All folders are Read-Only (Windows)

This problem has been around for quite some time and I have never found a solution. I even had to format once to get rid of it. And I'm not the only one with this: here, here and here.

Basically, all of a sudden all folders in my Windows XP setup become (grayed) read only

For many programs this really isn't a big deal. But I found that Eclipse doesn't work anymore!

• Tried re-installing applications, didn't solve the problem
• Microsoft's solution doesn't solve the problem
• Disabling simple file sharing doesn't solve the problem
• Changing Read-Only properties to sub-files/folders doesn't solve the problem
• Disabled my antivirus (Comodo Internet Security), didn't solve the problem

There have been many suggestions if you search but none of them worked. This could end up as another Works for Me thing and never be solved.

That doesn't mean what you think it means. Notice that it's filled with a box rather than a checkmark. Checkboxes can actually have three states: checked, unchecked, and "other". What you're seeing is the "other" state, and you're seeing it because folders can't be marked read-only - there's not read-only bit to set for folders in the first place.

For your specific problem, permissions might have changed on the folder. But that's different than checking the read-only attribute.

Open and Command Prompt and type in the following command:

attrib (drive):\* -r /s