No go. Same error. I restore to SQLExpress2008R2 all the time running SSMS normally. I am wondering if it is not a specific 2012 issue.

>Run SSMS with elevated Admin privilege.
>
>
>>I am trying to move a SQLExpress2008R2 DB to SQLExpress2012.
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>>I a full backup of the SQL Express2008R2 DB. I then created a DB in SQLExpress2012 with the same name. Attempting to Restore the SQL2008 DB to the SQLExpress2012 DB generated the following security error. What am I missing here?
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>>TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
>>------------------------------
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>>Restore of database 'Lepton' failed. (Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.RelationalEngineTasks)
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>>------------------------------
>>ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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>>System.Data.SqlClient.SqlError: The operating system returned the error '5(Access is denied.)' while attempting 'RestoreContainer::ValidateTargetForCreation' on 'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.SQLEXPRESS2008R2\MSSQL\DATA\Lepton.mdf'. (Microsoft.SqlServer.SmoExtended)
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>>For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=11.0.3000.0+((SQL11_PCU_Main).121019-1325+)&LinkId=20476