Small problem, big headache

I have a small problem. Files on my desktop have suddenly decided to switch to "read only" the day i decide to transfer all my files from this 4-year-old hunk of ancient hardware to my new laptop which i bought a day ago. This prevents me from transferring anything anywhere. Heres a simple fix, uncheck the "read only" box. Problem fixed.

Only the "read only" box does not stay unchecked, every time i open the tab, the box is checked. How do i fix this? The state of this computer is making me really paranoid. It contains midis of every song i've ever written, and its about to go to computer heaven, taking everything with it.

What OS and file system is it using?

Its windows xp, but i dont know whats a file system. I just right clicked the desktop, and went to new, then to folder, to make the folders.

Check the file access permissions in XP, do a google search for 'Windows XP File Permissions'...it sounds to me like it's an access problem to the files.

It sounds like an NTFS permission problem. Open the properties of the folder that's affected, then go to the Security tab, then click Advanced, then go too the Owner tab. Click on your username and the tick Replace owner on subcontainers and objects. Then go to the Permission tab and set yourself to have Full Control, untick Inherit from parent, and tick Replace permission entries on child objects. That should stop it reverting back to Read Only all the time and you should be able to copy and paste wherever you need to.

It sounds like an NTFS permission problem. Open the properties of the folder that's affected, then go to the Security tab, then click Advanced, then go too the Owner tab. Click on your username and the tick Replace owner on subcontainers and objects. Then go to the Permission tab and set yourself to have Full Control, untick Inherit from parent, and tick Replace permission entries on child objects. That should stop it reverting back to Read Only all the time and you should be able to copy and paste wherever you need to.

Thats what I was getting at, but I was too tired to work out the details of doing that, thanks Oz :p.

Strange, when i go to properties, there is a "general" tab, "sharing", and "customize". No security tab. Do different versions of xp have different options or something? Im running the home edition.

edit: I found out my laptop thats running on vista has the same problem. This time when i tick Replace owner on subcontainers and objects and click apply, a window pops up that says "If you have just taken ownership of this object, you will need to close and reopen this object's properties before you can view or change permissions." Sorry for being such a trouble, but i dont speak computer.

Close the window that has the 'read-only' option and then re-open it...they got a bit to fancy with their English there! Do a google on Windows XP File permissions!

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308418

Make sure you're not trying to copy shortcuts. If it IS a shortcut, find the source of the shortcut and copy that :).