Access to folders

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rick
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Rick

I recently purchased a new laptop with Vista on it, and I continue to be
frustrated by the layers of security I have to constantly wade through. I
am the owner, administrator and sole user of this computer. It is used in
my home and is not part of any LAN. Yet even though I am the administrator
and only user, I still have to give myself permission before I can do
certain things or run certain programs. Is there any quick and easy way I
can change a setting somewhere so that I don't have to constantly give
myself permission to do various things?

Also, I have managed to change the security settings on various folders by
going into Properties so that I can access the folders freely and see and
access all files. But there are certain folders like the main Windows
folder where I can't quite get the settings right so that I can have full
control over the folder. I still see certain things grayed out on security
screens under Properties where I am trying to give myself full control.

I should mention that I have been a computer professional for more than 40
years so this is not a situation where it is likely I will "accidentally"
delete something important or do something to destroy the integrity of the
system. I have had a lot of experience over the years with earlier Windows
operating systems and am pretty comfortable with Windows XP and its
predecessors. But Vista is turning out to be a real pain, and for a single
user, single computer environment like mine where I am not part of a network
and am just using the computer for my own personal reasons, the security is
excessive and annoying.

So again...my questions are these:

1) Is there an easy way I can give myself total control over all folders
and files on the system?

2) Can I somehow get rid of those annoying "need your permission to
continue" messages when the system ought to be smart enough to realize that
I am an administrator and the only user?
 
Rick said:
I recently purchased a new laptop with Vista on it, and I continue to be
frustrated by the layers of security I have to constantly wade through. I
am the owner, administrator and sole user of this computer. It is used in
my home and is not part of any LAN. Yet even though I am the administrator
and only user, I still have to give myself permission before I can do
certain things or run certain programs. Is there any quick and easy way I
can change a setting somewhere so that I don't have to constantly give
myself permission to do various things?

Also, I have managed to change the security settings on various folders by
going into Properties so that I can access the folders freely and see and
access all files. But there are certain folders like the main Windows
folder where I can't quite get the settings right so that I can have full
control over the folder. I still see certain things grayed out on security
screens under Properties where I am trying to give myself full control.

I should mention that I have been a computer professional for more than 40
years so this is not a situation where it is likely I will "accidentally"
delete something important or do something to destroy the integrity of the
system. I have had a lot of experience over the years with earlier Windows
operating systems and am pretty comfortable with Windows XP and its
predecessors. But Vista is turning out to be a real pain, and for a single
user, single computer environment like mine where I am not part of a network
and am just using the computer for my own personal reasons, the security is
excessive and annoying.

So again...my questions are these:

1) Is there an easy way I can give myself total control over all folders
and files on the system?

2) Can I somehow get rid of those annoying "need your permission to
continue" messages when the system ought to be smart enough to realize that
I am an administrator and the only user?
Click to expand...

I recently purchased a new laptop with Vista on it, and I continue to be
frustrated by the layers of security I have to constantly wade through. I
am the owner, administrator and sole user of this computer. It is used in
my home and is not part of any LAN. Yet even though I am the administrator
and only user, I still have to give myself permission before I can do
certain things or run certain programs. Is there any quick and easy way I
can change a setting somewhere so that I don't have to constantly give
myself permission to do various things?

Also, I have managed to change the security settings on various folders by
going into Properties so that I can access the folders freely and see and
access all files. But there are certain folders like the main Windows
folder where I can't quite get the settings right so that I can have full
control over the folder. I still see certain things grayed out on security
screens under Properties where I am trying to give myself full control.

I should mention that I have been a computer professional for more than 40
years so this is not a situation where it is likely I will "accidentally"
delete something important or do something to destroy the integrity of the
system. I have had a lot of experience over the years with earlier Windows
operating systems and am pretty comfortable with Windows XP and its
predecessors. But Vista is turning out to be a real pain, and for a single
user, single computer environment like mine where I am not part of a network
and am just using the computer for my own personal reasons, the security is
excessive and annoying.

So again...my questions are these:

1) Is there an easy way I can give myself total control over all folders
and files on the system?

2) Can I somehow get rid of those annoying "need your permission to
continue" messages when the system ought to be smart enough to realize that
I am an administrator and the only user?
Click to expand...


If your laptop got stolen a casual thief would probably reformat rather
than get your personal info.

But yes it can be a nuisance, and is also pretty worthless security to a
knowledgable thief and also the idiot who clicks on yes to everything
because they don't understand it.

I hated, hated, hated it at first but it should get less frequent and
you will "Get used to it". You can disable it but to be honest I've
found that if you do "Non default" things to Winders it can come back
and bite you.

I recommend you learn to live with it and watch a few youtube videos
based on a search for MAC Vs PC. It's no technical help whatsoever but
we're probably about the same age and it breaks up the day, It's Sunday,
at least it is here in Iowa.
 
Rick said:
I recently purchased a new laptop with Vista on it,
[...]

...frustrated by the layers of security I have to constantly wade
through.
[...]

...the owner, administrator and sole user of this computer.
[...]

...where I am trying to give myself full control.
[...]

I should mention that I have been a computer professional for more
than 40 years
[...]

So again...my questions are these:

1) Is there an easy way I can give myself total control over all
folders and files on the system?
Click to expand...

Not really, only the "system" account has that kind of control.

Disable MIC and use the *real administrator* (Administrator) account.
2) Can I somehow get rid of those annoying "need your permission to
continue" messages when the system ought to be smart enough to realize
that I am an administrator and the only user?
Click to expand...

The "Administrator" account should not be subjected to UAC, and if MIC
can be turned off via
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\EnableMIC
- no more access denied due to integrity levels.
 
H Brown said:
Hi Rick
The link below has the instructions that will show you how to change all
administrator account's UAC Privilege Level to keep UAC on and not prompt
an administrator.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/8...-elevate-privilege-level.html?filter[11]=User
Accounts

H Brown
Click to expand...

That worked fine for eliminating the annoying "permission to proceed"
messages. Thanks very much!

I still have an issue with going into Properties to change the permissions
on certain files and folders. If I go into some folders (like Windows) and
try to change the permissions to full access, I get little windows that pop
up and say "an error has occurred while applying security information to
[folder path]. Access is denied."
 
This is very handy...
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/112795-context-menu-take-ownership.html




--
Windows 7 beta
http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview
http://download.live.com/wlmail


Rick said:
H Brown said:
Hi Rick
The link below has the instructions that will show you how to change all
administrator account's UAC Privilege Level to keep UAC on and not prompt
an administrator.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/8...-elevate-privilege-level.html?filter[11]=User
Accounts

H Brown
Click to expand...

That worked fine for eliminating the annoying "permission to proceed"
messages. Thanks very much!

I still have an issue with going into Properties to change the permissions
on certain files and folders. If I go into some folders (like Windows)
and try to change the permissions to full access, I get little windows
that pop up and say "an error has occurred while applying security
information to [folder path]. Access is denied."
Click to expand...
 
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