Setup Network Privileges on Workgroup 1

[Kirsle]

Hi, I'm trying to set up some permission settings on shared folders on my workgroup. Here's how the setup is:

On my desktop computer (UPSILON), I have it set to share the root folders of all three hard drives (two internal, one external), and to give network users permission to change files.

I secured my wireless network with a password to prevent any average joe from tapping in and messing up my files. But, being able to modify files from my laptop makes it a lot easier on me to work on my projects without having to be in front of my desktop.

My laptop's name is EPSILON.

Now, on the laptop I am running Windows XP Professional, and when I right-click and go to the folder properties there is a "Security" tab.

On the desktop, it also has XP Pro installed, but it acts more like Home Edition; I have to boot up in safe mode, log on as Administrator, and THEN I have the Security tab on file properties (but never when logged on as a regular Administrators account).

So I booted up the desktop in safe mode with networking, and started changing permissions. First I decided to test them on the external hard drive. So, I changed the permissions to...

Administrators (UPSILON\Administrators)
   Allow             Deny
   [x] Full Control  [ ] Full Control
   [x] Modify        [ ] Modify
   [x] Read & Exec   [ ] Read & Exec
   [x] List Contents [ ] List Contents
   [x] Read          [ ] Read
   [x] Write         [ ]
   [ ] Special Perm. [ ] Special Perm.

CREATOR OWNER
   Allow             Deny
   [ ] Full Control  [ ] Full Control
   [ ] Modify        [ ] Modify
   [ ] Read & Exec   [ ] Read & Exec
   [ ] List Contents [ ] List Contents
   [ ] Read          [ ] Read
   [ ] Write         [ ]
   [x] Special Perm. [ ] Special Perm.

Everyone
   Allow             Deny
   [ ] Full Control  [ ] Full Control
   [ ] Modify        [ ] Modify
   [x] Read & Exec   [ ] Read & Exec
   [x] List Contents [ ] List Contents
   [x] Read          [ ] Read
   [ ] Write         [ ]
   [ ] Special Perm. [ ] Special Perm.

Noah (UPSILON\Noah)
   Allow             Deny
   [ ] Full Control  [ ] Full Control
   [ ] Modify        [ ] Modify
   [ ] Read & Exec   [ ] Read & Exec
   [ ] List Contents [ ] List Contents
   [ ] Read          [ ] Read
   [ ] Write         [ ]
   [x] Special Perm. [ ] Special Perm.

SYSTEM
   Allow             Deny
   [x] Full Control  [ ] Full Control
   [x] Modify        [ ] Modify
   [x] Read & Exec   [ ] Read & Exec
   [x] List Contents [ ] List Contents
   [x] Read          [ ] Read
   [x] Write         [ ]
   [ ] Special Perm. [ ] Special Perm.

Users (UPSILON\Users)
   Allow             Deny
   [ ] Full Control  [ ] Full Control
   [x] Modify        [ ] Modify
   [x] Read & Exec   [ ] Read & Exec
   [x] List Contents [ ] List Contents
   [x] Read          [ ] Read
   [x] Write         [ ]
   [ ] Special Perm. [ ] Special Perm.

The lack of permissions under "Everyone" seems to cover all network users, because over the network I'm not allowed to write or modify files on this drive.

What I *want* to do is this:

1) For me on my laptop (EPSILON\ITT Tech Student), allow read/write/modify permissions (full permissions) to the root of the hard drive.
2) For all other network users (i.e. when my brother comes over and gets on the network), only allow read permissions.

I've managed to cover the "only allow read permissions over the network" by changing "Everyone's" permissions, but I can't seem to add my username on my laptop to the permissions list.

Even though I'm on Safe Mode w/ Networking, and both computers are currently connected to the network, I can't seem to find EPSILON as a search location.

In the Security tab, if I click "Add" (user) and click "Location", a "Select the location you want to search" dialog comes up. UPSILON (the desktop) is listed, but EPSILON (the laptop) is not.

