing a Windows 10 Reset, reset the change in permissions I did with the Drive C:\ or after resetting would the permissions I've changed still be the same ( Me being the Owner Instead of TrustedInstaller )

*Image for Reference* *Before the Owner Used to be Trusted Installer instead of MSI/Samuel*

I can't System Restore as there are no System Restore Images to back-up to.

*This happened on my MSI Laptop ( MSI GE62 Apache Pro )*

Thanks All!

--------
What Caused it
I changed permissions for the ownership of Drive C from TrustedInstaller to myself
(MSI/Samuel) and afterwards when I restarted the problem Happened.
--------

The number of people reading this, who have done something this monumentally bad, approaches zero.

There is only one way to know. Try it.
If it does not work, the system is no more broken than it is now, and you just have to do a full wipe and reinstall.
As you should probably do anyway.

Depends on which reset, a full will reset them as its same as a full install. The other won't work

 

[Colif]

I don't know if you could even run reset, in hind sight. As you took control of trsutedinstaller and who knows what damage that would have done to the reset process. PC may not have the permission it needs to run the files. The only way to know if its fully fixed is a fresh install, like USAFret says.

I have not done it myself but have helped people who have and its always hard for them to accept they did something silly. Some people want full control and windows doesn't work like that.

Curious, how big is the ssd? if its 23gb, its not meant to have windows on it at all - its a cache drive

Best copy everything off C you want to keep and reinstall.

 

[johnbl]

If you took ownership from trustedinstaller you would want to reinstall your operating system. Normally you would not be able to give ownership back to trustedinstsaller. If you boot on windows image and give ownership to trusted installer it would be using the same name but the wrong security identifier and it would not work correctly. Ie it would use the SID from the boot disk.

 

[Daniel_0699]

Hi
I've been having this exact same problem, did you find a solution? I've literally tried everything...

 

[Colif]

Once you remove ownership of C from trustedinstaller, the only way to fix it is a fresh install

If anything on PC you have to save, try this: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

On another PC, download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB
change boot order so USB is first, hdd second
Once you have backed up everything on C you want to save,
Boot from the installer and follow this guide: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-windows-10-clean-install.html (forum seems to be down right now but usually works)

 

[13thmonkey]

Hi
I've been having this exact same problem, did you find a solution? I've literally tried everything...

How did you get to this position and why? Seems odd that we've had two people with such a specific issue, i'm wondering if there is a site out there posting this advice.

 

[Colif]

I wonder if this works: http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-restore-the-trustedinstaller-ownership-in-windows-10/

 

[Daniel_0699]

I wonder if this works: http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-restore-the-trustedinstaller-ownership-in-windows-10/

Nope, already tried that. I changed it back to trustedinstaller in safe mode but still won't boot up normally..

 

[Daniel_0699]

Hi
I've been having this exact same problem, did you find a solution? I've literally tried everything...

How did you get to this position and why? Seems odd that we've had two people with such a specific issue, i'm wondering if there is a site out there posting this advice.

Basically none of the windows 10 apps would open so i ended up here, ttp://windowsreport.com/windows-10-apps-wont-open .... i know the website looks sketchy.. never should've followed it.

 

[Colif]

I wasn't sure, looks like my other post is best choice then. Sorry about that, Windows really shouldn't let people do that as it destroys windows.

 

[Daniel_0699]

I wasn't sure, looks like my other post is best choice then. Sorry about that, Windows really shouldn't let people do that as it destroys windows.

I know, it's stupid! I don't mind doing a fresh install I've backed everything up in safe mode, but i've tried the media creation tool twice and when it gets close to the end it says something like "there was a problem running this tool."
I tried rufus too but as soon as i press start it says unable to extract files.. i got the iso from microsofts official page...
Any idea?

 

[13thmonkey]

why did you get to this point? (hoping to understand and prevent others)

 

[Colif]

Are you using another PC to do this on? What version of windows is it?

if you trying to use PC with the broken permissions, that is probably why. its broken.

 

[Daniel_0699]

why did you get to this point? (hoping to understand and prevent others)

I just followed the instructions on this dumb website... http://windowsreport.com/windows-10-apps-wont-open/

 

[Daniel_0699]

Are you using another PC to do this on? What version of windows is it?

if you trying to use PC with the broken permissions, that is probably why. its broken.

No, i'm using another PC but it's on windows 8. Does that matter?

 

[13thmonkey]

why did you get to this point? (hoping to understand and prevent others)

I just followed the instructions on this dumb website... http://windowsreport.com/windows-10-apps-wont-open/

The comments do not make for good reading, good luck, and thanks for letting us know.

 

[Colif]

Are you using another PC to do this on? What version of windows is it?

if you trying to use PC with the broken permissions, that is probably why. its broken.

No, i'm using another PC but it's on windows 8. Does that matter?

NO, just checking it wasn't xp or something - as it wouldn't run then.

try running the media creation tool as an admin, on an account with admin rights

Control Panel > Find and Fix problems > Fix Problems with Windows Update . Run the trouble shooter, and after thats done run the Update tool again
run windows update and see if any updates, wonder if its cause you on 8 and not 8.1

 

[Daniel_0699]

why did you get to this point? (hoping to understand and prevent others)

I just followed the instructions on this dumb website... http://windowsreport.com/windows-10-apps-wont-open/

The comments do not make for good reading, good luck, and thanks for letting us know.

Are you using another PC to do this on? What version of windows is it?

if you trying to use PC with the broken permissions, that is probably why. its broken.

No, i'm using another PC but it's on windows 8. Does that matter?

NO, just checking it wasn't xp or something - as it wouldn't run then.

try running the media creation tool as an admin, on an account with admin rights

Control Panel > Find and Fix problems > Fix Problems with Windows Update . Run the trouble shooter, and after thats done run the Update tool again
run windows update and see if any updates, wonder if its cause you on 8 and not 8.1

Oh, no it is 8.1 sorry. Thanks for the advice, i'll try that now

 

[Colif]

why did you get to this point? (hoping to understand and prevent others)

I just followed the instructions on this dumb website... http://windowsreport.com/windows-10-apps-wont-open/

The comments do not make for good reading, good luck, and thanks for letting us know.

i tried to find the site that was giving this advice earlier, I know they essentially an advert for that scanner, its on every solution page, but the comments just make me realise no one is taking any notice of how stupid no.2 is. I sometimes use advice off pages like that but only if I know its not insane.

you right about comments, it is pretty sad.

 

[Daniel_0699]

why did you get to this point? (hoping to understand and prevent others)

I just followed the instructions on this dumb website... http://windowsreport.com/windows-10-apps-wont-open/

The comments do not make for good reading, good luck, and thanks for letting us know.

i tried to find the site that was giving this advice earlier, I know they essentially an advert for that scanner, its on every solution page, but the comments just make me realise no one is taking any notice of how stupid no.2 is. I sometimes use advice off pages like that but only if I know its not insane.

you right about comments, it is pretty sad.

Hi again, i managed to create the bootable usb with the media creation tool, but my pc cannot detect an operating system. I changed the boot order so USB is first and hdd is second but no luck... I did see an option in the advanced troubleshooting that says boot from USB/DVD so i clicked that, comes up with my usb stick (sandisk) but then i get this error... 0xc000000f "your pc needs a repair because a required device isn't connected or can't be accessed"
which apparently has something to do with the HDD.
Is this still because of the ownership thing?? can i just wipe the C: drive clean? would that even help?

Btw i've tried to boot in legacy and uefi with all sorts of boot orders and get the same outcome