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Folders that I thought were private aren't

Discussion in 'Legacy Windows' started by wjburl, 2015/01/28.

  1. 2015/01/28
    wjburl

    wjburl Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I have two Windows 8.1 towers at home. One is for my personal use and the other is for guests. I also have and account on the 2nd computer that I sign onto with my Microsoft Account and I keep a copy of my files on that system. All the other accounts are set as standard users. Only I have administrative privileges. Recently my grandson asked me to log onto his account and email a file to him. While looking for his file, I noticed that my private folders were available while logged into his account. I could see my private OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and other folders that I thought were private. Since I have an SSD as drive C, I had to move the folders to the D Drive because of the limited space on the SSD. I thought I had used the proper procedure to move those folders. What can I do to make those folders not available to the users with standard accounts?
     
    wjburl,
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  2. 2015/01/28
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Evan Omo,
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  4. 2015/01/29
    wjburl

    wjburl Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Evan Omo, thanks for the link. It may be the weekend before I have time to do that, but I'll change the permissions. The warning statement makes me think that I should first set up a dummy folder to test it.
     
    wjburl,
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  5. 2015/01/30
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    Your files are those files stored in Windows default <username> Libraries, e.g. Contacts, Desktop, Downloads, Favorites, My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, My Videos, Saved Games and Searches.

    Any of these can be moved to another drive and retain your user privileges and permissions. This is done by right clicking the directory and selecting Properties > Location tab > Move... button. (first create a directory on the other drive)

    For example, to move your My Documents, create a folder on the other drive called My Documents. Then follow the steps above and move the C:\Users\<username>\My Documents to D:\My Documents (if D: is the other hard drive).

    To prevent other users from accessing your files you must configure sharing. Best to NOT use Homegroup and require passwords for sharing. By default, Homegroup allows sharing of Public files. You can also set which apps have access to your files via PC Settings.

    If you just copy a directory and its files to another drive these files will be available to all other users UNLESS you change the permissions using the method Evan stated above.

    For better security use a Local account for Windows 8. Unless have mobile Windows or a tablet, there's no need to use a microsoft account on a Desktop computer. A local account gives you more control over sharing, security, etc.
     
    TonyT,
    #4
  6. 2015/01/30
    lj50 Lifetime Subscription

    lj50 SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    I see you marked this as resolved. How did you resolve the issue.
     
    lj50,
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  7. 2015/01/31
    wjburl

    wjburl Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    TonyT, I'll try to implement your suggestions when time permits. lj50, I changed the permissions in the properties of a test folder as was suggested in Evan Omo's link. I'll go back and either change the permissions or move the users to another drive as TonyT suggested when time permits. I haven't tested TonyT's advice yet. I'm in the middle of another project right now and I don't have the time to do all the maintenance that needs to be done. Fortunately, I don't expect the guest computer to get much use for a few weeks. Thanks again for all the advice.
     
    wjburl,
    #6
  8. 2015/01/31
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Thanks for posting back. :)
     
    Evan Omo,
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