Securing Access to Files and Folders On Windows | Understanding NTFS Permissions

Securing Access to Files and Folders On Windows | Understanding NTFS Permissions

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NTFS permissions control access to NTFS files and folders. This is based on the technology that was originally developed for Windows NT. Ultimately, the person who owns an object has complete control over the object. You configure access by allowing or denying NTFS permissions to users and groups.

On NTFS partitions, you can specify the access each user has to specific folders or files on the partition based on the user ’ s logon name and group associations. Access control consists of rights and permissions. A right (also referred to as a privilege) is an authorization to perform a specific action.

To understand the Difference Between FAT And NTFS File System, follow this location, FAT And NTFS File.

Permissions are authorizations to perform specific operations on specific objects. The owner of an object or any user who has the necessary rights to modify permissions can apply permissions to NTFS objects. If permissions are not explicitly granted within NTFS, then they are implicitly denied. Permissions can also be explicitly denied, which then overrides explicitly granted permissions.

The following sections describe design goals for access control as well as how to apply NTFS permissions and some techniques for optimizing local access. Let ’ s take a look at design goals for setting up security.

Design Goals for Access Control

Before you start applying NTFS permissions to resources, you should develop design goals for access control as a part of your overall security strategy. Basic security strategy  suggests that you provide each user and group with the minimum level of permissions needed for job functionality. Some of the considerations when planning access control include the following:

• Defining the resources that are included within your network — in this case, the files and folders residing on the file system
• Defining which resources will put your organization at risk, including defining the resources and defining the risk of damage if the resource was compromised
• Developing security strategies that address possible threats and minimize security risks
• Defining groups that security can be applied to based on users within the group membership who have common access requirements, and applying permissions to groups as opposed to users
• Applying additional security settings through Group Policy if your Windows 7 clients are part of an Active Directory network
• Using additional security features, such as Encrypted File System (EFS), to provide additional levels of security or file auditing to track access to critical files and folders

After you have decided what your design goals are, you can start applying your NTFS permissions.

Normally, NTFS permissions are cumulative, based on group memberships if the user has been allowed access. This means that the user gets the highest level of security from all the different groups they belong to. However, if the user had been denied access through user or group membership, those permissions override the allowed permissions. To know more on how to Setting NTFS Permissions In Windows, follow this link: Setting NTFS Permissions.

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Error You Don't Have Permission To Save In This Location

Error You Don't Have Permission To Save In This Location

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Error When Copying File to a Flash Drive or Hard Drive: Error messages similar to the ones listed below may be displayed when you try to save a file on a hard disk drive or a flash drive on Windows Vista PC.

DriveLetter:\Folder_Name\File_Name You don't have permission to save in this location. Contact the administrator to obtain permission. Would you like to save in the Documents folder instead?

Or

Access to DriveLetter:\Folder_Name\File_Name was denied.

This error usually occurs when the hard disk drive or the flash drive on which you are trying to save your file is formatted in an earlier version of the NTFS file system. For instance, if the drive on which you are trying to save your document is formatted in Windows XP, you may receive this error.

In order to fix the error, you will have to format your hard disk or flash drive in Windows Vista or Windows 7. For this, perform the following steps:

1. Take a backup of any data that exists on your hard drive or flash drive, to ensure that you do not lose your important files when your format the disk.
2. Open Start menu, select Computer, right-click on your flash device or hard drive, then select Format.
3. Next, select NTFS (default) file system from the list and select the Quick Format check box.
4. Select Start.
5. After the formatting is complete, close the Format Local Disk dialog box.

If you are unable to or don't want to format the drive due to some reason, then you can follow one of the workaround methods discussed below to save your document on the disk.

Workaround Method 1: 

Open the program in which you created the file and save it as an administrator.

1. Right-click on the program shortcut and select Run as Administrator to start the program.
2. Open your file and save it on your disk.

Note: If the Run as Administrator option is not available, then right-click on the program shortcut and select Properties. Next, on the Shortcut tab, and select Open File Location. Finally, right-click on the executable file of your program, and then select the Run as Administrator option to start the program.

Workaround Method 2: 

First save the file in the Documents folder and then move it to the required hard drive or flash drive.

1. Open the file and save it in the Documents folder.
2. Now, right-click on this file in the Documents folder and select Cut.
3. Open Start menu, select Computer, right-click the destination folder-located on your hard drive or flash drive-and select Paste.
4. When prompted type the administrator password.

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Guidelines For Choosing a File System In Windows

Guidelines For Choosing a File System In Windows

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After you create the installation partition, Setup prompts you to select the file system with which to format the partition. Windows XP Professional can be installed on two file  systems:

File allocation table (FAT): Although Windows Setup references only file allocation table (FAT), there are actually two versions of FAT: FAT and FAT32. FAT is a 16-bit file system used in older versions of Windows. FAT32 is a 32-bit file system supported by Windows 95 original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Service Release 2, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

Volume size:  Volumes from 512 MB to 2 terabytes.In Windows Vista, you can format a FAT32 volume only up to 32 GB. Cannot be used on floppy disks.

File size: Maximum file size 4 GB

Files per volume: Approximately 4,177,920 

New Technology File System NTFS: The preferred file system for Windows XP, NTFS provides more security and flexibility than FAT32. Microsoft recommends that you always use NTFS unless there is a specific reason to use another file system (such as when you are installing more than one operating system on a computer and one of those operating systems does not recognize NTFS partitions). NTFS is supported by Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Seven, Windows 2003 Server and Windows 2008 Server.

