When you receive an error while trying to change and save the contents of a text file or folder, there may be a problem with permissions and permissions. This type of information is given to Windows based on the attributes of the file or folder, which indicate to the system whether a file is read-only or if it is from the system, if it is hidden, if it is compressed, the dates of creation and modification and then several other properties.
These are metadata associated with each file in order to determine its behavior and can be viewed, in large part, by right-clicking on a file, going to the Properties .
The attributes of a file can also be changed on a Windows PC via the ATTRIB command, to be used on the command line from the DOS prompt.
However, if you want to have easier control over the attributes of the files (and mainly the modification permissions) there are some ways to be able to see and change them more easily than the Dos prompt.
First of all, let's see what are the main attributes of a file in a very concise way.
- Read only or Read Only (R) means that the file cannot be permanently modified by other users or programs.
- Hidden or Hidden (H) means that it is visible only if you choose, in the folder properties, to also view all hidden files and folders.
- System (S) indicates system files that cannot be edited or deleted.
- Directory (D), on the other hand, is used to differentiate folders and subfolders from files.
- Archive (A): are the files archived and saved from a backup.
- Indexed (I): indicates whether the file should appear in the search results or not.
To change the attributes of files and folders in an easy way, you can use the small free program Attribute Changer, which is used to modify things like permissions, dates and even NTFS compression.
Attribute Changer is a powerful add-on for Windows 10, 8 and 7 Explorer, which can also be used on multiple files at the same time and which allows you to search for files based on attribute filters.
The nice thing is that this tool integrates perfectly into Windows folder windows and becomes accessible when you right-click on a file.
Alternatively, there is also another program that makes it easy to change file properties (not attributes), PropertySystemView . The Nirsoft tool allows you to change the value of the properties of each file such as, for example, title, authors, comments, creation date, tags, last saved date, import date, modification date and much more.
To use it, extract the folder, then open the PropertySystemView.exe file without installation. In the program interface, press the button with three dots to select the file whose properties you want to see and press GO .
Regarding the attributes, in another article, all the ways to change the creation, modification and access date of a file, a document or a folder.
If, however, there are problems with permissions, I have explained how to change file and cartel permissions in case of access denied in another guide.
