Behaviour of XP created folders when updating to Win7

[tedsmith]

I have found that when updating a drive to Win7, I cant write to folders via the network from another computer even though they are shared as Full and folder security is set to an added Everyone (set to full) so I can see the folder from outside.
This gets around Win7's normal reluctance to share folders on the C: drive.
Any XP created folders Read Only tick boxes show gray if you clear them and reshow folder properties.

A work around is to create a temporary folder in the recently updated drive, move all the data to this new folder, erase the original folder made with XP and rename the temporary folder to the original folder name. (rather messy and time consuming).

Anybody any ideas as to why or if there is an easier way to "convert" the "XP" folder?

 

[strongm]

Read Only is a meaningless attribute (and it is the attribute that you are talking about, not the ACL) for a folder under NTFS. it'll show as 'grey' (or, with the default scheme, as a green box) on XP as well. This is not a Windows 7 artifact.

Not quite sure what you mean by 'updating a drive to Windows 7'. Are you referring to upgrading the version of NTFS in use? In which case both XP and Windows 7 use NTFS v3.1 on disk. Or are you simply saying that you are trying to access the drive from Windows 7 or are you saying that you have upgraded your OS to windows 7 and are trying to access local folders on the Windows 7 machine from a remote machine.

If the latter (which I think it most likely seems to be), then are all the machines (and users) in question members of the same domain?

 

[tedsmith]

Drive was and still is NTFS
I updated the OS from XP to Win7 without deleting any data files
I shared all folders in the C drive to Everyone with full access control.
Both computers are on the same domain and using another XP computer, I can read all files in folders in the newly updated computer OK.
But I can write only to any file in a folder that has been newly created under Win7. All data on old folders seems to be "read only".

If I copy the data to a newly created folder, delete the old folder and rename the new folder it to the original name, everything works OK.

The read only properties check box remains greyed out (not green) on the old folders whereas it is clear when unticked on the newly created folders.
I can write to the old folders from the new computer but not from the one on the network as though sharing permission has somehow been set to read access only for only the old folders.

Apart from being annoying, I can't understand why! (and difficult for someone else to duplicate)

Neither computer or network is on the internet so I don't have any security concern.

 

[strongm]

>remains greyed out (not green) on the old folders

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear: it'd be green only on XP. And whatever colour it is, it has no bearing on your 'issue', since like the human appendix the Read Only attribute has no function (for folders)

>I shared all folders in the C drive to Everyone with full access control.

Ah! Now we are getting somewhere. Sharing is not really the same as giving users actual permissions on folders or files. It is more a potential permission. The actual permissions are set on the files and folders themselves. So, for example, if the actual permission on a folder is to only allow Everybody to read files, then sharing that folder - even with Full permissions - will still only allow Everyone to read files, and nothing else

Without going into the details, your problem is almost certainly caused by the fact that you are not the owner of the existing folders that you cannot write to.

When you create a new folder you are the CREATOR OWNER, so from then on you get the CREATOR OWNER permissions for that folder.

Now you may be thinking "Hang on, I created those old folders on that drive so surely I am the CREATOR OWNER", No. You've upgraded to Windows 7, and even if you've given yourself the same username on the W7 box it is NOT the same account as the one under XP; accounts are actually represented by a SID (Security Identifier). When you create a new account - even if it has the same name as an old account - it gets a brand new SID. If that SID doesn't match the SID stored in the ACL as the owner of the folder, then as far as Windows is concerned you are NOT the owner.

 

[tedsmith]

Both machines are running as administrator with no passwords, no other accounts have been set up.

So how do I set OLD folders to full permission to an external computer like a new one? (if that is possible)

 

[jtb]

tedsmith, you need to "Take Ownership": hxxp://

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1911-take-ownership-shortcut.html

JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[tedsmith]

jtb I would be very wary of running something like is proposed in that link of yours.

Are you suggesting that you cant 'take ownership' by changing any of the Windows settings with the normal tools provided by Microsoft with the OS?

 

[strongm]

Of course you can. jtb's link is just a ...erm ... enhancement to the shell, adding the facility to the shell's context-sensitive pop-up for files and folders. Just saves some button pressing. Personally I don't think I'd use it, though.