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My laptop has a HDD which has several partitions. One ntfs partition is for Windows7 installation, one ntfs partition is for my personal files, and there are some other partitions.

I would like to make the partition for my personal files read-only, to protect from any unaware writing into it.

Later I will also would like to be able to write to that partition whenever I feel I need to.

So I was wondering, how to make a partition on a HDD read-only and then writable under Windows 7?

Added:

I just followed what the current reply said, "Right click on the partition and click properties - in the security tab change the permissions as appropriate. "

There are several options: Full control, Modify, Read & execute, List folder contents, Read, Write, Special permissions.

  1. I am not sure which on I should "Allow" or "Deny", for read-only and for writable.

  2. Some look similar and therefore confusing to me, such as Modify, execute in "Read & execute", and Write. Should I avoid them altogether? But "Deny" Modify will "Deny" Read as well.

  3. It is also possible to check neither "Allow" or "Deny" for any option? In that case, is the option allowed or denied?

  4. Just change the permissions for all four user groups (Autenticated Users, SYSTEM, Administrators (ADMIN\Administrators), and Users (ADMIN\Users)) to allow only three options "Read & execute", "List folder contents", and "Read", and deny none. Now I try to see if I can change back to be able to write into that partition, but I find I am not allowed to edit the permissions, perhaps because my user group is allowed for the three options only.

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1 Answer 1

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Right click on the partition and click properties - in the security tab change the permissions as appropriate. Maybe add 'everyone' and give read access only where as your actual login (and the administrator) remain on Full Control.

EDIT

Or, if all files and folders can live under one top root folder you can mark that as read-only and ensure this is applied to sub-directories although be-careful software can over-write read-only files!

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  • Thanks! There are several options: Full control, Modify, Read & execute, List folder contents, Read, Write, Special permissions. (1) I am not sure which is to "Allow" and which is to "Deny", for read-only and for writeable? (2) Some look similar and therefore confusing to me, such as Modify, execute in "Read & execute", and Write. Should I avoid them altogether?But "Deny" Modify will "Deny" Read as well. (3) It is also possible neither check "Allow" nor check "Deny" for any option. In that case, is the option allowed or denied?
    – Tim
    Sep 12, 2012 at 12:29
  • First off - I would suggest you research permissions. You could potentially lock yourself out for good. Don't worry, it's not scarey. I would suggest that you ONLY block Modify and Write
    – Dave
    Sep 12, 2012 at 12:33
  • Thanks! I added more information and questions to my previous comment while you were typing yours. Please check it again. Thanks!
    – Tim
    Sep 12, 2012 at 12:36
  • In the permissions screen, click on add. Click on advanced then select find now. Find your name to add yourself (if you're not already there)
    – Dave
    Sep 12, 2012 at 13:14
  • I have changed the permissions for all four user groups (Autenticated Users, SYSTEM, Administrators (ADMIN\Administrators), and Users (ADMIN\Users)) to allow only three options "Read & execute", "List folder contents", and "Read", and deny none. Now I try to see if I can change back to be able to write into that partition, but I find I am not allowed to edit the permissions including the "Add" being grayed out, perhaps because my user group is allowed for the three options only.
    – Tim
    Sep 12, 2012 at 13:21

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