CommonAppDataFolder is NOT read/write shared for all users

I thought that files in the "Documents and settings/all
users/application data/" folder was readable and writeable for all
users of the local computer. This is NOT the case though.

I have 2 users on my computer. One is an administrator and the other
one is a limited user.
If the administrator creates a file in the CommonAppDataFolder (the
path mentioned above) then the limited user is not permitted to edit
that file.

What can I do to correct this? I need to have a file which ANY user,
"limited" or "administrative" can read AND write to.

It should be possible I think. That is what this folder is for, is it
not?

On 12 Sep 2006 12:34:45 -0700, Marcus wrote:

> I thought that files in the "Documents and settings/all
> users/application data/" folder was readable and writeable for all
> users of the local computer. This is NOT the case though.
>
> I have 2 users on my computer. One is an administrator and the other
> one is a limited user.
> If the administrator creates a file in the CommonAppDataFolder (the
> path mentioned above) then the limited user is not permitted to edit
> that file.
>
> What can I do to correct this? I need to have a file which ANY user,
> "limited" or "administrative" can read AND write to.
>
> It should be possible I think. That is what this folder is for, is it
> not?

The following article is for a different issue but it lists the default
security settings for various folders including the \All Users\ hierarchy.
As far as I can tell from that information, only Administrator and Owner
have Full rights. Users are given read, execute and write but I see that
Modify is missing from that list (is present for power users though) and
that may be what is stopping the level of access that you desire for your
limited user. Here's the link for the article:

File security issues after converting FAT32 partitions to the NTFS file system
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810142/en-us

As administrator, you could modify the permissions of Application Data
and/or the appdata folder for the application in question. This might be
the easiest solution, however with today's malware problems - think twice
before granting a wide berth of permission to the appdata folder.

Instead is it possible to store the data someplace else that is accessible
to all users? Some applications allow you to move the appdata store, some
don't. Worth checking out in the program's help files.

Also, MVP Rick Rogers has a page that discusses some solutions for cajoling
a wide variety of software to work for all users. May want to take a look
at that page - perhaps you'll come up with another idea for resolving the
problem that you're dealing with.


--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User