Why did Windows 8.1 damage the security permissions on a drive from another Windows installation

-2

I have a problem with Windows 8.1 and doing a "quick" backup of the files and folders on another installations HDD

Scenario:

Computer A: My computer = Windows 8.1 fully patched Computer B: Other computer = Windows 8.0 fully patched (apart from 8.1)

  1. Removed HDD from Computer B in order to check files system and copy users files and >folders prior to some clean-up work
  2. Placed HDD into computer A and it came up as drive K
  3. Accessed the K drive .\users\userA folder
  4. Got told I did not have permission etc. Do you want access Y/N - Clicked Y
  5. Waited about 2 minutes for it to think about it

5a Gained Access and copied documents and pictures etc to temporary holding area on >Computer A

  1. Removed drive of B and put it back into Computer B
  2. Booted up
  3. Got to log on screen
  4. Logged on to computer B

Problem 1 - Start screen in computer B was totally empty Problem 2 - Could not even access the "Desktop"

It appears that the ACL got messed up doing the steps above.

I tried and suceeded to get access back by running:

  • icacls c:/ * /T /Q /C /RESET - got loads of "access denied" bust also I guess is reset a lot as well (not sure if I needed to do this though)
  • Explorer and changed ownership of c:\users\userA back to "userA". Gave UserA full control of both c:\users\userA and c:\users\public and all their subordinates.

I have replicated the steps in Windows 7 on a Windows 8 HDD and also in MiniXP both of which use the same ACL methodology.

My questions are:

  1. why does it do it in 8 but not in Hiren (miniXP) or Windows 7 as the host computer. Is this a specific change in the way ACL is handled in Windows 8 and above?

  2. Is the command icacls c:/ * /T /Q /C /RESET in Windows 8 and 8.1 the correct command to recover from this corruption of the ACL.

user331793

Posted 2014-06-09T16:08:34.430

Reputation: 1

2You took ownership of the folders and files. You were asked if you wanted to do this. While this wouldn't have been possible in Linux since file persmissions are handled slightly different you still would have had to change the permissions to access them more then likely. – Ramhound – 2014-06-09T16:14:00.310

1This is way too long of a post to do no more than complain. Super User is not a forum to post complaints. It is a place to get help when you run into a problem. Other people may read your post because they have a similar issue. So, please [edit] this question to be clear and concise as to what you are asking. Then maybe it can be valuable to others. Otherwise, it will likely end up closed. – CharlieRB – 2014-06-09T16:32:48.563

"A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.[1]" – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-06-09T16:45:23.377

Question has been edited to make it clearer. Hopefully this will better help anyone else who has a similar problem. – user331793 – 2014-06-14T08:27:15.197

Answers

2

a) Because you answered "yes" to the question about changing permissions. NTFS permissions are based on the SIDs in the system. If you put the drive into another machine, only the built-in SIDs match (Everyone, Administrator etc). All other accounts have different SIDs, so the ACLs must be changed if you want access. Windows doesn't know that you actually have ripped a drive from another computer, or its SIDs, it may well remove them, or do whatever.

b) Add permissions manually for your user accout and don't touch other ACLs. That way it won't happen. If it does, then you have to painstakingly manually restore all permissions.

Sami Kuhmonen

Posted 2014-06-09T16:08:34.430

Reputation: 2 052

Asked: 2014-06-09T16:08:34.430

Viewed: 1 786 times

Active: 2014-06-14T09:10:20.117