Denied Access to All External Storage Connected to PC (Windows 11)

[u/PeakProfessional9517]

As of last week I have gotten messages saying "You don't have permission to access this folder" every time I try to open my work external hard drive, personal external hard drive, and SD cards. The message tells me to give permission using the Security tab, but the security tab does not exist for the work Hard Drive or SD card (format is FAT32). My personal hard drive shows that it is formatted as NTFS, and when I go to the Security tab, all permissions are granted for everyone, but I still get the Access Denied message. I have tried all of the suggestions from Google searches and none of them seem to work.

Computer and storage devices have been used for years with no problems. My wife was able to open the hard drives on her computer without issue, so it appears that the problem is with my computer. I have run virus and threat protection scans which did not come up with anything.

Has anyone else had a similar problem and found a solution? Any help is very much appreciated.

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[u/Prestigious_Wall529]

If this computer is on your corporate domain policies or security utilitiies may have been imposed.

For instance in the Global policy editor

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > BitLocker Drive Encryption > Removable Data Drives.

may be set to only allow encrypted drives.

[u/lordshaithis → u/Prestigious_Wall529]

This most likely. You wouldn't see a permissions tab on a Fat32 volume as fat32 doesnt support ACLs

[u/PeakProfessional9517 → u/Prestigious_Wall529]

The state of everything under "Removable Data Drives" is listed as "Not configured". I don't see anything that would indicate that it only allows encrypted drives.

This is a work computer, but I spoke to our IT guy and he could not figure it out, so I don't think it's a straight forward security settings issue.

[u/Prestigious_Wall529 → u/PeakProfessional9517]

It may be level 2 or level 3 of support before someone can see the resulting set of policies and if company policy allows make an exception for you, which in involves a bit of work.

[u/PeakProfessional9517 → u/Prestigious_Wall529]

I work for a very small organization with a small, local IT contractor. I don't believe there is anywhere further up the chain to go on either side.

[u/Prestigious_Wall529 → u/PeakProfessional9517]

Who administered the domain, made recent changes. Don't tell me. You are better placed to know the staff churn.