"Folder is not accessible" or "Access is denied..." error when installing ChurchTrac

Some computers ship from the factory with the Windows junction points set incorrectly. These junction points are invisible shortcuts in Vista and Windows 7 that give applications the ability to be backwards-compatible with Windows XP and earlier operating systems. If the junction points are set incorrectly, however, Windows will provide a vague error, like "Error...folder is not accessible."

Note: ChurchTrac must be installed on a C: hard drive. If your main hard drive is labeled with a different letter other than C, please contact support for assistance. If you main hard drive is your C drive, then continue with the fix below.

To fix this issue, perform the following steps. It is recommended that you create a system restore point before proceeding.

• First, confirm that this problem affects your computer. Click on Start, type cmd and Press Enter. This will open a command prompt window (you'll see a black background with white text). At the command prompt, type
  
  DIR /AL %ALLUSERSPROFILE%
  
  and then press Enter. This will return a list of junction points. Check to be sure the Application Data junction point is set to the correct drive letter:
  
  07/29/2010 08:10 PM    <JUNCTION>    Application Data [C:\ProgramData]
  
  The Application Data junction point should point to C:\ProgramData (not D:\ProgramData or G:\ProgramData or any other letter). If you see any letter besides [C:\ProgramData] then proceed with the following steps to correct the problem.
   
• Close the command prompt window if it is still open. Click on Start, then Computer. Click "Organize" on the toolbar and choose "Folder and Search Options". Click on the View tab and select the option to "Show hidden files and folders" AND UNCHECK the box that says "Hide protected operating system files". When prompted with the warning, click Yes, then click OK.
  
  
• Double-click on your C: drive in the Computer window. Double-click on ProgramData. You should see a folder shortcut named "Application Data". (If you were to double-click it, I imagine that you would get an error message about the folder being inaccessible or access being denied). You need to delete ONLY this Application Data shortcut. You can close this window.
  
  
• Next, click on Start and type cmd. Right-click on cmd when it appears in the Start menu list and choose "Run as Administrator".
  
  
• At the command prompt, type:
  
  mklink /J "C:\ProgramData\Application Data" "C:\ProgramData"
  
  and then press Enter. You should get a message like this:
  
  Junction created for C:\ProgramData\Application Data <<===>> C:\ProgramData
  
  
• Now, verify this by typing (at the command prompt):
  
  DIR /AL %ALLUSERSPROFILE%
  
  and then press Enter. This should now show the junction point for Application Data now points to C:\ProgramData:
  
  07/29/2010 08:10 PM    <JUNCTION>    Application Data [C:\ProgramData]
  

You should also be able to install ChurchTrac or a ChurchTrac update without error at this point. Before you forget though, go back and undo what we did in the first step--re-hide the hidden and system files that we unhid in the first step.