So, how can I add a permission setting for a network user? Is there a way to manually enter the computer and user name?

Also, I want to know if it's possible to have a sub-folder within a shared folder whose permissions contradict the parent folder's permissions.

i.e. if I share the root of a hard drive, but there's a folder I don't want any network user to be able to read from, how can I set that folder's permissions? When I go to its Security tab, the options for "read/list" are checked and disabled, so I can't uncheck them. If I check the "Deny" boxes, they override the allow boxes, and even the local Administrator can't get into the folder, let alone any network user.

Thanks in advance.

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[jhaith]

Ans 1.
Easy way to do this would to be to add the user account used on EPSILON as an Administrator on UPSILON. This will give you full privileges no matter what the security settings say since you'll be accesing via an Administrator account.

--Quick n' Brief Instructions--
Log onto SPSILON as Administrator.
Right click My Computer, select Manage.
Open Local Users and Groups, select Groups.
Right click Administrators, select Add to Group.
Click Add, add the user EPSILON\"user account" and click OK.


Ans 2.
On the Sub Folder you wish to change the permissions on you can choose not to inheret permissions from the parent folder.

--Quick n' Brief Instructions--
Go to the Security Tab, click Advanced.
Uncheck Inherit from parent the permission etc...
Select Remove.
Go back to the Security tab and add the user you want to give permissions to.

Hope this is what you were looking for.

-jhaith

 

[Kirsle]

Thanks. I'll give it a try and post my results.

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[Kirsle]

That didn't work either. When I went to add a user to the group, it popped up a similar dialog as it did when I tried to add a new permission setting to the Security listbox, where it prompted for a location and username.

The location box was disabled and clicking "Locate" would list UPSILON but not EPSILON. If I tried to manually enter "EPSILON\username" for a user, it would pop up an error saying that it was invalid and I could correct it and hit okay, or click cancel which would make the error dialog go away, but either way it wouldn't let me add this user to the group because for some reason the computer name wasn't listed.

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[projectpete]

Kirsle: So, how can I add a permission setting for a network user? Is there a way to manually enter the computer and user name?

I would think you would have to change the everyone permissions as well as add a username in control panel with a password that you would give your brother to use when he comes over and add it to the root folder with only read permissions which will then be passed down to all subfolders


Kirsle: Also, I want to know if it's possible to have a sub-folder within a shared folder whose permissions contradict the parent folder's permissions.

If you click the advanced tab when you are looking at the security settings of a folder, uncheck the Inherit from parent... and when the next box opens hit the copy button then change the permissions you want.

 

[wolluf]

Kirsle - it sounds like you have simplified sharing ENABLED on the desktop (which is exactly like XP Home) and DISABLED on the laptop (which is like previous NT based versions of windows).

If you have it disabled on both, you'll need to have matching accounts (ie, username/password logged on with on one machine will need to exist as user on the other) - but you'll also be able to put security on the shares, rather than on the underlying drives/folders if you want. Security tab will be available on both machines as well of course.

When its enabled, as you've seen, security tab only available in safe mode (also like XP Home).

 

[Kirsle]

wolluf - Thanks for the tip. As I was searching around seeing if I could solve this problem, I read somewhere that told me to disable simple file sharing. I was on safe mode as Administrator when I did this and didn't notice anything different...

I have three regular admin accounts (Admin, Ann, Noah), where Admin is just a normal admin account that doesn't have a lot of b/s startup items (I log on to that to do processor-heavy operations, like using Windows Movie Maker). When I was on Admin, I noticed the Security tab was present even though I wasn't in safe mode. After you posted that, I checked on Noah and the tab was there too.

So, if simple file sharing is DISABLED on both machines, and both machines have a local user of the same name (say, username Foo password Bar)... I should be able to set folder permissions on the local computer for the user Foo, and then the user Foo on the laptop will also be bound by those same permissions?

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[wolluf]

You've got it.