Operating system compatibility:  A computer running Windows  7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, or Windows XP can access files on an NTFS partition. A computer running Windows NT  4.0 with Service Pack 4 or later can access files on the partition, but some NTFS features, such as Disk Quotas, are not available. Other operating systems allow no access.

Tip: Unless you are installing Windows XP Professional on a multiple-boot computer that also has an operating system that cannot access NTFS partitions (such as Windows 98), you should always use NTFS.

Using NTFS

Use NTFS when the partition on which Windows XP Professional will reside requires any of the following features:

• File- and folder-level security: NTFS allows you to control access to files and folders.
• Disk compression: NTFS can compress files to store more data on the partition.
• Disk quota: NTFS allows you to control disk usage on a per-user basis.
• Encryption: NTFS allows you to encrypt file data on the physical hard disk by using the Microsoft Encrypting File System (EFS).

The version of NTFS in Windows XP Professional supports remote storage, dynamic volumes, and mounting volumes to folders. Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista, Windows Seven, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows 2000, and Windows NT are the only operating systems that can access data on a local hard disk formatted with NTFS.

Volume size: Recommended minimum volume size is approximately 10 MB. Recommended practical maximum for volumes is 2 terabytes. Much larger sizes are possible.  Cannot be used on floppy disks.

File size: Maximum file size 16 terabytes minus 64 KB (244 minus 64 KB)

Files per volume: 4,294,967,295 (232 minus 1 files)

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Setting NTFS Permissions In Windows

Setting NTFS Permissions In Windows

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Access flags are your only choice for controlling how files or folders are used with FAT, but NTFS allows you to control the way files are used with both access flags and NTFS permissions. 

Difference Between FAT And NTFS | FAT Versus NTFS: Both FAT and NTFS come in several different variations, and in some cases, the type of device you are working with determines which variation is used. With FAT, the number of bits... Read more : http://www.bench3.com/2010/02/difference-between-fat-and-ntfs-fat.html

NTFS permissions provide granular control over the way files and folders are used. When you strip away all the needless stuff you really shouldn’t worry about, NTFS permissions boil down to these five things:

Basic permissions

Top-level permissions that you can assign to user and group accounts 

Special permissions

Low-level permissions that you can assign to user and group accounts

Ownership permissions

Permissions that identify a file or folder’s highest permission holder

Inherited permissions

Permissions that are inherited from the folder in which a file or folder is stored

Effective permissions

Permissions in effect for a particular user or group based on the combination of all permissions assigned to that user or group

You assign basic permissions and other permissions to the various user and group accounts available on your computer or on your network. Accounts on your computer include those accounts created by the operating system as well as accounts you've created. Local accounts on your computer are named using the following syntax: 

ComputerName\AccountName

This means that if your computer is named DadsComputer and your user account is Dad, you’ll see the account referenced as DadsComputer\Dad. Network accounts are named using the following syntax:

DomainName\AccountName

This means that if your workplace domain is TheOffice and your user account is HajaH, you’ll see the account referenced as TheOffice\HajaH.

If you want to manage permissions for multiple users, you will typically do this using group accounts. Your computer has several standard group accounts, including Administrators and Users. Any user that is a member of your computer’s Administrators group has administrator access permissions on your computer. 

Any user that is a member of your computer’s Users group has user access permissions on your computer. On a domain, your network has Administrators and Users groups that apply to the entire network as well.

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Difference Between FAT And NTFS | FAT Versus NTFS

Difference Between FAT And NTFS | FAT Versus NTFS

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File Allocation Table or FAT is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of its relative simplicity. Performance of FAT compares poorly to most other file systems as it uses overly simplistic data structures, making file operations time-consuming, and makes poor use of disk space in situations where many small files are present.

NTFS (New Technology File System) is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

NTFS supersedes the FAT file system as the preferred file system for Microsoft’s Windows operating systems. NTFS has several improvements over FAT and HPFS (High Performance File System) such as improved support for metadata and the use of advanced data structures to improve performance, reliability, and disk space utilization, plus additional extensions such as security access control lists (ACL) and file system journaling.

Difference Between FAT And NTFS | FAT Versus NTFS:

Both FAT and NTFS come in several different variations, and in some cases, the type of device you are working with determines which variation is used. With FAT, the number of bits used with the allocation table determines the variant you are working with and the maximum volume size. You’ll find that USB flash devices and MP3 players with 4 GB or less of storage are usually formatted with the 16-bit version of FAT. FAT16, also known simply as FAT, defines its file allocation tables using 16 bits. FAT16 is used because it is the most efficient version of FAT for volume sizes of up to 4 GB.

If you use devices with removable storage that have storage larger than 4 GB, such as a removable hard disk, the device will in most cases use the 32-bit version of FAT, known as FAT32. FAT32 defines its file allocation tables using 32 bits, which allows you to have volumes larger than 32 GB. Devices with removable storage use FAT because it has no security controls, allowing you to access your data on multiple computers simply by connecting your device to those computers.

On the other hand, NTFS allows you to control access to files and folders by assigning permissions. At home, your computer will typically have file access permissions only for accounts configured on the local computer. At the office, your computer will typically have file access permissions for accounts configured on the local computer as well as accounts configured for your network. 

Although NTFS supports just about any volume size you’ll want to work with, you can’t necessarily move devices formatted with NTFS from one computer to another and gain access to all the data on these devices.

You may not be able to do this because NTFS access permissions are set using accounts that are specific to a single computer, to a network, or to both.

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