# Files cannot be opened for editing
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/files-cannot-be-opened-for-editing/12470
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [September 3, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/files-cannot-be-opened-for-editing/12470 "2011-09-03T00:07:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dehalley](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dehalley)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/files-cannot-be-opened-for-editing/12470/1 "2011-09-03T00:07:12Z")
Just upgraded from XP to Win 7. I'm the sole user, and therefore in the Admin group. Also just installed MP3Tag, but get an error message (File xx cannot be opened for writing) if I try to modify anything. I can rename the files outside the program, so I know I have permission to modify them. What's preventing the utility from doing so? (I freely admit that I'm not up to speed on permissions, ownership, and the like, so I need a pretty simplified answer).
Thanks,
Don
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### Author:  [@dano](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dano)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/files-cannot-be-opened-for-editing/12470/2 "2011-09-03T06:43:59Z")
It's probably a permission problem.
You can check that by launching Mp3tag with admin rights (right click on Mp3tag.exe) and see if the editing works then.
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/files-cannot-be-opened-for-editing/12470/3 "2011-09-03T07:26:57Z")
I agree - but @dehalley: here a little help wich can also be read at the Microsoft help pages:
[http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753659.aspx](http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753659.aspx)
Open the Windows explorer, switch to View: Details and add a column "Owner".
If you do not see your login-name as the owner this indicates that you have a permission problem. Esp. if you you see a strange combination of numbers and letters it means that you have some leftovers from the migration.
Open the the "Properties" for the basic folder and navigate to "Security", press the button "Enhanced" and switch to tab folder "Owner".
There enter your preferred user name, tick the box to apply these settings to all subordinate folders
At the same time: it is always a good idea not to run WMP at the same time as this program is sometimes a little nosy and looks into a file just whem MP3tag tries to write it.
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### Author:  [@dehalley](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dehalley)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/files-cannot-be-opened-for-editing/12470/4 "2011-09-03T13:57:17Z")
> [@dano](#):
>
> It's probably a permission problem.
> You can check that by launching Mp3tag with admin rights (right click on Mp3tag.exe) and see if the editing works then.
Run as admin worked. Thanks! Look like I have a learning curve to overcome. The permissions/ownership seems complex, and counterintuitive if I'm locked out of my own files. These files are on external drives that were moved over from the old computer, so I'd expect a little work to be required, but there are hundreds of thousands of files in thousands of folders. Is there a way I can issue a global "take ownership" and/or "give everyone full control"?
I'm the only user this computer will ever have, so I'm looking for a way to flatten the security model.
Ideas?
Don
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### Author:  [@dehalley](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dehalley)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/files-cannot-be-opened-for-editing/12470/5 "2011-09-03T14:00:35Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#):
>
> I agree - but @dehalley: here a little help wich can also be read at the Microsoft help pages:
> [http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753659.aspx](http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753659.aspx)
>
> Open the Windows explorer, switch to View: Details and add a column "Owner".
> If you do not see your login-name as the owner this indicates that you have a permission problem. Esp. if you you see a strange combination of numbers and letters it means that you have some leftovers from the migration.
> Open the the "Properties" for the basic folder and navigate to "Security", press the button "Enhanced" and switch to tab folder "Owner".
> There enter your preferred user name, tick the box to apply these settings to all subordinate folders
>
> At the same time: it is always a good idea not to run WMP at the same time as this program is sometimes a little nosy and looks into a file just whem MP3tag tries to write it.
Great tips! This is going to help me get my mind around this new (to me) level of complexity. I certainly hope that there's a simple way to bypass this unneeded (in my case) security issue.
Thanks,
Don
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/files-cannot-be-opened-for-editing/12470/6 "2026-02-09T12:23:19Z")