Still Read-only

  • Thread starter Thread starter Thrasy
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Thrasy

"That is how it is" really doesn't help me understand how
it got that way, how to change it, or what else that
having the system in this condition might imply.

I am obviously concerned about the system's security and
understanding what change in permissions or policy
settings could possibly cause this type of behavior would
further shed light on the security implications related
to this behavior.

Since my original post, I have had discussions with
several people who, in the process of taking interest in
my post, discovered similar behavior on their own
installations. Yet, none of these people could give any
reason that this behavior exists or should exist. They
merely noted that it didn't seem to cause them problems.

Of all of my concerns, the most interesting to me right
now is how have these settings survived multiple
reformatings and reinstallation, even on seperate
partitions.

I do not recall there being any option in the XP Pro
installation that would allow me to come even close to
creating this kind of thing.
 
You did nothing wrong, and nothing you do during
or after an install of XP or W2k3 will make things
turn out any differently.

That is how XP and W2k3 are.
Having this checkbox behave that way does not
imply anything other than that the system is behaving
as it was designed to behave.

The checkbox in the properties of XP and W2k3
folders that says Read-Only does not control the
read-only attribute of the folder. It is a switch
that can be used to set or unset the attribute on the
files contained within the folder.

The NT family of operating systems does not use
the Read-only attribute for much, but it does
obey its meaning. In the NT family most access
is controlled by use of permissions within the
NTFS filesystem. File attributes, like read-only,
are inherited from earlier DOS based systems.
NT family mostly only uses attributes for marking
system and hidden system files. File attributes
and file permissions are different things. If you
have security concerns it is the permissions that
you should be dealing with.

If you want to get at the read-only attribute of
folder objects, you must use the old attrib command
in a cmd prompt.
 
I had the same questions tonight. The best answer I
could find is located here, although it did not clarify
WHY this is as it is. I mean, **ALL** folders I create
get that unchangeable read-only thing... any and every
folder I create anywhere. Very strange. Anyway, here's
the link. I know it won't help your curiosity, but this
was all I could find, and since it described the
situation perfectly, I think it's the best we're gonna
get :(

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;326549

--KC
 
Thank you Roger.

After reading your last post and playing a bit, I see and
understand what's going on now. Thanks for your help and
patience in explaining it!
 
Thrasy said:
Thank you Roger.

After reading your last post and playing a bit, I see and
understand what's going on now. Thanks for your help and
patience in explaining it!
Click to expand...

No problem.
This one seems to mislead and confuse many ;-)
Thanks for not misunderstanding "that is how it is"
as simply a smart-a** wisecrack.
--ra
 
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