Cannot copy files from or change permissions in AppData in my profile

Anixx · Mar 20, 2024

I tried to copy my FireFox profile to make a backup, and got an error:

It seems, the error is 0x80004005.

I tried to look up permissions but they all are greyed out:

I cannot change them:

I checked the ownership, and saw that I (User) am the owner, as expected.

It seems, I cannot change permissions and copy information from anything in AppData folder in my profile.

Is this a new security feature in 23h2? What am I supposed to do?

antspants · Mar 20, 2024

Hi
I can not personally read that error box. Can you translate it?

An apparently unresolved issue here:

Copy data to folder does not give overwrite option?

This morning I was trying to migrate an older Window 10 Pro computer to a new Windows 11 Pro computer, one thing I almost always do is to backup the C:\Users\\appdata\local and .\roaming Mozilla profiles to then copy into the new Mozilla profile on the new computer. No matter what I tried every...

www.elevenforum.com

antspants · Mar 20, 2024

Error Code 0x80004005 occurs when Windows cannot access a file or folder, and has several potential causes such as ownership issues, an antivirus blocking access, network configuration errors, or a bugged Windows Update.
As per your other thread:

antspants said:
Sounds like a keyboard issue, do you have a spare you can try?
If it isn’t, seems to be some odd goings on after update KB5035853

glasskuter · Mar 20, 2024

I looked at the different issues you've reported having after you upgraded to 23h2 in the last week.
Security app not working,
WU not working
Something about certain keyboard keys quit working
Now permissions broken

You do not have your specs listed in your forum profile. We do not know if you are running the release or an insider version of 11. We do not know if you are running on incompatible hardware. It's my opinion you may have gone into the 23h2 update with corrupted files or, if you did an in-place upgrade, maybe your iso was corrupted.
With no more info than we have all we can do is guess.

As far as the OS is concerned, you could try another in-place upgrade, but even if that fixes the windows issues you are having, I doubt it would change anything about your user account. And the permissions problem is related to your user account.

glasskuter · Mar 21, 2024

By the way, you don't have to backup your Firefox folder if you are logged into Firefox with a Firefox account,everything in Firefox is synced. All your settings, passwords,tabs, bookmarks, history, and extensions will sync to any device you have that has Firefox as long as you are logged in. If you uninstall Firefox, then reinstall it, everything will still be there.
Firefox Settings>Sync
With syncing, it works the same way Edge does if one is signed in.

abactuon · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
greyed out

That's correct, but you can check in Windows Terminal

Get-Acl -Path "C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\b0hx7ktw.default-release" | FL

And

Copy-Item -exclude "parent.lock" -r "C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\b0hx7ktw.default-release\*" -destination $env:Temp/_FF

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

glasskuter said:
By the way, you don't have to backup your Firefox folder if you are logged into Firefox with a Firefox account,everything in Firefox is synced. All your settings, passwords,tabs, bookmarks, history, and extensions will sync to any device you have that has Firefox as long as you are logged in. If you uninstall Firefox, then reinstall it, everything will still be there.
Firefox Settings>Sync
With syncing, it works the same way Edge does if one is signed in.

One need a Mozilla account for this. I am not sure I want to create one.

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

glasskuter said:
By the way, you don't have to backup your Firefox folder if you are logged into Firefox with a Firefox account,everything in Firefox is synced. All your settings, passwords,tabs, bookmarks, history, and extensions will sync to any device you have that has Firefox as long as you are logged in. If you uninstall Firefox, then reinstall it, everything will still be there.
Firefox Settings>Sync
With syncing, it works the same way Edge does if one is signed in.

Will it back up the custom theme I use? Will it work if I downgrade Firefox?
I want to save the profile so to try to upgrade Firefox to a highrer version and if I dislike it, come back to the older version.

Berton · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
I want to save the profile so to try to upgrade Firefox to a highrer version and if I dislike it, come back to the older version.

If using the current version of Firefox [which is now 124.0] going to a higher version usually means getting a BETA or test version, always some issues in doing that as it is not a finished product. And I haven't created an account in Firefox yet and not having any problem making a couple three settings changes. Downgrading to an earlier version of a program generally means uninstalling which in turn can leave behind a file or a Registry setting to have to deal with.

glasskuter · Mar 21, 2024

In all honesty, I have never dealt with FF sync in relationship to a downgrade nor do I use a cusom theme so I would not want to advise you wrong there. My theme comes directly from FF.

That said, one of the best troubleshooting tools one can have for dealing with troublesome user files in windows (or for recovering files from a crashed windows or an old drive) is a live Linux distro usb.
I have Mint Cinnamon and Ubuntu distros on usbs that I use to deal with this and other windows problems that involve a user account. They're both good but Mint is my favorite. Linux does not care about permissions. If a folder/file are readable Mint can usually deal with it. Boot from the drive and run directly off the usb without any installing. Then browse to the windows partition to find the folder/file you want to recover. You may have to temporarily turn off secure boot to run it from the usb,
Note:not all Linux distros support UEFI boot.

