Permissions and Ownership in Windows

In Windows, files and directories have a set of permissions that can be assigned to individual users or groups. These permissions include Read, Write, Execute, and many others.

• Read (R): Allows reading the file's contents.
• Write (W): Permits modifying the file's contents.
• Execute (X): Enables executing the file as a program.

Changing File Permissions with icacls

You can use the icacls command to modify access permissions for files and directories.

C:\> icacls file.txt /grant John:R  # Grant read permission to John
C:\> icacls file.txt /deny John:W   # Deny write permission to John

Changing File Owner with takeown

The takeown command lets you change the owner of files and directories.

C:\> takeown /F file.txt /A  # Change the file's owner to the Administrators group

Viewing File Permissions with icacls

The icacls command displays file and directory access permissions, owner, and other details.

C:\> icacls file.txt
file.txt NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(F)
         BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(F)
         BUILTIN\Users:(I)(RX)

Understanding and managing permissions and ownership is crucial for maintaining security and proper access control in a Windows system.