Windows 7: Windows 7 file permissions

Hi y'all,
I'm an experienced Windows user (far too many years), but only a newbie Windows 7 user. I simply cannot fathom the security set-up they've implemented, and I'm kinda wondering whether anyone here knows more than I do.

I'm trying to use a VMware Virtual Machine on an external drive whilst logged-in into an administrator account. (Now wait before you start trolling about Microsoft's virtualisation is so much better and I should be asking on the VMware forums: read on)

According to the Security tab on Properties for the directory in which the VM files are all stored, the Administrator group has Full Control. But, when I start the VM, all I keep getting is a message stating that:

Error while powering on: Unable to open file "I:\TripleG\c-cl2.vmdk": Insufficient permission to access file.

Checking on the VMware forums, there are a few people who've had this message, but on every occasion, it's been because the file was Read Only. Check the file's attributes, no such issue. After a bit more playing around, I decide that maybe the reason is that the Users security group only has read and execute rights to the directory. So, using Properties / Security, I clkick the Edit button, I highlight the Users group, I change permissions to Full Control and hit the Apply button.

Churn... churn... churn...

Error Applying Security
An error occurred while applying security information to:



I:\TripleG\c-cl2-s001.vmdk

Access is denied.

Anyone with thoughts greater or more helpful than my own "Time to go back to WinXP"?

I almost want to troll just because you said that.

I, personally have no preference as I don't use virtualization that much. Everyone has their own opinions. Some here like Microsoft's some like VMWare. Oh well. Life goes on.

Going back to Windows XP would be counter-productive, I promise.

What I did to see if I could replicate what you're seeing is I created a folder on the root of my C drive and a file inside it. Here's what I see.



What I would try first is clicking ADVANCED, and determining what permissions each group has. In my case, The Admin group as well as my own account have full control.



Next, check the Owner Tab. Are you the owner of the file?



Have you tried running VMWare as an Administrator? Do you have this problem when the disk store is inside your User folder (say in My Documents)?

If the above does not solve your issue, simply add the "Everyone" group with "modify" or "full control".
If you create several VMS on the I: your SIDs will be all over the place. The Everyone group will cover those SID creations.

Yes, I invited that.
I, too, have no preferences for VMware/Virtualization, it's just we use VMware at work, and I've never used the latter... new things make me scared and confused. :hideunderdeskicon:

I've followed your bouncing ball and get what you're getting, though some other user (S-1-5-21-938813117-... etc...) was the owner. I've changed it to MY user account, but it seemingly hasn't worked: I still fail to open on account of "Insufficient permission to access file."

Yes, now the folks on the VMware site suggested this (after I typed here), and it does actually work. Doesn't solve the underlying issue, imho, but it is a way of working. Well, it means all my shortcuts to VMs no longer work, since they point directly to the vmx files, and the player won't have been running in admin mode and fail.

Loathe to move a 40GB set of files onto my local HDD (sheer time), I decided to copy a much smaller, ooooold Windows 95 VM into My Documents. Then I tried the original on I-drive, and, predictably, it failed. When I tried the MyDocs copy, I got the blissfully old Windows 95 splash-screen and teared-up at the memories. Aaaahhhhh
Short answer: yes, that also works.

I appreciate your help. You're good at this. But, no, I'll not condemn you with "you should do this for a living". :lol:

Alright... Directory Properties/Security... Um... there isn't an EVERYBODY group? I have:

CREATOR OWNER
SYSTEM
S-1-5-21-... lots of numbers
Administrators (mycomputername\Administrators)
Users (mycomputername\Users)

So, um, pardon my ignorance, but how do I grant to everybody. (I do recall there being an EVERYBODY on my XP.) You do write "Add" (), but when I tried adding EVERYBODY it said:

An object named "EVERYBODY" cannot be found. Check the selected object types and location for accuracy and ensure that you typed the object name correctly, or remove this object from the selection.

???
Thanks again to you both.

I actually do :P (sort of, between contracts, but my primary occupation is Desktop Support)

It's actually called "Everyone"

See the first screenshot I gave, hit EDIT, and add a new entry. Type "Everyone" and you should be good in that department. Make sure you give "Full Control".