Berton · Mar 21, 2024

+1 for what @glasskuter said, I do the same. Sometimes problems need 'outside' help.

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Berton said:
If using the current version of Firefox [which is now 124.0] going to a higher version usually means getting a BETA or test version, always some issues in doing that as it is not a finished product. And I haven't created an account in Firefox yet and not having any problem making a couple three settings changes. Downgrading to an earlier version of a program generally means uninstalling which in turn can leave behind a file or a Registry setting to have to deal with.

I am on Firefox 109 now.

Berton · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
I am on Firefox 109 now.

In the computing world that is old. I don't use the BETA/test versions, only the fully-released, as I have to see what my clients see. And using the latest gives the updated fixes for issues such as security, compatibility for newer hardware, etc.

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

@Anixx

You will need to "Take Ownership" of the AppData folder, and all it's child folders.

Taking Ownership of certain folders "can" damage Windows. So make sure to use backup software, first.

Add Take Ownership to Context Menu in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to add Take Ownership to the context menu of all files, folders, and drives for all users in Windows 10 and Windows 11. This will allow you to be able to instantly take ownership of a file, folder (and all contents), or drive (and all contents) by changing the...

www.elevenforum.com

1. If your account name is not the owner of the AppData folder, you need to change that.
2. Right click the AppData folder and choose: Properties > Security tab > Advanced.
3. At the top left it will tell you who "owns" that folder.
4. If it's not your account, then follow the tutorial above that adds Take Ownership to your right click Context Menu.
5. Then, right click the AppData folder and choose "Take Ownership". It will take at least 5 minutes to process.
......[it's a very large folder. 3.7GB on my system]
6. You can now copy files, etc. You might have to also "Take Ownership" of some of the folder IN the AppData folder.

I just looked... and my account is the owner of the AppData folder, and everything in that folder.
So I have the necessary permissions. That hasn't damaged anything as far as I can tell.
And... I took ownership of AppData approx. 2 years ago, so I would have noticed if there were problems.
Then again, if it had caused problems... I have backups, so I could undo the damage if any had occurred.

If you're gonna play with the big boys, make sure you're packing heat. Aka backup software.

Macrium Reflect, AOMEI Backupper and Hasleo Backup Suite - GUIDES

How to use backup software... 1. When everything is working perfectly... make a full Windows backup. 2. Then, if something breaks... restore from the latest backup. 3. Then... try "whatever you were doing" a different way. If it still breaks Windows, then... go to step #2. 4. Repeat...

www.elevenforum.com

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Ghot said:
@Anixx

You will need to "Take Ownership" of the AppData folder, and all it's child folders.

I am already the owner, that's the problem. And still cannot change permissions or copy the folder.

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
I am already the owner, that's the problem. And still cannot change permissions.

View attachment 90974

Your account name is... LENOVO ?

Also... I am the owner of the whole AppData folder. And, I have fill control.
I just copied prefs-2.js from my Mozilla profiles folder, and pasted it on my Desktop.
Then I dragged and dropped it back to the profiles folder and "replaced" the one that was in there.

Then again... I used the Take Ownership tutorial on the entire AppData folder.

I guess it could also be Windows Defender that's stopping you?
I use Bitdefender, so it has over riding control... in place of Windows Defender?
Maybe make an exception for the Mozilla profiles folder... in Windows Defender?

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Ghot said:
Your account name is... LENOVO ?

Account name is User, computer name in Lenovo.

Ghot · Mar 21, 2024

Anixx said:
Account name is User, computer name in Lenovo.

See my edited post, just above.

Also... keep in mind, there are different "levels" of ownership.
When I double click my user account (in the large window)... I see this window...

Of all the possibilities, I can only think of three...

1. Wrong level of ownership. (I used the reg patch in the Take Ownership tutorial)
2. Windows Defender is somehow fighting with you.
3. Or... it's some weird Lenovo thing?

Give me the exact name of a file (in the Mozilla profiles folder), that you are trying to copy.
So I can test for you.

Anixx · Mar 21, 2024

Ghot said:
See my edit
2. Windows Defender is somehow fighting with you.

Windows Defender service is completely uninstalled. It looks like a new security feature (tamper protection) but I cannot switch it off because I cannot enter the Windows Securityr GUI.

P.S. No. Tamper Protection is off:

Code:

FullScanStartTime                :
InitializationProgress           : ServiceStartedSuccessfully
IoavProtectionEnabled            : False
IsTamperProtected                : False
IsVirtualMachine                 : False
LastFullScanSource               : 0
LastQuickScanSource              : 0
NISEnabled                       : False
NISEngineVersion                 : 0.0.0.0

Try3 · Mar 21, 2024

I thought the profile was in
C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
[which can be copied without incident]
but this discussion seems to be about the Roaming folder.

Denis