May 4th, 2006
A fresh look at Vista's User Account Control
To verify the permissions on your folder full of data files, right-click the folder icon, choose Properties, and click the Security tab:
Credit: Ed Bott
Windows sees that the Users group has Read permissions only on that folder, and it has no way of knowing that you created the folder on another computer and that you should be listed as the Creator-Owner of all those files. It applies permissions based on the standard user process token and tells you if you want to change anything you’ll need to supply your Administrator credentials.
How do you work around this annoyance? You have two choices:
- You can take ownership of the files on the external drive. That gives your account Full Control permissions at all times and prevents other users on the same computer from changing the files unless they do so as an administrator.
- Or you can change the permissions assigned to the Users group so that members of that group have Write or Full Control permissions. That solution allows everyone with a user account on the computer to manage files without having to OK a consent dialog box.
The problem with both of these solutions is that they require a level of technical knowledge that the overwhelming majority of Windows users simply don’t have. Using the default settings of Windows XP, in fact, file permissions are completely hidden. This poses a potential support nightmare for Microsoft, which will have to deal with frustrated users who just want to get to their data files. Many of them, in fact, will simply choose to turn off UAC as a way of coping with the complexity by eliminating it.
In the final installment of this series, I offer some possible solutions that Microsoft can implement to strike the proper balance between security and convenience and prevent a full-scale mutiny when Vista ships.
| 05/04/06
