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I am getting this message when I try to open Opera:

Opera
Can't open user profile directory, because you lack sufficient privileges. You might want to contact the administrator of this machine.
OK

  • I am the Admin on my PC and current User name is also on Admin group.

  • Had 1st power failure few days ago while active on PC, & after restart Opera worked fine.

  • Then did the recent Opera security update and/ or update to latest Opera and this time the PC was idle and opera had bunch of tabs open, when the 2nd power failure happened.

Solution pathways: ??

  • Is there a within Opera fix for this? OR Does it have to be a Windows level fix?

  • Would downloading a full Setup of latest Opera and installing on top (maybe as Admin) work to fix this issue?

  • Should I do something like a "Take Ownership" on certain folders/ folder tree via Windows Explorer or similar?

Please let me know how to ENSURE I get access to this without losing my profile info. Thanks.

Additional info:

Since, this showed up I figured I should do a typical system check that I do using Image-Health which includes DISM & SFC command via an easy to run Menu system.

DISM ran fine, but SFC stopped at 23% and created at report (most of its lots of Hex/ Binary style info that doesnt share any file/ folder names of issue).

Now, for those saying SFC is not significant, let me repeat - All said checks, that I've used many times have worked fine before.

So, I believe this Opera & SFC both facing permissions issues is kind of connected.

The only other addition was installation of Windows 8.1 Security Rollup before these 2 power failures.

SFC - System File Checker stuck at 23 24% - Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation

Permissions Screenshots combined: PS: At first this was concerning, but then the Read Only attrib is there on the AppData folders of all Applications, so I figure that may be the norm?

enter image description here

Alex S
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  • Provide the ACL for the folder in question. Please provide all relevant tabs ina single screenshot of an appropriate size – Ramhound May 28 '17 at 14:51
  • @Ramhound - I suspect the folder in question is `"C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software"` - I understand ACLs, but how would you like me to enumerate/ share them with you? I am taking screenshots for now - Is there a better ACL enumeration mechanism? – Alex S May 29 '17 at 11:28
  • @Ramhound - Posted screenshots - Any thoughts/ responses? – Alex S May 31 '17 at 07:29

3 Answers3

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Opera Browser stores browser data in two folder in Windows::

  • "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Opera Software" (only for cache)
  • "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software" (for all browser/user data and preferences)

Backup bookmarks and you may delete/rename that folders (rd /s /q command) to solve your issue if you have not any valuable data in your Opera browser. Here are the path of that files to be backed up::

  • Bookmarks:: "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software\Opera Stable\Bookmarks"
  • Preferences:: "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software\Opera Stable\Preferences"

tl;dr; delete two folders and run Opera.

Download Opera offline installer:: https://get.geo.opera.com/pub/opera/desktop/

Biswapriyo
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  • How are these 4 different? - https://get.geo.opera.com/pub/opera/desktop/45.0.2552.881/win/ - Also I'd like to ensure all my settings and extensions are not lost and usable as they were - https://superuser.com/questions/951095/understand-structure-of-chrome-user-profile-data-to-transfer-to-new-pc-os-avo – Alex S May 29 '17 at 11:23
  • I cant afford to lose all the "data" inside the extensions - This was an issue in Chrome (linked), why I moved to Opera (also based on chromium( and now similar data loss in Opera. – Alex S May 29 '17 at 12:21
  • Alright then try takeown and icacls command to set ACL recursively to all files and folders. – Biswapriyo May 29 '17 at 12:24
  • I am aware of that option, the issue is - I already have ownership - atleast from what I see in the ACLs - Also compared it to other Applications - Going to try with a different username to see how permissions are similar – Alex S May 29 '17 at 12:26
  • Try to set all the owners and Grant permission to 'Everyone' – Biswapriyo May 29 '17 at 12:28
  • I just did a TakeOwnership (from being logged into existing Users\Username1) on the existing "Opera Stable" folder under AppData, using the Context Menu (already had it installed) thing from here: https://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2814-take-ownership-add-context-menu-windows-8-a.html Upon trying to open Opera I got the same message. PS: Also, logged into separate Users\Username2 and Opera opens up. So, it seems something inside existing profile is off. Do I need to create a fresh Profile folder and copy stuff into it or should a Take Ownership be enough? – Alex S May 30 '17 at 15:44
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Opera browser uses the launcher.exe at C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera in this folder you will see the latest updates version(76.0.4017.123) in a folder and the last used version(64.0.3417.73) also in a folder.

Now rightclick on the Opera browser shortcut on your desktop and select "properties".

Under the "shortcut tab" edit Target from C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera\launcher.exe to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera\old version(64.0.3417.73)\Opera.exe

It worked for me.

Burgi
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calciumoxy
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0

I had a similar problem and uninstalled Trend Micro Housecall and opera now works. DRScanner.exe was holding the profile.

Supremehamster
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