Windows 7: Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permmissions

Problem: Using “Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object” on the drive security tab does not seem to propagate to all files and folders.

Open Properties for the Drive itself and go to the Security tab.
The Everyone group is a member. Press Advanced.
Check “Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object”.
Apply
Now look at any file on the disk.
The Everyone group is not a member.

Wasn’t it suppose to add Everyone to every file and folder on the drive?
Thanks in advance.

Hello Petrula, to access those Tabs was you in Safe Mode?

I noticed in Windows 7 (tested this option during the RC) it is very difficult to replace “Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object” like it was in XP time.

This mean you have mess a little the Windows 7 config.

I'm afraid for you to have a try at a "Repair Install" by the console repair at boot choosing F8 key.

Repair Install

Not really. You just have to know what you are doing. (NTFS Permissions is not a toy!)
And I do hope you are not trying to mess with the permissions of the system drive, OP...

Could you point to the OP the easiest way as you answered it at the second line wroted.

That depends on what the OP is trying to do. If for example trying to do it on the system drive, I'm not going to help with that.

That's excatly what happen for the Original Poster.

Sorry Petrula, i do think the system drive is messy now, though it is cracked permissions.

Thanks for the feedback.

I am doing this to a SATA backup drive from my XP system which I brought over to my new Windows 7 64-bit system. I am not touching the C drive.

Going into Safe mode as Administrator did not work. Let me explain the motivation for my question.

I was changing some properties of a folder on the backup drive on my Windows 7 machine then I saw an Unknown Account under the Security tab.
"Account Unknown (s-1-5-21-…)"

This can occur when going from an XP machine to a Windows 7 machine. Although you use the same user name and password, your security ID no longer matches the security ID of the owner of the folder. I had a lot of files and folders whose owner was "Account Unknown (s-1-5-21-…)".

I changed all the owners to my account which is a member of the Administrators group. So far so good.

To get rid of the Account Unknown showing up in various files and folders, you would usually just backup the hieracrchy until you find the highest reference to "Account Unknown (s-1-5-21-…)" and remove it.

That sounds good in theory, but the drive’s Security tab did not show "Account Unknown (s-1-5-21-…)". When I tried to remove it from folders in the root, it said I had to look higher in the hierarchy, but the root does not show it - Catch 22. I found a blog that suggested going to the drive’s Security tab and checking “Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object”. This would propagate through the entire disk. It worked. The "Account Unknown (s-1-5-21-…)" went away on all files and folders.

However, the drive’s Security tab had the Everyone group so why didn’t it propagate into all the files and folders like all the other accounts did. This is origin of my original question.

Thanks in advance.

I have an "Account Unknown (s-1-5-21-…)", on XP and i discovered long time ago that this account was related to my printer shared, so i decided to let it alone...
I was doing the same as you to “Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object”, checking the permissions goes on my account only.

In windows 7 i do not have either this Unknown Account listed in my drive C:.
Humm, i might check some folder rights.

EDIT (july 23):
If it's an external drive there should be no problems to deleted this unknown account.

Should be listed in the backup drive Security Tab:

-System
-Administrators
-Users (this is needed at least for: read, read & execute, display folder content)

When you delete "everyone" it create by itself your user name only and delete rights for "system & Administrators".

You will have to add manually "Administrators & system + Users. Then you can delete safely the your name account.