limited user can view other users documents?

G

Guest

Hi all

i have set up a limited user account on my laptop but for some reason the
limited user account can see all the documents / files etc on my admin
account ?

i thought all documents in my documents folder were personal and only
accessable to the user who created them (and admin)?

However a picture that was in admin accounts picture folder , i was able to
view and delete it while i was in my limited users account ?

also when i right click on start > explore - i can view all users and there
data / files / pics/ music etc

any ideas what ive done wrong

Im using windows xp
 
N

Nepatsfan

In
Lisa said:
Hi all

i have set up a limited user account on my laptop but for
some reason the
limited user account can see all the documents / files etc on
my admin
account ?

i thought all documents in my documents folder were personal
and only
accessable to the user who created them (and admin)?

However a picture that was in admin accounts picture folder
, i was able to
view and delete it while i was in my limited users account ?

also when i right click on start > explore - i can view all
users and there
data / files / pics/ music etc

any ideas what ive done wrong

Im using windows xp

The easiest approach is to make your folders private. Here's
how;

While logged on with your admin account, right click on your My
Documents folder. Click on the Sharing tab. On the Sharing
page, put a check mark in the box next to "Make this folder
private". Click OK. Log off and log on with the limited
account. The limited account should no longer be able to access
the admin account's My Documents folder or its subfolders. If
there are files and folders you want both accounts to access,
put them in the Shared Documents folder.

Take a look at this article for more info.

How to make files and folders private in Windows XP so that
only you have access to them
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930987/en-us

Here's another article you may find helpful.

How to configure file sharing in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304040/

Note: By default, Windows XP uses what's called Simple File
Sharing to govern access to files and folders on your computer.
With XP Home Edition, this feature cannot be disabled. XP
Professional does allow you to disable this feature and
exercise more control over who can access your files. If you
have a XP Pro system, I'd suggest you see if making folders
private does the job before attempting to manage access by
changing NTFS permissions. That said, here's an article that
outlines the procedure.

How to set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions
in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418

As you can see by this article, things can get complicated when
you disable Simple File Sharing.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
G

Guest

Hi
i tried your suggestion but the sharing option is greyed out/not available ?
i have recently reinstalled xp and im sure before each users my documents
were private and only they and the admin could view them ?

Thanks for your help
 
N

Nepatsfan

First, check to make sure that the drive where XP is installed
is formatted NTFS. Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and
right click on the icon for the appropriate drive, probably C.
Select Properties from the menu. Note what is entered next to
File system on the General page. If it says FAT32, you would
need to convert this drive to NTFS in order to restrict access.
If it's already formatted NTFS, take a look at this article.

Courtesy of Ramesh Srinivasan, MS-MVP
How to undo "Make this folder private" option ?
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/undoprivate.htm

Note: If you're running XP Home Edition will have to boot into
Safe Mode in order to access the folders Security tab.

Good luck

Nepatsfan


In
 

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