Changing Windows Server 2008 permissions

[Scott Tidmore]

Hello! Some time ago, I moved files from a Vista machine's 'My Documents' to a user's folder on our file server running Windows Server 2008. We had a server crash due to a power outage (not sure if that's relevant). I replaced all files from a Windows Server 2008 back up (not sure if that's relevant). It seems I cannot access the individual files and folders from the 'Vista' machine. I seem to have to go to each file and folder and change the permissions. When I try to change permissions from a 'parent' folder, I get an error that says 'access is denied'. I'm wondering if there is some script, or a tip of some sort that might allow me to change all the permissions for these Vista files at one time (there are several hundred).

Any help would be appreciated!
KST

[Paul T]

It is a security issue, not a corruption one.

I assume you are an administrator on the 2008 box.
1. Right click on the folder in question.
2. Select Properties > Security.
3. Advanced.
4. Edit and change the owner - take ownership of all files and folders.
You will now be able to change the security.

cheers, Paul

[Scott Tidmore]

Hey Paul, thank you for your response. I was afraid no one would. I am the admin on the server box.

I had followed your procedure repeatedly with no results, thus my post on this forum.

It turns out there was an issue w/ the 'Sharing'. Once I removed all the 'Shared Permissions', and set up the permissions again, the issue went away. I still do not know if there was something corrupt, but I still have the issue on other folders. As I remove the Shared Permissions and re-instate them, the issue goes away.

I'm posting this to thank you for your response, and hopefully my experience w/ help someone else w/ a similar issue!

Many thanks!
KST

[JoeP517]

"Sharing Permissions" & "Security Permissions" can be tricky to combine. Particularly if the permissions are migrated from an older version of Windows and users have changed, groups have changed, an updated version of AD is used, etc., etc.

Glad you got it figured out and are getting it resolved. Thanks for posting back.

Joe

[Paul T]

Troubleshooting file permissions should always be done on the server in question, never via a share. RDP is your friend.

I always set share permissions at "full" and control access through file permissions. No problems understanding who has what then and you have much finer control in NTFS.

cheers, Paul

p.s. Ill post a details of a utility I use that collects the permissions in a text file for easy reference.

[Paul T]

here's a batch file that collects all the security settings from all of the folders on a drive. As the usual arrangement is to have a data volume with the shares, this utility will allow you to work out where the security is and isn't.

@echo off
::**********************************************
:: Dump NTFS directory permissions to file
:: Save in tab delimited format for import into Excel
::
:: Note: DUMPSEC runs as a background process.
::       The only indication of completion is the generation
::       of the output file, which can take several hours.
::
:: Requires dumpsec.exe from http://www.systemtools.com/somarsoft
::**********************************************
 
:: Dump NTFS permissions from D:. Only show changed permissions.
DUMPSEC.exe /rpt=dir=D:\ /outfile=D:\DumpNTFSSecurity.txt /saveas=tsv /noowner /showexcdirs

cheers, Paul