permissions setup in XP

[Masterfinn 0]

I have just put on 4 new user accounts on my XP box. My account is the only admin one, and the other are limited accounts. Now I want to set permissions on certain folders that the other accounts can not access. I try right clicking them, then in the properties under the sharring tab, were it says "to make this folder privite, so that only you can access it check the box" but its all 'greyed out' so I cant check it off to set permissions. Any idea how I can set permissions on certain folders in XP?

 

Thanx,

 

Masterfinn

[Suma 0]

You could try setting network security to classic.

 

Go to Administrative Tools/Security Policies/Local Policies/Security/Networkaccess/Sharing and security for local accounts - (Set this one to classic)

 

I'm not sure about all the "keys" but I hope you can stumble your way to the right place I'm not using the english version of XP, sorry.

 

Good Luck!

[Alien 1]

Errr... just 1 thing....are you using FAT32 or NTFS? Reason I ask is that I'd heard that those options were only available with NTFS. I could easily be wrong though, as I don't have any need for that function.

[Masterfinn 0]

Ya Suma, i tired what you said, and it let me set the permissions and i tinkered with it for a while, but after i set the permissions i went in on other account and i could still access those folders completely. So im not to sure if im doing something wrong or what?.. anywyas... Also, Alien, i have my system as FAT32 right now, and to me that seems like it would be the problem, but you should be able to set permissions without having it as NTFS, but i dont know. Ill have to look into it, or if any one out there knows, let me know.

 

Thanx,

 

Masterfinn

[Alien 1]

Quote:

Also, Alien, i have my system as FAT32 right now, and to me that seems like it would be the problem, but you should be able to set permissions without having it as NTFS, but i dont know. Ill have to look into it, or if any one out there knows, let me know.

AFAIK, security options & permissions are an integral part of NTFS, but not of FAT32. I've never heard of anyone being able to do what you want with FAT32.

[Suma 0]

True. I don't think you're able to set any of those rights in a FAT32 system. If you need to do it using FAT32 you'll have to use a encryption/privacy program of some sort.

[Masterfinn 0]

ya i figured that i needed to have NTFS file system. I will probably switch over to that, so i can set permission and stuff, rather then getting an ecryption program as you say. I was thinking about doing a reformat and clean install of my hard drive some time soon anyways, so now when i do that i can just redoo it as NTFS so that i can have multiple users with all the permissions that i want.

 

BUT before i do that. I have a question. I have my 40G hard drive in 4 partions, now do i have to put my whole hard drive as NTFS? or just the primary partion?

 

Thanx,

 

Masterfinn

[Suma 0]

You don't need to make your hole disk NTFS just the patitions you want/need to. Just remember if you convert your boot partion you won't be able to install win98, but i don't think that will be anything of an intrest??

[Masterfinn 0]

Ya i know i can just make only the partitions that i want to NTFS, but what i want to know is, ... say i have my main primary partition as NTFS and the other 3 as FAT32. Will i still be able to set the permissions on those other three partitions? or just on the one that is NTFS?

 

Masterfinn

[Silverado 0]

Just the one with NTFS.....FAT file systems do not support the advanced Security features

[Masterfinn 0]

Ok so it looks like ill have to change my whole system to NTFS. I dont know if i want to though cause i dotn know if all the stuff on my computer will work good on an NTFS platform. IS there any other advantages/disadvatages or NTFS to FAT32 that i should know about before switching over? I guess i did run Win2K before and had no problems, but i dont know about XP.

 

Thanx,

 

Masterfinn

[Davros 0]

NTFS advantages:

Security through the use of file and folder permissions.

Security through the use of EFS (encrypting file system).

Use of compressed files/folders.

Use of spanned, striped, or mirrored volumes through disk management.

Setting disk quotas for users is available.

Smaller cluster size=better disk performance.

Error control - you will almost never have to run scandisk/chkdsk

Large volume size - up to 2 terabytes (FAT32 was 32GB max)

Large file size - up to the size of the partition.

 

Disadvantages:

Cannot be accessed by DOS, Win9x

Learning curve for permissions for noobs.

 

You do not need to reformat to change from FAT to NTFS.

Use the command line program convert. Open a command window (in run box type cmd) and type "convert C: /FS:NTFS" without the quotes. This will convert the C: drive. Change the drive letter to the drive you want. It will ask you to reboot to do this to the system partition. You cannot convert back to FAT from NTFS!

