making folders private in XP

[ross]

Hi, advice wanted please.

I have not previously defined multiple users on my home PC (XP Home 5.1,
SP1).

Now I want to define 2 users, and each is to have some private folders that
are not visible to the other account. I read somewhere in the Windows
documentation that the file system has to be NTFS to support this.
Therefore I converted my logical discs from FAT32 to NTFS, and on the
properties sheet for the folders that I want to hide, I can see the
following option, under the "Sharing" tab:

"To make this folder and its subfolders private so that only you have
access, select the following check box:"

The problem is, the check box is greyed-out. What else do I have to do?

Thanks

Ross

 

[purplehaz]

Private folders only works on the my documents folder and it's subfolder. If
you want to deny access to any other folder you have to turn simple file
sharing off(in xp home - boot to safe mode, in explorer: tools, folder
options, view tab, uncheck: use simple file sharing). Reboot. Now you can
right click on a folder and choose the security tab. There you can allow or
deny access to user as you see fit.

 

[ross]

----- Original Message -----
From: "purplehaz" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups:
microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin,microsoft.public.windowsxp.gen
eral
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2003 11:55 PM
Subject: Re: making folders private in XP

Private folders only works on the my documents folder and it's
subfolder. If you want to deny access to any other folder you
have to turn simple file sharing off (in xp home - boot to safe
mode, in explorer: tools, folder options, view tab, uncheck:
use simple file sharing). Reboot. Now you can right click on
a folder and choose the security tab. There you can allow or
deny access to user as you see fit.

Thanks for the suggestion, but there seems to be a bit more to it.

I did as you suggested, but I found that the list of options in the
Folder Options/View sheet was unchanged (ie, exactly the same in Safe
Mode and normal mode). There are 22 check boxes. The list does not
include any mention of simple file sharing.

I looked through the TweakUI settings in case they were relevant, but
they aren't.

Perhaps it's an XP Pro setting? (as I mentioned, I have XP Home 5.1,
SP1, build 2600). Perhaps it depends on a service which is disabled -
but if so, I couldn't recognise which one.

Ah well - it would have been nice if it had worked ....
Of course, I can just set the folder to Hidden and then turn off display of
hidden folders in the given user account. This gives the desired effect of
hiding the folder and not requiring the nuisance of a password - EXCEPT
that even limited account users can turn the display back on again, if they
know where the setting is.

Ross

 

[Steve Worcester]

I don't know if this helps any; but I had the same problem yesterday. C:/My
Documents was open to new users with limited privileges until I converted to
NTFS. Now checking the folders and the Sharing "Make this folder private"
is greyed out still. However, there is a message at the bottom of the
screen saying: This is XP Pro.

"The options on this tab are disabled because this folder is in another
folder that is private."

It this happening to you?

This machine now seems to work. I can now log in as another user and open
Word, Excel, or Notepad and will be denied access to the protected
directories and their files.

I found these site to be really helpful, and even send him a donation.

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

-Steve