Windows Vista error saving to USB drive or other external drive

Microsoft Article ID: 931277

In Windows Vista, when you try to save a file to a hard disk or to a USB Flash device, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Message 1

X:\Folder\FileName You don’t have permission to save in this location. Contact the administrator to obtain permission. Would you like to save in the Documents folder instead?

Message 2

Access to X:\Folder\FileName was denied.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the hard disk drive or the flash device was formatted in an earlier version of the Windows NTFS file system. For example, this problem occurs if the drive or the device was formatted from Microsoft Windows XP.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, follow these steps to format the hard disk drive or the flash device in Windows Vista:

1.	Back up all the data on the drive or on the device to another location to make sure that no important information is lost.
2.	Click Start, click Computer, right-click the drive or the device, and then click Format. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
3.	Select the NTFS (default) file system in the list.
4.	Click to select the Quick Format check box.
5.	Click Start.
6.	Close the Format Local Disk dialog box after the formatting is finished.

WORKAROUND

If a scenario exists in which you cannot format the hard disk drive or the flash device in Windows Vista, you can work around the issue by using one of the following methods.

Method 1: Run the program that you use to save the file as an administrator

Right-click the shortcut that starts the program, and then click Run as Administrator to start the program. If the Run as Administrator option is not available, follow these steps:

a.	Right-click the shortcut that starts the program, and then click Properties.
b.	Click the Shortcut tab, and then click Open File Location.
c.	Right-click the executable file for the program, and then click Run as Administrator to start the program.

Note If the program was installed by using an .msi package file, you must locate the executable file for the program to run it as an administrator. For example, a shortcut to a Microsoft Office program does not include the Run as Administrator option.

Save the file.

Method 2: Save the file to the Documents folder and then move it to the destination folder

1.	Save the file to the Documents folder.
2.	Right-click the file that you saved in step 1, and then click Cut.
3.	Click Start, click Computer, right-click the destination folder, and then click Paste.
4.	Type the administrator password when you are prompted.

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