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To prevent myself from accidentally deleting important files, I have given some special permissions for my username to certain folders on my HDD (in fact, those directories are on a server, but let's not make things too complicated).

I have set these permissions using the normal UI that Windows 7 Pro x64 provides for that purpose. The permissions I have set are:

Permissions I have set

This works in principle. I can copy files and subfolders into that folders and can't delete them afterwards. But in fact, this is not usable due to the following oddities:

1. I can't rename files or folders. When I try, I get an "access denied" message.

This is very surprising to me because (as you can see in the screenshot) I only have denied the "Full control", the "Delete subfolders and files", the "Delete" and the "Take ownership" permissions. So I am asking myself what renaming has to do with deleting.

Is this due to a brain-dead implementation of Windows Explorer, or is it basically an API problem?

2. I can't move files or folders. When I try, I get an "access denied" message.

This is more understandable to me. After all, when moving a file, it won't be at the same place at the end of the process, so one could argue that this is a deletion. Nevertheless, I'd like to know a way around that.

3. I can't create new files or folders directly.

Well, I actually can, but this is useless. For example, when I create a new folder, it is named "New Folder", and when I try to change its name to the name I need it to be, problem 1) kicks in.

Hence my question:

Does anybody know a configuration or trick which allows me (most important first)

  • to prevent myself from deleting files or folder, but nevertheless

  • to rename files and folders

  • to move files and folders?

Mokubai
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Binarus
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1 Answers1

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Your problem is not with Explorer, but with Windows and the way it works.

The permissions you refer to above are permissions on the directory, not on the files themselves. This means that to rename a file, Windows needs to delete in the directory the old name and create a new one, which requires, among others, the delete permission.

Therefore, Windows does not have, and does not need, a "rename" permission, and no software product can provide it either.

You would need instead to modify how you work with these files. Perhaps by creating scripts that will do the rename while keeping backup copies. Used perhaps with runas commands on another account that has the delete permission. These scripts may even keep a history log of all operations, just in case.

harrymc
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