Setting User Permissions in Windows XP

If you have several accounts on a computer running Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional, you can set specific permissions that limit what certain users can do with certain files or folders. For instance, if you have a really important file and you don’t want your little brother wrecking havoc on it from his user account; you can set a user permission that will prevent that file from being accessed or edited from your little brothers user account.

To set user permissions in Windows XP, you need to reboot in Safe Mode. To do this, click on Start. Then click on Run. The Run window will appear. In the textbox in the Run window type in the following:
Msconfig Then press Enter or click on OK. The Msconfig window will appear. It allows you to configure how your computer runs. Click on the General tab in the Msconfig window if it is not already selected. Under “Startup Selection” click on the little circle next to “Diagnostic Startup.” A little green dot will appear in the circle next to “Diagnostic Startup.” Click on Apply. Then click on OK.

Now your computer is set to startup in Diagnostic Mode, also known as Safe Mode.
Click on Start. Then click on Turn Off Computer. Then click on Restart. When your computer restarts, it will restart in Safe Mode, instead of restarting normally. Safe Mode will look different then Normal Mode in several ways. The cool looking blue and green Windows XP Startbar will be replaced by an old fashioned grey startbar. Your custom desktop background image will be replaced by a boring single color. And windows may appear really large since Safe Mode operates in low resolution. Don’t worry; your computer will be back to normal once you restart in Normal Mode.

So, if a login screen appears when Safe Mode loads, click on any account with Administrative rights. In some version of Windows XP, only accounts with administrative rights will be listed in the Safe Mode login screen. Once logged in, double click on My Computer or right click on Start and then left click on Explore to access Windows Explorer. Then go to whatever file or folder you want to set user permissions for. Then left click on Properties. The Properties window will appear. In the Properties window, click on the Security tab. You’ll see a list of the user accounts on your computer, and underneath those user accounts you’ll see a list of user permissions. First click on a user account that you want to set permissions for. Look at the list of permissions. Next to each permission are boxes under the Allow Column and under the Deny Column. If there’s a check mark in a box under the Allow Column, then the permission listed
to the left of the box is allowed. If there’s a check mark in a box under the Deny Column, then the permission listed to the left of the box is denied (not allowed). For each permission listed, click on an empty box under the Allow Column to allow the permission. Or click on a checked box under the Deny Column to allow the permission. If you don’t want to allow permission, just click on an empty box underneath the Deny Column to deny the permission. Or you can click on a checked box under the Allow column to deny the permission. When you are done setting user permissions, click on Apply and then click on OK. Then go to any other files or folders you want to set user permissions for and use this same process to set user permissions for those files or folders.

When you are all done setting user permissions, it’s time to restart your computer in Normal Mode. To do this, click on Start. Then click on Run. The Run window will appear. In the textbox in the Run window type in the following:

Msconfig Then press Enter or click on OK. The Msconfig window will appear. It allows you to configure how your computer runs. Click on the General tab in the Msconfig window if it is not already selected. Under “Startup Selection” click on the little circle next to “Normal Startup.” A little green dot will appear in the circle next to “Normal Startup.” Click on Apply. Then click on OK.

Now click on Start. Then click on Turn Off Computer. Then click on Restart. Your computer should restart normally.