# Copy file from a WindowsApps folder (Game)



## Max- (Jun 25, 2020)

Hi, I need help copying an image from a folder in the Windows Apps folder. 
I know there are many posts already on the internet on how to unluck and gain access, but those things won't work. I found out that windows protects alot those files so I'm asking if someone knows how to copy these protected files.
Thanks in advance, Max .


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## Vayra86 (Jun 25, 2020)

I advise a thermonuclear device on that map and then never touch MS Store again.

Not useful I know, but after you fix this, that is the best way forward. This company and its OS is not fit for that ecosystem. They fail every time and they will keep doing it.


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## Chomiq (Jun 25, 2020)

Max- said:


> Hi, I need help copying an image from a folder in the Windows Apps folder.
> I know there are many posts already on the internet on how to unluck and gain access, but those things won't work. I found out that windows protects alot those files so I'm asking if someone knows how to copy these protected files.
> Thanks in advance, Max .
> 
> View attachment 160161


Good luck, that sh... will stay locked once you restore your pc etc. and the only solution to erase those files is to format the drive.


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## Splinterdog (Jun 25, 2020)

One way to copy a protected image would be to boot to USB rescue media such as WinPE or Linux Live (Mint etc), so that you're accessing the files/folders outside Windows protection.
I see that the game is Forza Horizon 4 and yes, MS make it almost impossible to make a back up of the game - unlike Steam and others which are portable - requiring you to download the games again on a clean install.
I never had much luck backing up the entire game, bit images? Give it a shot.
Use Rufus to create the bootable pen drive and my personal favourite is WinPESEx64 which is a Windows 10 shell allowing you access to all the drives in your machine without the protection headaches.

EDIT
This has always been a bugbear for me and in spite of my lofty intentions, I was unable to copy a single thing from the WindowsApps folders, of which I have several (all Forza games).
With WinPESEx64, the explorer program stopped responding when trying to copy a simple .png image and with Linux Mint I received an access denied message.
Have you seen Alien?
Well, these folders are protected with Alien blood.


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## Bill_Bright (Jun 25, 2020)

Sadly, you didn't even tell us what version of Windows you are using. 

You might try booting into Safe Mode then see if you can copy it. Or you can boot to a Linux flash drive. Or you can temporarily pull the drive and install as a secondary (not boot) drive in another computer or attach it externally to another computer.  Or, see 7 Tools to Copy Locked or In Use Files.


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## Splinterdog (Jun 25, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> Sadly, you didn't even tell us what version of Windows you are using.
> 
> You might try booting into Safe Mode then see if you can copy it. Or you can boot to a Linux flash drive. Or you can temporarily pull the drive and install as a secondary (not boot) drive in another computer or attach it externally to another computer.  Or, see 7 Tools to Copy Locked or In Use Files.


@Bill_Bright 
He has Forza Horizon 4 installed (a car racing game) which will only run on Windows 10, so it's safe to assume that's what he's using.
The problem with MS games' folders, namely _WindowsApps,_ is that in Win 10 itself, access is denied to the folder itself, let alone sub folders or actual files.
Yes, you can move a game from one partition/drive to another within the same PC through Windows 10 settings, but not to a different PC.
I know that doesn't help the OP, but it does illustrate how MS have ramped up their copy protection tighter than a cat's rear end.


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## Bill_Bright (Jun 25, 2020)

Splinterdog said:


> @Bill_Bright
> He has Forza Horizon 4 installed (a car racing game) which will only run on Windows 10, so it's safe to assume that's what he's using.


Thanks. I pretty much assumed that anyway - hence the Safe Mode instructions for W10. 


Splinterdog said:


> I know that doesn't help the OP, but it does illustrate how MS have ramped up their copy protection tighter than a cat's rear end.


Yeah, that is a PITA but I consider it one of the prices we must pay for freedom - in this case, freedom from malware - though some will like say it is to protect Microsoft from the woes of piracy. Probably a bit of both.


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## Splinterdog (Jun 25, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> Thanks. I pretty much assumed that anyway - hence the Safe Mode instructions for W10.
> Yeah, that is a PITA but I consider it one of the prices we must pay for freedom - in this case, freedom from malware - though some will like say it is to protect Microsoft from the woes of piracy. Probably a bit of both.


