XP permission on dual boot system?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Gareth - 15 Jul 2007 19:50 GMT

I have a dual boot system using 2 hard drives - XP (Home) on one and Vista
on the other.

My XP install is not password protected in terms of user logins (it's for
ease of use family access).

When I boot in to Vista and try to access my XP "My Documents" folder (and
some other folders) I'm told that I don't have permission to access the XP
folder(s). I'm using administrator rights in both XP and Vista.

Could someone tell me how I alter the XP folder and file permissions so that
I can access XP files from Vista?

Gareth.

Reply to this Message

Malke - 15 Jul 2007 20:39 GMT

> I have a dual boot system using 2 hard drives - XP (Home) on one and Vista
> on the other.
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Could someone tell me how I alter the XP folder and file permissions so that
> I can access XP files from Vista?

XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home directories (My
Documents) although you can share folders within the directory. A better
solution for you is to put the files in the Shared Documents directory
on XP and files from Vista in Vista's Public directory.

Malke

Signature

Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Reply to this Message

Gareth - 16 Jul 2007 20:30 GMT

>> I have a dual boot system using 2 hard drives - XP (Home) on one and
>> Vista on the other.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> you is to put the files in the Shared Documents directory on XP and files
> from Vista in Vista's Public directory.

Thank you.

Is there no workaround other than moving the files in to another directory?

I assumed that there was probably a permission setting that I needed to set
but this is bad news - there will be a lot of file movement to do!

Thanks again.

Gareth.

Reply to this Message

Malke - 16 Jul 2007 20:51 GMT

>>> I have a dual boot system using 2 hard drives - XP (Home) on one and
>>> Vista on the other.
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> I assumed that there was probably a permission setting that I needed to set
> but this is bad news - there will be a lot of file movement to do!

With all operating systems, you need to put files to be shared where the
operating system allows you. Trying to do otherwise may be possible but
it will not be efficient and you will always be adjusting permissions.
XP Home does not allow you to set fine-grained permissions the way XP
Pro does with Simple Sharing disabled. You cannot disable Simple Sharing
in XP Home except by means of an unsupported hack. In order to change
security settings in XP Home, you must go into Safe Mode to get the
Security tab.

Malke

Signature

Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Reply to this Message

Malke - 16 Jul 2007 20:53 GMT

> Is there no workaround other than moving the files in to another directory?
>
> I assumed that there was probably a permission setting that I needed to set
> but this is bad news - there will be a lot of file movement to do!

Addendum to my previous reply

Alternate things to do:

1. Install a second hard drive and put shared data on it. Since sharing
is between XP and Vista, you can format the drive NTFS. Create a folder
(or folders) and set sharing to "Everyone".

2. Attach an external hard drive and put shared data on it. This is also
good for backups.

Malke

Signature

Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Reply to this Message

Leo - 16 Jul 2007 23:45 GMT

While in Vista try this:

Step by step instruction on how to take ownership of a folder

Run CMD (as administrator) and type: takeown [path] /f <filename or folder>

OR

- Right-click the file/folder you want to own, click properties

- Click Security Tab

- Click Advanced

- Click the Owner Tab

- Click Edit

- Select the Administrators group from the list

- Click OK

- Click OK

- Click OK

You have now taken 'Ownership' of the file and you can close the property

Windows

Now again

1) Right-click on the file

2) Select Properties

3) Go to the Security tab again, click the Advanced button

4) Now Press Edit, then double-click 'Administrators' in the list and tick

the 'allow' box for 'Full control'

You have now taken 'Full control' of file

Signature

Leo

It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end,
someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them.

>>> I have a dual boot system using 2 hard drives - XP (Home) on one and
>>> Vista on the other.
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> Gareth.

Reply to this Message

Malke - 17 Jul 2007 00:23 GMT

> While in Vista try this:
>
> Step by step instruction on how to take ownership of a folder

(snip)

The OP's issue isn't with Vista. It's that he is dual-booting with XP
Home and he'd like to share data between the systems. XP Home doesn't
allow sharing of My Documents and the OP wanted to share out XP's My
Documents. I've given him some workarounds for this.

Malke

Signature

Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Reply to this Message

jorgen - 17 Jul 2007 01:43 GMT

> The OP's issue isn't with Vista.

It actually is. It is the ntfs driver in vista, that doesn't allow
access if he isn't listed in the ACL with his vista-sid.

Reply to this Message

Malke - 17 Jul 2007 13:42 GMT

>> The OP's issue isn't with Vista.
>
> It actually is. It is the ntfs driver in vista, that doesn't allow
> access if he isn't listed in the ACL with his vista-sid.

That's as may be, but the main issue is that XP Home doesn't allow
sharing of My Documents. The OP is having the common issue of how to
share data on one computer between two operating systems. Yes, of course
he needs to have a common user account on both operating systems. And
yes, he should have a directory or partition or hard drive set aside for
shared data so that it is easily accessibly from both operating systems.
As an example, when you have Linux and an NT-based Windows operating
system installed on the same computer, you need a partition or drive
formatted FAT32. Since the OP has two NT-based operating systems, he can
format the extra partition or drive NTFS. Or he can put the files he
wants to share in public folders in both operating systems; the Shared
Documents folder in XP Home and the Public folder in Vista.

EOT for me.

Malke

Signature

Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Reply to this Message

Leo - 17 Jul 2007 19:11 GMT

Yes I know what his original question was.

While in Vista you can view, execute, copy files, etc. in XP's My Documents
folder if you take ownership of XP's MY Documents Folder.

Signature

Leo

It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end,
someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them.

>> While in Vista try this:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Malke

Reply to this Message

Gareth - 30 Jul 2007 21:28 GMT

> While in Vista try this:
>
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
>
> You have now taken 'Full control' of file

Thanks for the help. I tried the takeown command but it didn't allow me to
access files in the directory - it did however allow me to view the
filenames and file types.

I found a shareware shell extension - XP Home Permission Manager which seems
to have solved the problem. It adds a permission setting tab to XP Home and
seems to work well. Allowing Everyone access to the home folder means that
the folder is visible from Vista (turning off the "Make folder private"
option" was sufficient).

Just a quick question though. Are there any special security risks involved
in making the home (My Documents) folder visible to Everyone?

Gareth,

Reply to this Message