restrict access to my documents on my user area

[Guest]

I have set myself up as admin on windows xp, but i thought this meant that other "limited" users could not access my files. At the moment if any user opens "my computer" they can view all of the files on every persons user account
Surely there must be a way of restricting this to admin only, so that limited users cannot access others documents or view them..
i thought maybe that under properties of my documents folder i could tick the "make this folder private box" which looks like what i was looking for, but it wont let me tick that box - it is watermarked out..
I am not a computer genius so any help would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[Pavel]

I think that the only thing that these limited users can do is see the names
of the files with out the ability to open any.

--
Pavel

I have set myself up as admin on windows xp, but i thought this meant that

other "limited" users could not access my files. At the moment if any user
opens "my computer" they can view all of the files on every persons user
account.

Surely there must be a way of restricting this to admin only, so that

limited users cannot access others documents or view them...

i thought maybe that under properties of my documents folder i could tick

the "make this folder private box" which looks like what i was looking for,
but it wont let me tick that box - it is watermarked out...

 

[Pavel]

Max,

I did not say that the limited users can or can not access these folders.
All I said was that the files that the 'limited' user sees can not be used
by them. Now if the 'limited' user can open such files then there is
definitely a problem. You may want to look at the Security tab for these
folders and see who has what rights.

--
Pavel

no it doesnt work like that.
ive tried from limited uders accounts.
Anyone no matter what thier status can access any folder unless you tick

the keep it private box, which for some reason it will not let me do. I have
tried loads of different folders to see if it was just my documents but on
every one the tick box is unavailable to tick

 

[Guest]

oh ok ive found the problem now.
can anyone expalin this in english to me:

If the Make this folder private option is still unavailable in the My Documents folder, you may need to convert the Windows drive to NTFS as follows.

WARNING: Converting the drive to NTFS removes your previous operating system backup. Do not convert to NTFS if you may later need to uninstall Windows XP. Also, do not convert drive C to NTFS if you dual-boot Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) on the same computer, and do not convert other drives to NTFS if you dual-boot Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me on the same computer and need access to the drive from Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
In the command prompt window, type the following line, and then press ENTER
convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

where drive_letter is the drive on which Windows XP is installed. For example, typing convert d: /fs:ntfs converts drive D to NTFS format.


Press Y, and then press ENTER to continue if you agree to remove your previous operating system backup (if appropriate).
Press Y, and then press ENTER to dismount the volume.
Press Y, and then press ENTER to schedule the conversion for the next time the computer restarts.
Restart your computer.


i know how to do it but are there any disadvantages or dangers in doing this? i know absolutely nothing about this kind of thing does anyone have any advice? should i convert it or leave it as it is.
it says that i will loosed backup is that important?

 

[Pavel]

As long as you have a backup of your important data there should be no
problem converting to NTFS. I am not sure what explanation you need since
the explanation below of how to convert to NTFS is simple.

--
Pavel

oh ok ive found the problem now.
can anyone expalin this in english to me:

If the Make this folder private option is still unavailable in the My

Documents folder, you may need to convert the Windows drive to NTFS as
follows.

WARNING: Converting the drive to NTFS removes your previous operating

system backup. Do not convert to NTFS if you may later need to uninstall
Windows XP. Also, do not convert drive C to NTFS if you dual-boot Microsoft
Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
(Me) on the same computer, and do not convert other drives to NTFS if you
dual-boot Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me on the same computer and
need access to the drive from Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me.

Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
In the command prompt window, type the following line, and then press ENTER
convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

where drive_letter is the drive on which Windows XP is installed. For

example, typing convert d: /fs:ntfs converts drive D to NTFS format.

Press Y, and then press ENTER to continue if you agree to remove your

previous operating system backup (if appropriate).

Press Y, and then press ENTER to dismount the volume.
Press Y, and then press ENTER to schedule the conversion for the next time the computer restarts.
Restart your computer.


i know how to do it but are there any disadvantages or dangers in doing

this? i know absolutely nothing about this kind of thing does anyone have
any advice? should i convert it or leave it as it is.

 

[Pavel]

I see now. The FAT32 was used by Windows 95 and Windows 98 and is still in
use now. It is limited in mow much hard disk space it can access but that is
not the important difference. With NTFS there are additional things you can
do. For example, you can create folders that will compress (not the same as
ZIP folders) or you can encrypt folders/files. Also more information can be
kept about the files. The NTFS is also more resistant to various errors. The
list goes on.

