How to change permissions on multiple folders on network share? Security tab is missing when selecting more than one item
I can't be the only person using Windows 7 in a work environment who's run into this problem, can I? I have to set up project folders on our network shares and then modify permissions after the template (set of folders & sub-folders) is in place. I have been going back to a Windows XP machine to modify permissions because I can't figure out how to do it in 7. Surely there must be a way to set permissions on multiple items at a time in Windows 7 Pro? Somebody? Anybody? This is in an Active Directory network Domain environment. We have a project management application that has a specific set folder structure for individual projects, (thousands). When I set up a new project I make a copy of our template (folders, sub-folders, etc.) and paste it onto the particular drive and share where it's required. The permissions on that root folder (Project Name) have to stay read-only; (Read, List, and Read & Execute). All of the sub-directories need to be able to be Modified. This was easy to do in XP Pro, but now in 7 Pro it seems to be impossible. With a total of 30 nested folders in this template it's not practical to go through and do them one at a time. I have to switch to an XP machine to make this work. Adding another layer by creating a new folder under the root and moving everything into it is not an option as it changes the paths to everything beneath it. Really, there has got to be a way to do this. Any ideas?
September 14th, 2010 6:15pm

As this problem is by design one option/workaround is to use a script in the script language of your choice, as you can use the command line tool "icacls" to set security permissions and owner to files an folders. Blogging about Windows for IT pros at www.theexperienceblog.com
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September 18th, 2010 1:32pm

This is so frustrating. I am using Windows 7 Pro in a work setting. I am supposed to be administering our network data, shares and users, but in order to make changes to permissions on networked data (more than one object at a time) I have to revert to a downgraded OS. Why would anyone, "by design", preclude administrators from modifying permissions on objects (more than one at a time)?
September 20th, 2010 10:52am

I don't think this problem is "by design". That's just a standard MS answer for "we forgot to put it in". I'm always getting the answer "by design" for blatantly missing functionality or bugs. If the Security tab had not been made twice as complicated/hard to use in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, we probably wouldn't have lost this feature.
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September 20th, 2010 4:15pm

I would say that MS intentionally removed the "security feature" in question, which by the way only worked (work in XP) if the folders or files you are changing have the exakt same security settings to start with. I do however understand the frustration for the fact that features that have been there in previous versions suddenly are removed.Blogging about Windows for IT pros at www.theexperienceblog.com
September 20th, 2010 5:07pm

Possibly, but we've been able to it do for many years. I'm not really bothered about it on the desktops, but it's a sorely missed feature on the servers. Yes, I can do this quite easily from the command prompt, but our Desktop team can't and we all find the new and overly tiresome GUI painful. Microsoft, please stop changing things for changes sake and making IT professionals lives harder. Dumb up Windows for home users if you must, but stop enforcing this mentality on the rest of us.
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September 20th, 2010 7:41pm

I would say that MS intentionally removed the "security feature" in question, which by the way only worked (work in XP) if the folders or files you are changing have the exakt same security settings to start with. I do however understand the frustration for the fact that features that have been there in previous versions suddenly are removed. I'm not sure if they intended to remove it, or not. But it is a Pain. And as for XP, it does work just fine on folders of different permission settings, it just reminds you that they are different and asks if you're sure you want to reset them all to whatever you're setting it to. That's fine. But not having the option at all is just, frustrating. I'm hoping someone will figure out a registry hack, because I doubt that MS will fix it.
September 21st, 2010 11:32am

Is anyone here a developer who knows shell programming and C++? I know how to make the security tab appear for multiple items but I'm not a developer so I can't actually write the code. But I can help anyone willing to fix this issue with guidance on how I think it can be done.Anonymuos
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March 31st, 2011 8:16am

I too have seen the "by design" card played several times now. I constantly am setting permissions on multiple folders and using the GUI. A command line tools is not a feasible option for me let alone our junior and intermediate staff. I can not think of a single reason to remove this functionality. Has anyone found a way to get back this functionality that Microsoft has taken away from us? Microsoft, Why do you insist on making things more difficult and complicated for network/server admins (that know what they are doing) with every new release? TekMason Network and Security Architect PS Another classic Microsoft "by design" cop out http://tinyurl.com/3quwxe9
April 19th, 2011 1:33am

Microsoft, Why do you insist on making things more difficult and complicated for network/server admins (that know what they are doing) with every new release? They keep basing their server operating systems on desktop versions of Windows which are dumbed down to imbecilic levels.
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April 19th, 2011 1:44am

Well there is this software called FilePermsBox that installs its own "FilePermsBox" tab which is a clone of the Windows security tab. See this image: http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1723/filepermsbox.png. It works for multiple files as well. Only problem is with Vista/7, MS changed some shell interfaces so the shell extension doesn't work with Vista/7. If anyone can update the shell extension interfaces it uses for Vista, then we would get back the GUI for setting permissions on multiple items.
May 20th, 2011 10:00pm

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