How to reset Windows folder and file permissions?

[Andreas Balzer]

Hello everybody.
Due to a computer problem I had to reinstall Windows Vista 64 Bit
Ultimate and afterwards move the Windows.old folder back into the root
of my harddrive. Now it seems that many folder permissions are wrong
and many of my programs are not able to work. Is there any method to
reset all permissions of every Windows folder and file somehow?

Andreas

 

[Andrew McLaren]

Due to a computer problem I had to reinstall Windows Vista 64 Bit
Ultimate and afterwards move the Windows.old folder back into the root
of my harddrive. Now it seems that many folder permissions are wrong
and many of my programs are not able to work. Is there any method to
reset all permissions of every Windows folder and file somehow?

Hi Andreas,

You could try using the "Security Analysis and Configuration" mmc snap-in to
load a security template.

Rin MMC, the go to File, Add/Remove Snap-in, and select "Security Analysis
and Configuration" from the list.

Now you need to use this snap-in, to load a security template.
C:\Windows\inf\defltwk.inf is the template for a "deafult workstation".
There are others as well - if you search around the web for "Security
Analysis and Configuration" and "template", you will probably find some
info.

Note that this is a somewhat unreliable way to restore a working copy of
Vista. If it was my machine, I would backup te user data, reformat the hard
disk, and re-install from scratch. This will probably end up the quicker
procedure and will certainly be more reliable as well. But applying a
template is your best shot at restoring the default permissions, I think.

Good luck with it!