Windows XP File Security Extension

Running Windows XP on a hard drive or partition that is using the NTFS file system has several advantages. One of themis the increase in system and file security on the system as it becomes possible to modify file access rights for individual users or user groups.

Most Windows users do not know that it is possible to set those rights which works similar to permissions on Linux and Unix systems.

The following rights can be given or denied to all users known to the system: Full Access, Modify, Read and Execute, Read, Write and Special. Please note that you need elevated rights to modify those security permissions.

Make sure you do not alter those settings for system administrators unless you really know what you are doing, you could lock yourself out easily.

Let me give you a practical example. You want to prevent that your two kids who use the computer as well alter certain system files or access some directories on the hard drive. Remove access rights to those folders and files by choosing the user account of your kids and enabling the deny option for every action that they should not be allowed to perform.

FaJo XP File Security Extension makes those options available in the context menu under the entry Edit Security. Once you click on that entry you see a list of all known user accounts and their rights.

Update: Please note that you do not need to use a third-party program to modify those rights on newer versions of Windows. Here you only need to right-click on the file or folder and select properties from the context menu.

Switch to the security tab once the properties window is open. It displays all groups and user names at the top, and the permissions of the selected group or user below.

You can edit permissions for individual users or groups here, or configure advanced permissions. The permissions displayed are identical to the ones on Windows XP.

Additional information about special permissions are provided on this Microsoft Support page. If you want to learn about the core permissions, check out this tutorial instead.

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