Error 0x80070522 persists after format - I'm stumped

So yesterday I installed the GOG release of Wing Commander Prophecy. My system is Win 8.1 Pro x64. During the install it failed because Bitdefender (AV software) flagged the EXE as a Trojan. False positive. I disable the software and then I can install. I then try to apply a patch but first, I copy the original game EXE to my C drive. Software flags it again. I rename it to a .jpg to avoid issue for now.


Cue the problem. At some point during all this, I lost ability to create/copy files on the root of my C: drive. I can make folders, I can copy files into any other folder on C, just not root of C. Attempting to do so creates a:


"Error 0x80070522: A required privilege is not held by the client."


Okay.. so I go into security tab of the C:\ properties window and try to change the permission of Users to allow everything/full control. This generates the error:


"C:\$Recycle.bin
Failed to enumerate objects in the container. Access is denied"


Hitting Continue then moves the error to C:/bootmgr and so on and so on, all failing with that error


Here's the kicker that stumped me. I formatted my C drive and reinstalled windows because I didn't know what else to do. And the problem FOLLOWED!


Did an error check scan of the drive, no issues. The drive itself is a crucial m4 128gb that I haven't had any issues with before, haven't touched its firmware in many months, haven't changed BIOS settings, nothing.


The owner of C: drive is TrustedInstaller. Not sure if that is right or not, I'd love a confirmation if you can.


So like... W-T-F?

Also I have tried the "takeown" and "cacls" commands to reset privileges but that didn't do it (and I suspect a format would've fixed it as well if it was that easy)

Edit System Specs

It saves time by avoiding a lot of Q&A about your hardware and OS etc..

In the meantime perhaps other members will post suggestions as there are some more skilled in this area than I.

Done

I guess the question is, what would make this limitation persist after a format? Only two things I can think of

1) Rootkit

2) Drive failure

Scans are clean for both.

How do you know it was a false positive?

Was the format a quick format?

If the 2 TB was visible during game install is it not possible something was planted there?

MilesAhead said:

How do you know it was a false positive?

Click to expand...

GoG is a legitimate store front for games. Many other users who have bought/downloaded the game reported the issue and it has been deemed a false positive. Nobody else reported the issue I'm having.

MilesAhead said:

Was the format a quick format?

Click to expand...

Not sure. What I did was boot from the Win 8.1 USB, delete the partition and install windows on the unpartitioned space letting the installer do it. Would that be a quick format?

MilesAhead said:

If the 2 TB was visible during game install is it not possible something was planted there?

Click to expand...

Absolutely possible but the anti virus software didn't detect anything there.

Bojamijams said:

Not sure. What I did was boot from the Win 8.1 USB, delete the partition and install windows on the unpartitioned space letting the installer do it. Would that be a quick format?

Click to expand...

The installer gives the option quick or overwrite all sectors. On an SSD you might not notice much difference. But on a mechanical HD it would likely be the difference of a minute or two versus 20 minutes to an hour or more depending on the HD partition capacity. Only you know what you clicked.

I really dont see how your error could possibly persist after a format of the drive during a Windows install, unless you actually didnt do so but just think you did. Simply deleting the partition and installing Windows on the unformatted space isnt the same thing as formatting, it's possible that some data residue from previous installs might still be left behind. Even a quick format wont blast away all data. Your only options are performing a full format during Windows install, or if you're *REALLY* paranoid you could download a secure wipe utility like DBAN, Jettico BCWipe Total Wipeout (I use the latter, super effective, and has a trial version which allows for single 1-pass wiping), etc. Find a way to put said utility on a USB, boot into the USB and tell it to overwrite your entire drive. This will wipe *ALL* sectors and will probably take hours depending on the size of your drive, so it's best to let it run overnight or while you're at work, etc. No known malware or rootkits etc will be able to survive this kind of wipe, or data for that matter. When it's done reinstall Windows and do what you've already did, see if the error comes back.

It's also possible that your drive may have bad sectors, which generally cant be repaired, and if it has too many of them this could cause untold numbers of errors. Download the trial version of a utility like Hard Disk Sentinel and see if the drive has any reallocated sectors (under the "S.M.A.R.T." tab in the app). Reallocated sectors happen when a sector goes bad for whatever reason, the drive just marks the sector as bad and redirects future writes to the sector to a new area/sector of the drive. Just a handful of bad sectors is no big reason to worry, but once there are too many of these the drive is going to die, and probably soon. Also check the drive for errors via My Computer/This PC.

Also make sure you're installing the game with an account that has administrative privelidges. Running the "Take Ownership" command may have messed you up even more, than can mess with the file/folder permissions in sometimes unpredictable ways. You should not take ownership of C drive, this will likely cause massive instabilities and permissions errors etc. It's best not to do so unless you have to, and only if you thoroughly understand exactly what you're doing.

It's unlikely that your antivirus solution is the cause, since you say it didnt detect any malware, but even despite this AVs can still interfere and cause errors when installing things. It's best to temp-disable AV software beforehand, or even temp-uninstall it if you must.

Hope this helped!

What helped for me was this new command or feature that has been added called "Refresh your PC without affecting your files" or something.

Just remember, "Refresh" WILL delete all installed Programs. It will only leave Metro Tile Apps and documents and files in your saved folders. But all desktop Programs, Fzzt-Zip!