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I'm really having trouble transfering my mp3's from my old 80 Gig HD to my new 160 Gig HD. Everytime I try to transfer them, I get a message saying.. "Access is Denied". I really have no idea why this message comes up and doesn't let me play the file. But then again, some files I can play and some I can't. The ones that I can play, I can transfer. oh man, this is weird..never had this before..please help folks..would appreciate it so much :o) Thanx!

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Dani AI

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— several good pointers already from and . The suggestions below avoid repeating those basics and focus on less-obvious causes and concrete, low-risk workarounds that have helped with the same “Access is Denied” symptom.

Common culprits not yet covered: files encrypted with EFS or protected by DRM (these require the original user’s encryption key/authorization), very long file paths or unusual characters that break Explorer, and processes or antivirus software that hold file locks. A pragmatic checklist: try copying a handful of problem files to a short, top-level folder (to rule out path-length issues); stop any media players and real-time AV; and attempt the copy while logged in as the local built-in Administrator (Safe Mode can do that). If access-control lists are the blocker, copying with backup privileges can succeed.

Quick, practical workarounds (won’t change original file owners unless explicitly done):

# shorten a deep path and copy with xcopy
subst X: "D:\Documents and Settings\OldUser\My Music\Very\deep\path"
xcopy X:\* E:\Music\ /E /H /C
subst X: /D
# robust copy (Windows Resource Kit's robocopy supports backup mode)
robocopy "D:\OldMP3s" "E:\NewMP3s" /B /E /R:1 /W:1 /COPYALL

If those fail, attach the old disk to another healthy PC as a secondary drive (or boot a Linux live environment) and copy files from that host — note that EFS-encrypted files still require the original key even then. Always keep a safe copy of the original disk image before doing mass permission/ownership changes. If encryption or corruption is suspected and recovery is critical, professional data-recovery specialists can extract files without risking further loss.

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Member Avatar for Dani

It seems like a permissions problem. Windows NT/2000/XP have multiple user support, meaning that users have ownership of files. Right click the files and view their properties. Are you their owner? Are you the owner of the new 160gb drive?

Member Avatar for Dani

You might also get this error, now that I think of it, if any of the files are corrupted or are currently in use. Set check disk to run on the drive containing the files (right click on the C:\ drive in My Computer, and schedule a disk check), then restart your computer and let it do its thing. As soon as you get back into Windows, try moving the files again first thing. (Don't try to play any).

Member Avatar for motech

Operating System?
format? FAT32, NTFS, Ext2?

If the destination drive is almost anything but NTFS,
A knoppix cd http://knoppix.net will allow you to copy
them.

The new drive may have a utility that's designed to
copy partitions... Have you looked on the mfg's website
to see if there's a utility you can use?

The list goes on and on

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