Attached Link: http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Regarding the XP problem - O/S refusing user access to files &/or folders; I had an extremely similar problem in XP when it was first installed. This is going to sound screwey, but what is the specific phrasing of the error message? If it's the incredibly lame and infuriating "....may be in use by another user.." message I was getting, there's probably a background indexing process or non-XP compliant antiviral program bolluxing thing up. In my case, there was an obscure, intrusive, and aparently useless utility, an unused element of the Corel WordPerfect Office Suite called Corel Versions that for some reason felt it had first call on any files ever opened, and refused to allow them ever released back to the OS - It was in a wrestling contest with Symantec's Antivirus 2001 (pre-XP), which also demanded priority access to any files opened. To fix, 1) I went through XP's system services, and turned off all but 7 of the eighty-odd services MS felt were indispensible to any user not smart enough to know better. **See link for more info** 2) I obliterated Corel Versions and any reference to it from my hard drives and the registry. 3) I upgraded Nortons AV to 2002. I later, for other reasons translated my NTFS drives back to FAT32, so if you decide to do that, it's a viable alternative as well. Let me know if any of this helps?