No security tab in XP Professional

I'm trying to install a piece of software on a networked PC running Windows XP Professional, and need to give full permissions to the program directory to all users of the machine (as it is written to by the program). In Windows 2000 I have simply used the Security tab on the folder's property page to assign full rights to 'everyone', which works fine, however on XP this tab doesn't seem to be there.

I have had a good look on the internet, but everywhere that mentions why this tab might be missing state that it is only present when NTFS is being used. The machine uses FAT32 (and can't be upgraded), so how can I get access to this tab (or another way of setting the permissions) - it is available on Win2K using FAT32!

Any help would be most appreciated.

- Mark

 

Working from memory here but try enabling siimple file sharing in Folder Options>Advanced tab.

 

I don't know about 2K but with XP and FAT32 the security tab isn't available. I'm surprised to hear that it's there in 2K. Are you sure you didn't have NTFS file system in 2K?

 

I'm pretty sure the Win2k machines are FAT32, though having said that I'm not 100% positive.

And yes, Miz, I have turned on simple file sharing (though I'm not sure what difference it made).

If there is no security tab, how do I assign permissions to folders? Surely it shouldn't be very hard?

 

For a possiblity, open a command prompt and type cacls (enter) and see if you can use that to assign/modify permissions to suit your purpose. One word of caution, it's very critical of syntax and switch order. Do it in the exact order given in the help file.

For further information on command line usage, create a shortcut with:

%windir%\hh.exe ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\ntcmds.chm::/ntcmds.htm

as the target.

 

OK - I'll look into that. Is there no way of doing it through the UI though? Seems a bit of an odd omission if there isn't!

 

Nope, not that I know of using FAT32. It comes with the file system.

 

That'll teach me to try to work from memory.

The Security tab in XP Pro is available when simple file sharing is disabled. (Source)

However, as has been said, it also requires NTFS.

 

The thing I don't get is that if FAT32 doesn't support this kind of security, why am I unable to write to these folders? Surely it would allow unrestricted access in this case?

 

The machine uses FAT32 (and can't be upgraded), so how can I get access to this tab (or another way of setting the permissions) - it is available on Win2K using FAT32!

You cannot assign file/folder level permissions unless you use a file system that supports security. FAT32 has no provision for security, so you cannot do it. I've included a link on how to convert an existing FAT partition to NTFS so you can use the functionality you want.

314097 How to Use Convert.exe to Convert a Partition to the NTFS File System
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314097

 

That's where I'm having a problem too. If you can't change the permissions, how did they get restricted in the first place?

If you sure 'nuf don't have NTFS file storage, you must have a simple sharing issue.

 

Maybe you could go into gpedit.msc and change the policies.

 

From what I understand, u can read the shared folder but just not write to it?

The only sharing option in xp pro fat32 is :
right click on the file > sharing and security

in the "network sharing and security" part tick :
"share that folder on the network ", and give it a name -> folder is accessible by anyone, but they only have the "read" permission.
tick "allow other users to modify my files" -> folder is accessible by anyone, and they have all permissions on it (write, delete...).

U can not set up the rights for some particular users, they apply to everyone.

 

You can go to (Control Panel ->
Folder Options -> View -> Advanced settings) for enable or disable simple file sharing.
Scroll to the end of the list.

 

To enable the security tab (when it does not appear) go to local security policy -> Local Policies -> Security Options -> Network Access: Sharing and security model for local accounts

and set the value to "Classic.... "

Not very nice, makes you feel you are installing a vulnerability!