Vista/Office 2k3 "Access Denied" in Documents Folder 1

[cglass1015]

I am in the process of testing Vista in our environment here at work. We have a Server 2003 domain with XP workstations except for the Vista test box. I am currently redirecting the my documents folder to a network share via GPO. This works perfectly on all XP machines. However, on the vista box when I try to open the documents folder from within an Office application (word, excel, etc) I get an "access denied" message. This is true even if I use the UNC path to get to the redirected documents. If I follow the documents link from the Start Menu or from the shortcut on the desktop I am taken to the share without issue and everything behaves as it should.

In short the redirected documents work perfectly in Vista except when I try to navigate to them in an Office application.

 

[cdogg]

cglass1015,
One of the biggest changes in Vista is the addition of UAC (User Account Control). Those logged into Vista as a standard user now have the ability to run applications that have been designated ("elevated") to admin privileges. On the flipside, local admin accounts get logged in as a standard user now, and only invoke admin tasks when needed. This helps to ensure that such tasks are only executed at the sole discretion of the user.

Quick info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control#_note-0

Go here to see how to temporarily disable it:

http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm

UAC makes it possible to keep track of each process separately. That might explain why explorer lets you in, but the Office app you're in is getting blocked. Keep in mind that having it disabled permanently is not recommended. If that ends up being the problem, there are other workarounds you can try such as elevating every Office program to administrative status. Also, it would help for us to know what version of Vista you're running.

This article sheds some light on a similar issue that's going to be fixed in a future hotfix patch

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935200/en-us?spid=11737

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[cglass1015]

cdogg: I turned off the UAC to see if that would make any difference....it didn't.

 

[cdogg]

1) And the version of Vista you're running?

2) Also, is this a laptop by chance?

3) And finally, what items do you have listed under Event Viewer (such as Application or Security)?

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[cglass1015]

I'm running Vista Business edition, fully patched.

This is not a laptop.

I fired up Office, tried to navigate to the documents folder, which of course generated the 'access denied' error msg. I then checked both logs that you spoke of, neither had any events relating to the problem.

 

[cdogg]

OK, thanks that helps. I think I wasn't being clear enough on the last thing. I meant what items do you have besides Application, Security, and System. Do you just have those three, or do you have a fourth one?

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[cglass1015]

I have the following categories for logs:
Application
Security
Setup
System
Forwarded Events

 

[cdogg]

OK, well that seems like another dead path too.

I guess the last stab I'll take is to make sure you have EFS disabled in Vista and on the network share:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/security/protect_sensitive_data.mspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb456987.aspx

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[wildadmin]

I am deploying Vista to my network and I am experiencing the same issues with Office 2003. The folder redirection works correctly in XP, but not with Vista. Was this ever resolved?

Thanks,
WildAdmin

 

[cglass1015]

No, I never found a solution to this problem. I would appreciate any feedback if a solution is found.

 

[linney]

You could try the Vista Beta SP1 (in a test situation) when it is released some time this week I believe. Not something I would recommend in a production environment.

Possibly dumping 2003 and moving to 2007 versions of Office is a better solution?

 

[wildadmin]

This was happening to a new employee whose account was created early last week. I went to his desk today to get some additional information and the problem has disappeared. The only change to our environment was the installation of the latest MS Security patches (and of course a server reboot) on Sunday. I am building two additional machines to see if I can reproduce this problem. I will follow up tomorrow with more information.

Regarding SP1, I would leave the Beta testing to MS.

-WildAdmin

 

[cglass1015]

I will probably start testing office 2007 soon on the same box as the Vista box.

 

[firewolfrl]

this post seems to be getting somewhat confusing...But then
I must be getting tired.
to simplify things just enable the "hidden" Administrator log on and fix your permissions without the UAC annoyance then log back in with UAC enabled and running normal.

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/vista/vista_administrator_activate.htm

 

[cglass1015]

I really don't think there are any permissions to fix. Everything works fine in XP, and in any non-office apps running on Vista.

 

[wildadmin]

I have tried to reproduce this on two separate machines using two different accounts. On the first machine, I used an existing account. For the second machine, I created a new account. Both accounts worked flawlessly. I know that the problem did not disappear, but wtf caused it in the first place? Perhaps it is waiting until I have to deploy a machine to one of our execs?

cglass, how is the Office 2007 testing going?

 

[cglass1015]

I don't yet have a copy of office 2k7 to install. I will probably have one in a couple weeks. It will be very interesting to see whether or not the problem disappears or not when I install 2k7

 

[olp6705]

I was able to access my files using a UNC "\\servername\data\userdocs"
but not
"\\domainname\data\userdocs"

I added the domain to the trusted sites list in internet explorer and uncheck "require server verification (https for all sites in this zone."

This resolved my access denied problem. With Vista and Office 2007.

 

[cglass1015]

I just tried you suggestion and added my domain name to the trusted sites. It didn't work. My folder redirection is setup using the server name in the UNC path also.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Jimmshepard]

So, not sure if you found a solution but I was pulling my hair out with this. Same exact situation but with XP... I had a GPO set to hide the "C" drive from my users and when I disabled that, whamo... Office worked fine again. Again, it was acting the same exact way that you described, I could access everything fine through Explorer, Wordpad, etc but not through Office...

 

[cglass1015]

I haven't found a solution yet. Some required software for our company is not yet Vista compatible and probably won't be for a few months so I haven't been spending too much time working on a solution yet.