Cannot Log On After User Access to Boot Partition Removed

• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

If you remove access for the Everyone group from an NTFS boot partition and click the Replace Permissions On Subdirectories check box so that it is selected, you lose all access to the partition, even if you are currently logged on as an administrator. You may also receive error messages stating that your desktop is not accessible. In addition, no other users can log on.

When the Everyone group does not have access to the partition, no user has rights to make any change or log on to the system. If you attempt to log on, Windows NT returns you to the logon screen.

If you reboot the computer, you may receive the following error messages on a blue screen:

   STOP: c000021A {Fatal System Error}

   Can't access this folder, the path is to long" error when logging on.

CAUSE

Removing the Everyone group and selecting the Replace Permissions On Subdirectories check box removes all users, including administrators, and prevents anyone from accessing the partition.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue and allow users to log on after this problem has occurred, use either of the following methods:

• Set up Windows NT on another partition or hard disk in the computer, using the following steps:

  1. Set up Windows NT on the another partition or hard disk.

  2. Log on to the new installation of Windows NT as an administrator.

  3. Take ownership of the original partition.

  You should be able to gain access to the data files on the original partition.

• Reformat the partition and reinstall Windows NT using the following steps:

  1. Reformat the hard disk partition on which Windows NT is installed.

  2. Reinstall Windows NT, and then restore any data files from a

        backup.
  

MORE INFORMATION

To prevent the Everyone group from having explicit rights to the partition without preventing access by any user, use the following steps:

1. Grant the user who is currently logged on, or a group that contains the user currently logged on, proper access to the partition. For example, the Administrators group should be granted Full Control permissions.

2. Grant the System group Full Rights.

3. Remove the Everyone group.

4. Click the Replace Permissions On Subdirectories check box so that it is selected.

5. Click OK.

The user attempting to log on must have sufficient permissions granted before logging on. The minimum permissions necessary to log on (assuming the System group has full control of the volume root and all system directories and files) are:

   %SystemRoot%:                               Everyone - READ

   %SystemRoot%\System32:                      Everyone - READ/EXECUTE

   %SystemRoot%\System32\Repl\Import\Scripts:  Everyone - READ/EXECUTE
   (if users have logon scripts)