Reading Windows

I have a little problem,

When i right-click on folders the "security" tab dosn't display.

My OS was installed by the guy that put my pc together, i am afraid that he may have disabled it on me.

Does anyone know how to re-enable it?

In any folder window, click Tools -> Folder Options. Switch to the View tab. Then un-check a box labelled something like "Use simple file sharing (recommended)".

That should do the trick.

'Yeah, That's what Jesus would do. Jesus would bomb Afghanistan. Yeah.' - snowlion

Thanks Jaz, i knew it would be something simple like that. Microsoft seem to have an uncanny ability to complecate things.

Your hard disk is probably FAT32 formatted. Only NTFS offers file security functions, so the Security tab won't be shown for a FAT32 drive.

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

Your hard disk is probably FAT32 formatted. Only NTFS offers file security functions, so the Security tab won't be shown for a FAT32 drive.

I don't think XP allows you to install on FAT 32 partition.

I don't think XP allows you to install on FAT 32 partition.

Unfortunately it does - at least XP Home Edition. I've even seen computers with XP preinstalled on FAT32, and you can't change it to NTFS without reformatting the drive, but that's impossible because the 'Windows recovery CD' that came with the computer will only install Windows onto a FAT32 drive.
(Also see "Why you never ever should buy Gericom")

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

Unfortunately it does - at least XP Home Edition.

Ah, maybe this is why I never knew. All I've messed with is XP Pro and I don't recall a option for Fat32 when I installed it. But still I dunno why anyone would still be using Fat32. It provides no file level security at all.

But still I dunno why anyone would still be using Fat32.

Nor do I. FAT is so last century. Well, I could imagine that if you wanted *nix/Win98 and XP on the same machine, FAT32 is an option for a data exchange partition because it is 100% supported by every modern OS.

(The only reason for these Gericom computers to be FAT32 is in fact their recovery CD - basically it's a mini-Win98 with a batch file saying "format c: /fat32" and then an xcopy of the XP system files.)

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

I've messed with is XP Pro and I don't recall a option for Fat32 when I installed it.

The WinXP setup option provides an option of formatting a drive as a FAT partition. While this appears to be FAT16 on first glance, it really is FAT32 that is capable of supportting partitions larger than 2GB.

But still I dunno why anyone would still be using Fat32. It provides no file level security at all.

It is used by NetWare for bootstrapping. With netware, you have no worries about file security on FAT32 as permissions for non-administrators are disabled by default.

This post was edited by Sigma_7 on Nov 26, 2003.

Ah, maybe this is why I never knew. All I've messed with is XP Pro and I don't recall a option for Fat32 when I installed it.

When using the setup (the old dos-looking bit when you boot from cd) you are given four options to format a partition in WinXP Pro -

• NTFS

• NTFS (Quick)

• FAT (32)

• FAT (32) Quick

It doesnt actually say (32) i put that in there for clarification. If I have to do one more XP install I'll scream!!

But still I dunno why anyone would still be using Fat32. It provides no file level security at all.

FAT32 has less overheads and is a quicker system. Yes, it has no journalling nor security but then again not everyone needs it.

If you're not on a network, or its just your own pc that no-one else uses, then security isn't really necessary.

If hackers find a hole in SMB, then they'll get in anyway, no matter your security settings....

- J

They will never forget you 'til somebody new comes along... - The Eagles, "New Kid in Town"

Hey guys,

If you have a Windows NT, 2000, or XP box that is formatted with FAT or FAT32 and you want to be using NTFS for file level security simply run a little command as follows. Go to a command prompt (don't know how?... click start, then click run, then type in "cmd" and hit enter... the big black screen is your command prompt). Once in the command prompt run this little command to convert your "C" drive...

convert c: /fs:ntfs

Works like a charm!

Cheers