Service Pack 1 Resets Permissions on an NTFS Volume

 Last reviewed: May 13, 1997
Article ID: Q108103
The information in this article applies to:
  • U.S. Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Windows NT operating system and Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

SYMPTOMS

If Windows NT or Windows NT Advanced Server is installed on an NTFS volume and the U.S. Service Pack 1 or CSD001 patch is applied, directory/file permissions for the Everyone group will be reset to the default in any directory that had files modified by the patch (such as ROOT, WINNT, and WINNT\SYSTEM32 subdirectories). For example, if you change the permissions for Everyone on drive C (which is NTFS, and contains the Windows NT installation) and all its subdirectories to read-only. After you apply the CSD or Service Pack, the permissions for Everyone will be reset to [RWXD] in the C:\, C:\WINNT, C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32 and all other directories that had files modified by the patch.

CAUSE

After the application of the CSD or Service Pack, Windows NT or Windows NT Advanced Server will need to be rebooted. During the reboot, if the installation of Windows NT that had the patch applied is on an NTFS partition, you receive the following message: 

   Setting Security on System Files...
During this process, the permissions for Everyone are reset to their default [RWXD] in the directories that had files modified by the patch.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1. This problem was corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces): 

   S E R V P A C K

Additional query words: prodnt
Keywords : kbbug3.10 kbusage ntsecurity
Version : 3.1
Platform : WINDOWS

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Last reviewed: May 13, 1997
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