Re: Need to understand permissions and ownership

Luis Ortega wrote:


Thanks again.
I tried to do some system restores but it said that it encountered a
problem and did not make any changes, so I am stuck with whatever I have
now.
I don't know if they failed because of something I did by changing
ownerships or permissions or if there is some other reason. Whatever it
is, it won't accept any of my restore points.

I know that I changed ownership on the c drive and also tried to change
ownership of the users folder to my own named account.

I understand about the virtual folders and am not trying to access those.

This is a single user system but it is on a wireless broadband
connection to the internet. I do not need to share files with another
computer but my daughter may try to use the bluetooth feature to connect
to an ipod or something.
I am primarily worried about making the system vulnerable to attacks
from the internet by having changed ownerships or permissions. I am not
concerned about intrusions from any local networks or unauthorized
persons getting into the system. It is just our home computer.

Is there any way to change the c drive back to anything more secure?
Should I try to delete or remove permissions from the authenticated
users from the lists of who has permissions and just leave system,
administrators and users on the lists?
Should I consider reinstalling vista again?

Playing around with permissions on a single-user system the way you did will
do nothing to protect you from "attacks from the internet [sic]". Having
good security software and using "Safe Hex" will. See the links below about
that.

At this point, you probably have irrevocably damaged your operating system.
I would back up your data and do a clean install of Vista (or restore your
computer to factory condition if an OEM machine).

Then consider buying a book such as the one I recommended, purchasing an
external hard drive and an imaging program like Acronis True Image, and
learning about Vista before doing this sort of thing again.

Safe Hex:
http://www.getsafeonline.org/
https://www.mysecurecyberspace.com/
http://www.getnetwise.org/
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldron/archive/2006/02/05/82584.aspx - MVP
Harry Waldron - The Family PC - How to stay safe on the Internet

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Need to understand permissions and ownership
    ... ownership of everything? ... I did make a restore point before starting to foll around with the ... if you've messed around with permissions for no good reason doing a ... I know that I changed ownership on the c drive and also tried to change ownership of the users folder to my own named account. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.vista.general)
  • Re: System volume information access denied
    ... It would seem more likely that this would also be some Permissions issue, ... To repair all system files, go to Start/Run, and type: SFC /SCANNOW ... >>> The problem is that I am also unable to create a new restore point. ... >>> appears that nothing can access the system information volume folder. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: icacls or subinacl
    ... It would be somewhat tricky to restore permissions to such a set of files, ... Another option would be to write a script to create a copy of the ... the backup volume was formatted with NTFS, there would be no need to use ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.security)
  • Re: Fixing a registry permissions issue?
    ... restore points to use.... ... your registry with a default ... because its permissions were set wrong. ... can do nothing but hit the reset on the tower.... ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: DCOMCNFG.EXE
    ... I have removed all permissions from "Default Configuration ... Restore from last Full Registry Backup? ... SOFTWARE hive file from a known good recent backup, ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.registry)