Well, they're out of step with other game platforms - Steam, which is portable to all intents and purposes, Origin, Uplay, Epic, to name but a few - quite easily allow access to ALL the game folders and files, ergo, the copying of same.
It's way out of date and needs to change.
That's my rant for the day


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## R-T-B (Jun 25, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> Yeah, that is a PITA but I consider it one of the prices we must pay for freedom - in this case, freedom from malware - though some will like say it is to protect Microsoft from the woes of piracy. Probably a bit of both.



This is straight up fear of piracy.  There is no antimalware-centered reason to deny a userland process read-access to his or her files.


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## Splinterdog (Jun 25, 2020)

R-T-B said:


> This is straight up fear of piracy.  There is no antimalware-centered reason to deny a userland process read-access to his or her files.


But how exactly are the folders and files protected if you can't even touch them through Linux or WinPE? IE outside a Windows environment.


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## R-T-B (Jun 25, 2020)

Splinterdog said:


> But how exactly are the folders and files protected if you can't even touch them through Linux or WinPE? IE outside a Windows environment.



I'm pretty sure you can with Linux.

WinPE probably obeys the set permissions on the NTFS drive, so doubtful it'd work.

Unless they are using EFS, then the files are likely encrypted, and no one gets them.


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## Bill_Bright (Jun 26, 2020)

R-T-B said:


> This is straight up fear of piracy. There is no antimalware-centered reason to deny a userland process read-access to his or her files.


Read access I agree. But how does the system know the user (or bad guy) will only be "reading" and not modifying the file? That's the problem. And then what happens? Microsoft gets blamed for allowing the user to mess it up, or allowing the bad guy to intentionally corrupt or delete it. 

That's the balancing act problem MS has had for years. Do they make it easier for the bad guys by giving users maximum flexibility to shoot themselves in the foot and potentially break Windows - and then get blamed for allowing it to happen? Or does MS lock the system down to keep users from hurting themselves and keep the bad guys out, then get blamed for taking away that flexibility? Its a no-win situation for Microsoft. There will always be some who will bash Microsoft regardless. 

XP was very flexible and a tweakers joy. But so often users tweaked it to death and the bad guys exploited the heck out of it - and Microsoft got the blame. W10 is not very flexible and as such, is much harder for users to tweak and for bad guys to exploit - and Microsoft still gets the blame. 

As a tech who was often tasked to fix those XP systems users tweaked to death and bad guys broke, I personally applaud Microsoft for making W10 much more robust and secure - even if it means I myself (who generally knows what I am doing), cannot tweak some things. 

Some things just must be "for the greater good".


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## R-T-B (Jun 26, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> Read access I agree. But how does the system know the user (or bad guy) will only be "reading" and not modifying the file?



That's the whole point of the NTFS filesystem permissions they are using Bill.  You set what you want to allow/disallow.


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## Bill_Bright (Jun 27, 2020)

I understand the point of a file system. That was not the point of my response. For one, you are assuming the user knows how to set those permissions and you are assuming he or she has already done that on all the files he or she may want full access to. NTFS is NOT designed by default to have full permissions granted for every file, or every user. Nor should it be set like that.

Operating systems, again, by design, and in particular Windows operating systems use the file system information to control user access. And simply because dinking around with such access (by an authorized user, or worse, an unauthorized user) can render a computer inoperable, by default access to modify files may be denied, often out of an abundance of caution to many files - particularly, those that are "in-use".  And I 100% agree with that design decision. 

Let's also not forget that in this particular case, that "Logo.png" file is NOT a Microsoft or Windows file. 

And for the record, I know of no OS or file system that lets any user, including admins, have full, unhindered access control over every file on the system, by default. If there is one, I recommend avoiding it.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Jun 27, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> Read access I agree. But how does the system know the user (or bad guy) will only be "reading" and not modifying the file? That's the problem. And then what happens? Microsoft gets blamed for allowing the user to mess it up, or allowing the bad guy to intentionally corrupt or delete it.
> 
> That's the balancing act problem MS has had for years. Do they make it easier for the bad guys by giving users maximum flexibility to shoot themselves in the foot and potentially break Windows - and then get blamed for allowing it to happen? Or does MS lock the system down to keep users from hurting themselves and keep the bad guys out, then get blamed for taking away that flexibility? Its a no-win situation for Microsoft. There will always be some who will bash Microsoft regardless.
> 
> ...


But they're wasting their time and our download bandwidth.
We can put the same game on with another storefront, say metro exedus.
My version on steam fully accessible, on windows store, not at all.
Consumer owned applications are Not the OS.
All your points are fair and fine for the OS but not for consumer bought apps IMHO.

We don't need access to everything, just a game folder.

It's not a big deal but is wasteful.


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