[Masterfinn 0]

it sure sounds like NTFS is they way to go. i knew that Win9x coudnt access it, but i dont really know everything, like say i had an FTP set up on a NTFS partition, and a person on a Win9x box tried to access that FTP would they be able to see it? or access it? Or if some of my games or programs said they were WinXP complient. is that WinXP NTFS or/and WinXP FAT32? also if some of my older games that i love playing that work great now on XP in FAT32 whats the chance they will still work on the NTFS platform?

 

thanx,

 

Masterfinn

[DosFreak 2]

No game I have tried in NT4/2000/XP has ever failed because of the NTFS file system and I have tested 1000+ games....

[Admiral LSD 0]

Quote:

Cannot be accessed by DOS, Win9x

Thats a bad thing because?

Personally I see no logical reason for not using NTFS for at least your main NT/2k/XP partition.

[CrazyKillerMan 0]

I'm using NTFS and you can use my FTP.

[Davros 0]

Quote:

Cannot be accessed by DOS, Win9x

That could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective.

Ok, here's a simple non-technical explanation of file access:
The operating system does the file access work for the programs. Whether a file or folder is NTFS or FAT matters only to the operating system at this level. When other programs access the file, they are asking the operating system to access it for them. So the program (such as a game or ftp proggie) doesn't know or care if it is NTFS or FAT.

[clutch 1]

Quote:

No game I have tried in NT4/2000/XP has ever failed because of the NTFS file system and I have tested 1000+ games....

SHS stated that there was one game that had issues because of using NTFS, and I still don't understand why it would since the OS handles all of the disk access, not the game.

[Davros 0]

Quote:

SHS stated that there was one game that had issues because of using NTFS

I wouldn't be surprised if that was because during the installation of the game it tried overwriting system files or writing new files to a folder that the user did not have the proper permissions for.

[clutch 1]

Normally that would be a failure of the installer though, and I would imagine he would have pointed out that it was with the installer rather than with the game running (which was what he was hinting at).

[Masterfinn 0]

So everything i have been hearing here is nothing but good for NTFS, and that i do indeed need it for my permission setups. Also i can see it is very secure, and that the OS handles all the disk access for programs and games and that they will all run great weither I have a FAT32 or NTFS system. I guess now, when i decide to, i can switch my system over to NTFS, and tweak it to perfection, jsut the way i like it.

 

A big Thank you, goes out to everyone helping me on this,

 

Masterfinn

[DosFreak 2]

There are disadvantages to NTFS and they are all listed by MS on their website. The ones that I can think of that would affect the average user today would be using multiple operating systems, and not understanding the different file systems fully.

 

But for a single OS loaded on a computer the filesystem type is pretty much invisible to the user until you get into filesize limitations, permissions, and older programs that access the filesystem in a certain way and newer version of NTFS that it does not recognize.

[Admiral LSD 0]

I fail to see why dual booting is such a big disadvantage...

 

I've been multi booting various versions of Win9x, WinNT and Linux for years and never hesitated to not install them on anything less than their native filesystem.

[Dirty Harry 0]

There is one disadvantage going NTFS and that is loosing the ability to access the HD from DOS (-floppy). Yes, I know there is a recovery console, yes, I know there are utilities to circumvent this. Still, nothing beats a good ol' bootdisk when you want to tinker with things.

 

For most home users the security, permissions and disk quotas are not really that relevant. In an office enviroment they might be, but at home ?

 

So why do I find the DOS disk so important ? First of all, it gives you an opportunity to fix things in your windows install (check out all the threads on locked files, undeletable directories etc). Also, for some tasks DOS is pretty handy, for example the easiest way to defrag the page file is simply deleting it in DOS.

 

Secondly, and most important for me, is the possibility to use disk cloning software as the backup method and feel comfortable about it. OK, OK, I do know they work on NTFS too, but they do this by rewriting the Master Boot Record (MBR), pointing it to boot from a viritual (DOS) floppy, and then hopefully reverting after the clone is done. This is at least how Drive Image works, and I believe Ghost operates in a similar fashion. Well, I don't feel comfortable with this, I don't like fiddling with the MBR. If, just if, it goes south all your partitions are gone, quotas, permissions and all.

 

To the issue of performance, there is no significant or even proven difference. MS claims so, but I've seen several tests where there is no difference found or FAT32 is marginally faster.

 

If you want to use very large partitions or if you handle verly large files, NTFS is your only choice.

 

H.

[Paolo 0]

Masterfinn: I was wondering why you plan on using FTP to access the NTFS? You can access NTFS partitions across a network - using 'File and Print Sharing'. Just remember to check that the Win2k box has a user account for the Win9x boxes. Dunno if you need this facility, but thought I'd let you know that it's possible

 

Also, if you have several hard disks, you can combine them into larger disks using software RAID (like hardware RAID, but without the hardware to do it - so using your CPU).