--
Pavel

yeah i can do it
like i said i have no idea what fat32 and NTFS are so i was just asking

for an explanation of how they differ and whether one has advantages over
the other.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

You cannot password protect individual folders in XP. You restrict access by assigning permissions to drives, folders and files.

To do this, you must be running NTFS as your file system on the drive in question. If your hard disk/partition is not NTFS you will need to convert it. To do this, open a Command Prompt window and enter the following command:

CONVERT X: /FS:NTFS

Where X: is the drive letter you wish to convert. You may also want to see http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm to ensure that you're getting the optimal conversion.

After this step is completed and you've rebooted the computer, if necessary:

XP PRO: In Windows Explorer, go to Tools, Folder Options, View and uncheck Use Simple File Sharing. Now, when you right click on a drive, folder or file (on an NTFS partition) and select Properties, you'll see a Security tab. Here you can assign or deny permissions based on user name or user group membership.

XP Home: By default, you can only make files and folders under My Documents "private". This is done by right clicking a folder or file and selecting Properties, Sharing. To change the permissions on other folders, you need to boot the computer to Safe Mode and log in on the built in Administrator account. In this mode, you'll see the Security tab in Properties, and you can assign permissions based on user name or group membership.

How Do I Get the Security Tab in Properties - XP Home (makes the Security tab appear outside of Safe Mode)
http://www.dougknox.com, Win XP Tips section

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

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove Special Permissions for Files and Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;308419

HOW TO: Disable Simplified Sharing and Password-Protect a Shared Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;307874

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

What file system are you using on that partition? FAT32 has no
security capabilities, whatsoever.

Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

I see now. The FAT32 was used by Windows 95 and Windows 98 and is still in
use now. It is limited in mow much hard disk space it can access

False, until you get to 137G perhaps.

FAT32 accesses up to that limit just fine; it's just that XP's
formatter is too brain-dead to format FAT32 over 32G.

With NTFS there are additional things you can do. For example, you can
create folders that will compress (not the same as ZIP folders) or you can
encrypt folders/files.

Encryption is in Pro only, not XP Home.

Also more information can be kept about the files.

Most significantly, you can assign per-user rights to files etc.

The NTFS is also more resistant to various errors.

And equally prone to various other errors.

The list goes on.

Yes, but I bet the list left out:
- NTFS blocks your ability to formally detect and clean malware
- NTFS blocks access to DOS-hosted av and recovery tools

Those two are biggies in consumerland, placing NTFS up there with ye
olde disk compression as a potential data widow-maker. At least you
could formally virus check a compressed disk volume, if the DOS boot
diskette had the correct compression driver, and that let you copy off
files as long as the compressed volume structure was sane.

But with NTFS, if your core OS code is infected, or is too botched to
boot, or if the HD is too sick to withstand Windows thrashing and
write traffic - you are hosed. Especially if you used NTFS's "support
for large drives" to set up as one big doomed C:

Be *very* careful what you wish for.

---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

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Market Research: ' What would you like us to be? '

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 08:11:08 -0800, Max

Yes i have no security on any of my folders. It is using fat32.

Yep. FAT32 doesn't offer security, in the sense of access rights!

The non-NTFS workarounds are to block physical access access to the PC
and apply access security at the network share level, or to apply
application-specific pwd at file level (if supported by app)

so if i change the file system to NTFS will it affect the computer in any way?

Yes it may do, in that NTFS's added security can permeate the file
system and cause unexpected glitches with software that was written
for Win9x. For example, apps that write to settings or data files
within "Program Files" may not be permitted to do so.

However, these factors usually don't apply when converting from FATxx
to NTFS after installing the OS, because it's when installing the OS
that many of these specific security permissions are devised and
applied. When the OS is installed on FAT32, these settings cannot be
applied as FAT32 doesn't support this; so when the file system is
later converted to NTFS, all files get the same open-boot access.

Anf will it jsut be My Documents that is changed to this file system?

No. File systems apply to the entire volume (in fact, you can define
"volume" as an extent of a file system). So applying NTFS to a drive
letter will affect the entire drive letter.

This operates at a lower level of abstraction than network drive
letter mappings and Subst - so you cannot, for example, define E: as a
subst for "My Documents" and then convert E: to NTFS to limit the
effect to that subtree alone.

File system details are invisible to network access, so the concept of
mapping a drive letter to a share of "My Documents" and then
converting that drive letter to NTFS is meaningless.

---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

Consumer Asks: "What are you?"
Market Research: ' What would you like us to be? '