Explicit+Permissions+to+files

Explicit Permissions to files

Windows XP Home and Pro give you a great amount of control over your files and by logging in through Safe Mode, you can regulate who can view, read or execute a specific file on your system. For example, you can allow your account rights to open a certain file, but it won't be able to edit or execute the files within. But, with the permissions XP offers, you really have a ton of flexibility over the levels of access to the files on your system. In order to change the permissions on a file, you need to access the Security tab for that file. So, to do that, you need to boot into your Safe Mode. Once the log in screen comes up, choose an account (only Administrator accounts will be available) and log into your Windows system.

Next, highlight the file you want to set permissions for, right click it and then go to Permissions. You should notice that there is now a Security tab where there wasn't one before. Go ahead and click on it and you should immediately see the permissions you have to work with. The Windows panel that comes up is divided into two parts: the upper part being the list of users and the bottom section being the available permissions you can set for them.

Basically, you highlight a user in the top half and assign the permissions you want for them in the lower half. That's pretty much all there is to it! Once you set all the permissions you want, log in normally to your Windows and you'll be able to see how the permissions affect the different accounts. It is suggest you just play around with this until you're comfortable enough with manipulating the settings.  