I really can't keep up with permissions in Vista. Permissions for other users
of the computer vs. permissions for network users when sharing files - I'm
lost. And I must've done something horrible, because somehow I've slowed
explorer down to a crawl.

Basically, it seems everything is "shared" with "all users." Whenever I try
to move or delete something from my C: drive, it asks if I'm sure (because
it's shared) and then takes a ridiculous amount of time to do. It takes about
a half-hour to delete an empty folder from the desktop - literally! Even
then, it sometimes denies me permission to delete things, even though I'm the
ONLY administrator and have turned off UAC completely.

Secondly, programs create and delete temp files and folders in the
background as always, but suddenly I'm asked permission when a temporary
folder is about to be deleted by a background process - maddening!

What did I do? Is there any way to reset permissions? I'm hoping that the
full version of Vista will give me a clean slate, but I'm afraid that the
permissions are stored in the files and simply transferring them when I get
the full version will just transfer my problem as well.

When I right-click folders and click "share," some bring up a nice little
graphical wizard to help me "change sharing permissions" or "stop sharing"
(both of which take forever and don't really work) while other folders bring
up an old NT style "permissions" dialog box - why the difference? What's
going on? AAAAAAA!!!

Thanks SO much for even reading this, much less helping me out.

Teddy

Hello,

What version of Vista are you using? I had a similar issue while running
RC1. I'm not sure how it happened, either. I found that clicking cancel sped
things up quite a bit.

I haven't noticed this behavior on RTM so far.

There is a big difference between sharing permissions and "regular"
permissions - and this is a subject that trips up most people.

When you access a computer from the network, you can only access the files
that you would normally be able to access if you were actually logged on in
front of the computer. Sharing a folder does *NOT* override this security
mechanism, regardless of what permissions you have assigned to the share
itself.

Also, if you turn off "password-protected sharing" from the network sharing
control panel, whenever you access your Vista machine you are logged in as a
"guest" under the covers - so under these circumstances, you AT MOST only
have access to the files/folders that allow guests (or everyone) to have
access to them.

Regular permissions, found via the security tab, are what really count. You
can't share the Windows folder and expect anyone who accesses your computer
from the network to be able to see and delete files in that folder.

Sharing permissions are kind of like a filter that gets applied to the
regular permissions. You can think of sharing permissions as "the most
permissions that a user can aquire" when accessing that specific share. They
allow you to set the MAXIMUM amount of permissions you want the user to be
able to use while using that share.

Share permissions never, EVER give permission. They only LIMIT permission.

For example, if you give a user READ access to the share, but there are
files inside the share that grant the user full control (such as files that
the user created), the share permissions filter the normal permissions and
the user is only granted READ access.

Conversely, if the share grants the user FULL CONTROL but a file inside the
share only grants the user READ access, the user only gets READ access.

In other words, the most limiting combination of permissions between the
share and normal permissions are what is applied .

--
- JB

Windows Vista Support Faq
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/