Situations when, when trying to open a file or folder, when setting a document to print, or even when launching a certain application, the system displays a message that Windows cannot access some requested object, are encountered quite often. As for the elimination of such problems, it all depends solely on the root cause described in the message itself. Consider a few basic options for regular situations and solutions that help to fix them.
Message options "Windows could not access ..."
There are several notifications of errors of this type. It all depends on what kind of process should be performed at the moment.
The main types of errors associated with lack of access are considered to be:
- Files and folders
- devices (including network);
- virtual drivers;
- Windows Services
Problems with files and directories
Surely, each user is faced with a situation where a message stating that Windows cannot access the file, folder or specified path appears when trying to open such objects.
However, the system strongly recommends checking the full path. The point here is that sometimes even after deleting files and directories can be displayed in the "Explorer" or on the "Desktop", although in fact they are not in the file system. In such a situation, you just need to check whether the specified object exists, through the properties section on the object or shortcut. It is best to reboot. Perhaps such files and folders are the remnants of remote programs, which will be destroyed after a reboot.
If files exist, but access to them is blocked, you must log in with an administrator account or create a new one with the appropriate rights. In some cases, providing full access through the file or directory properties menu helps.
If the file is locked at the system level, the unlock button may be present in the properties, which must be pressed.
What to do with lack of access to devices?
One of the most common notifications is a message saying that Windows cannot access the specified device. Most often this applies not to the internal "filling" of the computer, but to peripheral devices (printers, faxes, scanners, USB-drives, etc.).
The easiest way out of this situation is to simply update or reinstall the appropriate driver. For USB devices, you may need to reinstall the drivers for the USB controllers.
In the case of network devices, you should reconnect them and select peripherals not from the list, but manually register network addresses and the names by which they are identified on the Network. By the way, this also applies to shared network folders.
Sometimes the message that Windows cannot access the device may apply to some virtual components. So, for example, very often in the work of musical sequencers the ASIO4ALL driver package is used, which is identified in the system not as a driver, but as a virtual device.
This is equally true for virtual hosts of programs, which can serve as bridges for connecting additional plug-ins or for the interaction of different software that cannot be directly connected to each other (for example, FL Studio ReWire).
Advanced network resource access settings
If the problems consist in the interaction of computers connected to a local or virtual network, most often one of the root causes is the included password access. It should be disabled and look at the behavior of the terminals.
But one of the most effective solutions is to disable the use of IPv6 in the properties of a network adapter. At the same time, in the additional IPv4 settings on the WINS tab, you need to set dynamic IP forwarding, and with static settings, you need to enable the NetBIOS enable option via TCP / IP.
In addition, to prevent the spontaneous appearance of 6to4 virtual adapters in the command console, you must run the netsh in 6to4 set state disable line, having previously uninstalled all such devices in the corresponding manager and performed a complete reboot of the system.
Unable to access Windows Installer: how to fix the problem?
Finally, one of the biggest problems relates to situations where the user cannot install any software. The system with enviable persistence reports that it is unable to access the Windows Installer service.
What does this mean? Only that the service is experiencing problems or is in the disconnected state (the second is more likely). The fix is to use the appropriate section (services.msc), go into the service settings and edit the start parameters. You can leave the manual start type set by default, although there is nothing to worry about if it is switched to automatic mode. Next, you need to start the service by clicking the appropriate button. A restart system is not required.
If this does not help and the system reports that it was not possible to access the Windows service to perform actions to install programs or even automatically integrate important updates into the system, you can re-register the service itself by registering two lines for this in the command console launched from administrator rights:
- msiexec / unregister;
- msiexec / register.
Instead of an afterword
In conclusion, it remains to add that these are far from all situations where errors of this kind may appear, but only the most basic ones. And in case of failures in each specific case, it is necessary to make an appropriate decision on the used method of troubleshooting, based on the description of the error.