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I have two computers:

  • A (running Windows Vista)
  • B (running XP).

I shared C: on computer A (as \\A\C ), and require a username (X) plus pw to access it. If I browse the the share \A\C on computer B, after entering username+pw I can access most folders, but one folder "\\A\C\Users\U" (i.e. the home folder of user U ) gives me "permission denied".

I looked at that folder's permissions on A, and it has full access permissons for all "Administrators". I use the account "A\X" to authenticate when accessing the share on A. X is a user account (on A) that is an "Administrator" according to Window's user management.

Still, I cannot access this folder. If I explicitly add the "X" account to the accounts that may access folder F (under Properties / Security), I can access it without problems.

I do not understand why I need to explicitly grant permission for X to get access to F. Is it not enough that X is an Administrator account?

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  • is X a system folder/special of C? (Eg Users, Program Files, Windows).
    – RJFalconer
    May 31, 2010 at 17:40
  • I think you have to change the sharing permissions of the file. (Yes, they're different) Somewhere in the Sharing tab, Security/Advanced, somewhere in there.
    – Hello71
    May 31, 2010 at 21:39
  • @JRFalconer: It's a users home folder; question edited.
    – sleske
    May 31, 2010 at 22:52

1 Answer 1

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It may not be enough - Generally being a part of the administrator group in windows 7 implies you can request administrator privileges, but the account doesn't normally run with them (i.e., requires the UAC prompt to fully elevate to Administrator access). I would try either turning UAC off (I don't really recommend this, as much as people hate it; UAC is actually a fairly decent security practice, and I'm glad to see Microsoft finally fixing their broken security model), or give your user account explicit read privileges (as you have discovered).

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  • "Generally being a part of the administrator group in windows 7 implies you can request administrator privileges, but the account doesn't normally run with them". That may well be, but as I wrote, the Administrator group is listed explicitly as having access to the folder. So it can't really be a problem of "having to escalate", can it?
    – sleske
    May 31, 2010 at 22:53
  • It could - while it shows your user as a part of the Administrator group, it doesn't actually give you administrator rights until you escalate through UAC. Jun 1, 2010 at 6:07
  • @Darth: Yes, that's true. But as I wrote, the "Administrator group" is listed explicitly. So the user should not need Admin privs, membership in the "Administrator group" should be enough. Or is the "Administrator group" somehow special?
    – sleske
    Jun 7, 2010 at 10:30
  • @sleske The Administrators group is special. The way Windows 7 works is if a user account is "in" the Administrators group, then that account may request privileges to perform an action. Once requested (through UAC), the process which requested them is granted all the benefits of being in the Administrators group; Otherwise, the system treats the account like it is not in Administrators for security purposes (which includes file permissions). This behavior is disabled if you disable UAC. Jun 7, 2010 at 18:10
  • Thanks for the detailed explanation. I still don't find it very logical, but I guess that won't help me :-). I'll just stick with explicitly giving permission.
    – sleske
    Jun 7, 2010 at 22:39

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