Microsoft KB Archive/308418

Knowledge Base

How to set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions in Windows XP

Article ID: 308418

Article Last Modified on 5/7/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional

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This article was previously published under Q308418

IN THIS TASK

• SUMMARY
• MORE INFORMATION
  • Permissions for files and folders
  • Set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions
  • How inheritance affects file and folder permissions
  • To view effective permissions on files and folders
  • Manage shared folders by using Computer Management
  • Troubleshooting
• REFERENCES

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Windows XP, you can apply permissions to files or folders that are located on NTFS file system volumes. This article describes how to set, view, change, or remove permissions for files and folders.

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MORE INFORMATION

Permissions for files and folders

Permissions for files and folders include Full Control, Modify, Read and Execute, List Folder Contents, Read, and Write.

Note This article assumes that you are using Windows XP on a domain. By default, simplified sharing is enabled in Windows XP if you are not connected to a domain. Therefore, the Security tab and the advanced options for permissions are not available.

If you are not joined to a domain, or you are running Windows XP Home Edition, and you want to view the Security tab, see the "Set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions" section.

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Set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions

To set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click My Computer, and then locate the file or folder where you want to set permissions.
2. Right-click the file or folder, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
   

Note If the Security tab is not available, see the "Troubleshooting" section.

1. Use one of the following methods:
   • To set permissions for a group or for a user that does not appear in the Group or user names box, click Add, type the name of the group or of the user that you want to set permissions for, and then click OK.
   • To change or remove permissions from an existing group or user, click the name of the group or user.
2. Use one of the following methods:
   • To allow or to deny a permission, select the Allow or the Deny check box in the Permissions for User or Group box, where User or Group is the name of the user or group.
   • To remove the group or user from the Group or user names box, click Remove.
3. Click OK.

Important If you are not joined to a domain, or you are running Windows XP Home Edition, and you want to view the Security tab, follow the steps for your operating system.

Windows XP Professional

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Appearance and Themes, and then click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab, and then clear the Use simple file sharing [Recommended] check box in the Advanced settings box.
4. Click OK.

Windows XP Home Edition

Start in safe mode, and then log in as Administrator or as Administrative User. The Security tab is available for files or folders on NTFS volumes.

Notes:

• The Everyone group does not include the Anonymous Logon permission.
• You can set permissions only on drives that are formatted to use NTFS.
• To change permissions, you must be the owner or have the owner's permissions to change permissions.
• Groups or users that are granted Full Control permissions for a folder may delete files and subfolders in that folder, regardless of the permissions that protect the files and subfolders.
• If the check boxes in the Permissions for user or group box are unavailable, or if the Remove button is unavailable, the file or folder has inherited permissions from the parent folder. For more information about how inheritance affects files and folders, see Windows Help.
• By default, when you add a new user or group, the user or group has permissions for Read and Execute, List Folder Contents, and Read.

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How inheritance affects file and folder permissions

After you set permissions on a parent folder, new files and subfolders that are created in the folder inherit these permissions. If you do not want the files and folders to inherit permissions, click This folder only in the Apply onto box when you set up special permissions for the parent folder. If you want to prevent only certain files or subfolders from inheriting permissions, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the file or subfolder.
2. Click Properties.
3. Click the Security tab.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Clear the Inherit from parent the permission entries that apply to child objects. Include these with entries explicitly defined here check box.

If the check boxes are not available, the file or folder has inherited permissions from the parent folder. There are three ways to make changes to inherited permissions:

• Make the changes to the parent folder so that the file or folder inherits the permissions.
• Click to select the opposite permission (Allow or Deny) to override the inherited permission.
• Clear the Inherit from parent the permission entries that apply to child objects. Include these with entries explicitly defined here check box. When you do so, you can make changes to the permissions or remove the user or group from the permissions list. However, the file or folder does not inherit permissions from the parent folder.

In most cases, Deny overrides Allow unless a folder inherits conflicting settings from different parents. In this situation, the setting that is inherited from the parent that is closest to the object in the subtree has precedence.

Notes

• Allow permissions are cumulative. Therefore, a user's permissions are determined by the cumulative effect of all of the groups that the user belongs to.
• Deny permissions override Allow permissions. Use caution when you apply Deny permissions.

Only child objects inherit inheritable permissions. When you set permissions on the parent object, you can use the Apply onto setting to determine whether folders or subfolders can inherit the permissions. You can determine which permissions a user or group has on an object if you view the effective permissions.

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To view effective permissions on files and folders

To view effective permissions on files and folders, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
2. Locate the file or folder that you want to view effective permissions for.
3. Right-click the file or folder, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
4. Click Advanced, and then click the Effective Permissions tab.
5. Click Select.
6. In the Name box, type the name of a user or group, and then click OK. The check boxes that are selected indicate the effective permissions of the user or group for that file or folder.

Notes:

• The calculation does not use the following Security Identifiers settings:
  • Anonymous Logon
  • Authenticated Users
  • Batch
  • Creator Group
  • Creator Owner
  • Dialup
  • Enterprise Domain Controllers
  • Everyone
  • Network
  • Proxy
  • Restricted
  • Self
  • Service
  • System
  • Terminal Server User
  For example, a user tries to remotely access a file.
• The Effective Permissions tab contains information that is calculated from the existing permissions entries. Therefore, the information that appears on that page is read-only and does not support the change of a user's permissions if you select or clear permission check boxes.

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Manage shared files and folders by using Computer Management

With the Computer Management tool, you can manage and view security settings for files and folders. For more information about security and permissions, click Help on the Computer Management toolbar.

To start the Computer Management tool, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Administrative Tools.
2. Click Computer Management, and then click Shared Folders.
3. Double-click Shares to view a list of shared folders.
   

Note A dollar sign ($) appears after the name of the share on every volume on your computer that is shared. These shares are hidden administrative shares that you cannot modify.

1. Double-click a shared folder to view the security settings for that folder.

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Troubleshooting

If the Security tab is not available, and if you cannot configure permissions for users and groups, either the file or folder that you want to apply permissions to is not an NTFS drive, or simple file sharing is enabled. To troubleshoot, follow these steps:

1. Verify that the file or folder that you want to apply permissions to is an NTFS drive. You can set permissions only on drives that are formatted to use NTFS.
2. By default, simplified sharing is enabled in Windows XP unless you are on a domain. To work around this behavior, disable Simplified Sharing.

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REFERENCES

For additional information about special permissions for files and folders, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

308419 How To Set, view, change, or remove special permissions for files and folders in Windows XP

For additional information about how to disable simplified file sharing, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307874 How to disable simplified sharing and set permissions on a shared folder in Windows XP

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Keywords: kbenv kbfile kbhowtomaster KB308418

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