Some folder icons now show padlocks?

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Been running Win 7 Pro 64-bit fine for several months; alll of a sudden, many folder icons on the desktop now have the addition of little padlocks. What the heck? What does it mean? What did I do? What am I missing? And, if I move the “padlocked” folder to another desktop folder, the padlocks disappear!

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Do you use MozyHome backup service? I do and it put a padlock on items it has backuped up. If I make a change to a file the padlock disappears…at least that’s how I think it works.

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I do and it put a padlock on items it has backuped up.

Backuped up, Charlie Brown?????? Good grief!!!

Zig

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Don’t use MozyHome. Don’t use any backup service, I have a different backup method.

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The padlock icon means that Windows thinks your account does not have access to those folders. You should be able to take ownership of the folder to remove the padlocks.

Additionally, some process appears to have changed the permissions on the folders. You should run a complete malware scan just to be safe.

Joe

--Joe

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The padlock icon means that Windows thinks your account does not have access to those folders

Not true Joe. I have several folders on my D drive with the padlock Icon that I have no trouble accessing. All these folders are included in one of my Libraries.
From How to remove the lock icon:
The lock icon basically indicates that the file or folder has limited user access. It can only be accessed by you, and not any one else on your computer.

See the web site for details on how to remove the lock icon.

Jerry

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@Jerry, there are several different descriptions floating around the ‘net about the padlock icon. I chose a different version than you did. I’ve seen another that says it is because “System” owns the folder and all user accounts are restricted. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find anything on the main Technet or MSDN sites (i.e. not the support site).

Joe

--Joe

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@Joe, I also found several different descriptions. This one made the most sense to me. I also wish we could find something directly from Microsoft.

Jerry

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You may wish to check out Raymond Chen’s blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2009/12/09/9934348.aspx
According to this blog, the padlock “…..means that you have a private item in a non-private directory…” He goes on to explain:
“A private item is an item where the only user account with access is you.¹ You create one of these, for example, by going to the sharing wizard and saying Share with: Nobody. To avoid clutter, the overlay is shown only when there is a transition from non-private to private. (Otherwise you’d have a lock overlay on everything in your Documents folder, for example.) ”
(Raymond does work for Microsoft although I don’t know if he speaks for MS)

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Here’s a different scenario…
I take a jpeg (without a padlock) into CorelDraw or PhotoPaint and work on it then save it…same name, same folder, etc.
When I look at the file in Windows Explorer, it now has a padlock on the icon.:confused:

cheryl

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(Raymond does work for Microsoft although I don’t know if he speaks for MS) Uh, actually it’s the other way ’round: When Raymond Chen speaks, MS listens! His job title is Principal Software Design Engineer. Raymond Chen, Microsoft’s Chuck Norris http://microsoftjobsblog.com/blog/raymond-chen/

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In the Security tab, adding the user-name “Users” should get rid of the padlock. I’ve done this for files and folders.

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Unless you are having access issues, I would leave the security settings alone.

Jerry

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Concur w/ jwitalka. If you can access the locked folders anyway, who cares? Let the kiddies @ Redmond have their fun.

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