Permissions, ownership and errors.. oh my

Long story short: I am an idiot.

Long story, very, long: Now let me explain why. My internet was down so I was down so I was looking around my folders, deleting old pictures and things and I came across my old Android Developers Kit (I had downloaded when I had my Blackberry Playbook to create Android apps for it but the BB was a huge fail).

I had a good deal of fun playing with it a few months ago and since I was semi-bored with no internet, I started it up but it said it needed Java to run. I had uninstalled it during that huge exploit a while back but I figured, I'm not connected to the internet so let me install it again and I uninstall it when I get my internet back. So I did, and I played with it for a bit then I decided to uninstall Java again because this is the first time I've used it since but I was met with an unexpected problem;

Huh? I thought I was the system administrator?? I've never had problems uninstalling things before. So I googled it and noticed that a lot of people said that it might be a sign of malware. To err on the side of caution, I ran the R&R here and ran into another strange problem as I was trying to download MGTools to the root of C:

Um.. ok I've never have saw that before. So I saved it to my desktop instead and ran all the scans. They didn't find anything except one program found registry key for Babylon (which I found out is a language translator because I didn't even know what it was, not sure how it got there? I found another babylon in my search, a toolbar, but I hate toolbars and I'm pretty sure I'd know if I had one :-D (I didn't) and never had my homepage hijacked or any of the other classic symptoms).

So again I took to google and found that this was a common problem within Windows 7 and all you needed to do was take ownership of the files. Then found this this, which I followed and it made everything SO MUCH WORSE! Now not only can I not uninstall things, I can't install things or even delete files! Some files have this weird little lock on them and now when I try to do something like that it says;

So again, I did some reading and found that you're NEVER supposed to take ownership of the C drive!!! (I thought a Support Engineer from Microsoft would actually know what he was talking about rolleyes) So I've been trying everything to change it back but so far, no avail.

What I've tried:

System Restore - didn't work
I tried this - didn't work.
I put in my Windows 7 dvd hoping for a repair option - didn't work.
Lastly, I tried this - sort of worked. There were hundreds of failures but some of the files now have "Administrator" as the owner instead of me but I'm still in the same boat.

So I'm asking the brains here at geeks (which part of the reason why I am such an idiot, I should have come here first) if anyone knows any other tricks, tips, codes, ANYTHING to help this poor dolt out or am I doomed and is my only resort a reinstall?

Thanks for reading my book, and if you need anymore info let me know.

 

If it is just that directory, turn off UAC and then do your thang. Then turn it back on.

 

I just tried that. I still get "you need permission" message.

 

Which directory is it, and what OS is it(Home, Pro, etc)?

 

In following the MS guy's instructions, I think I took ownership of the entire C drive.

It's Home Premium x64

edit: it's Windows 7

 

I hope not, for your sake.

That is a huge security hole, taking full control of the entire drive.

 

Well, if I did, is the only way to fix it a reinstall?


(did you read the link I posted? you'd understand better than me what I did)

 

I think a system restore can reset permissions.

 

I think you are ok.

I looked over their suggestion, and they only have you taking control of the ROOT of the drive.

I thought you meant the entire contents.

 

Tried that. Didn't work.

 

I hope so. I'm a litter nervous now.

How to fix all these errors?

 

I am curious what would happen if you made a new account, with admin rights.

My head is killing me, but I will check back in the morning.

Otherwise, you might want to try subinacl, in Safe Mode.

 

Hope your head feels better and thanks

I'll report back with my finds!