Hiding a network folder

13 Oct 2006 6:10 PM

ariccox

Howdy everyone! I am trying to hide a network folder I know about the
$ trick however anyone who has show hidden files and folders can see
the folder if turned on. Here is what I would like to do. I have a
shortcut to a program, I would like to make it so they can't see and
or access the folder the actual program is in, while being able to open
it from the shortcut. Anyone know any tricks to do this? The reason
being lets say I have a program called 'Foo' and its sitting in the
C:\Temp\Foo directory and the shortcut is in C:\Temp I don't want my
users to be able to copy/cut/paste the .exe file? Anyone have any
ideas how to do this?

13 Oct 2006 7:05 PM

Chuck

On 13 Oct 2006 11:10:49 -0700, aric***@gmail.com wrote:

>Howdy everyone! I am trying to hide a network folder I know about the
>$ trick however anyone who has show hidden files and folders can see
>the folder if turned on. Here is what I would like to do. I have a
>shortcut to a program, I would like to make it so they can't see and
>or access the folder the actual program is in, while being able to open
>it from the shortcut. Anyone know any tricks to do this? The reason
>being lets say I have a program called 'Foo' and its sitting in the
>C:\Temp\Foo directory and the shortcut is in C:\Temp I don't want my
>users to be able to copy/cut/paste the .exe file? Anyone have any
>ideas how to do this?

Protecting yourself by hiding a file is another form of security by obscurity.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/security-by-obscurity.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/security-by-obscurity.html

If you have Windows XP Pro, then you need to disable Simple File Sharing, and
setup non-Guest accounts with distinct permissions. If you have XP Home, you
need to upgrade. With Simple File Sharing, and Guest authentication, what's
accessible to anybody is accessible to everybody. And if you can't trust the
folks on the LAN, then you can't trust them not to find out how to defeat any
trick that you might dream up.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.

13 Oct 2006 7:40 PM

AricC

Oddly however Windows 2000 has no problems with this

17 Oct 2006 3:13 PM

Chuck

On 13 Oct 2006 12:40:18 -0700, "AricC" <aric***@gmail.com> wrote:

>Oddly however Windows 2000 has no problems with this

Well, we're here to try and help you. Since you're there in front of the
computers, and we aren't, all we can do is advise based upon what you tell us.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html

So as LanWench says, tell us how you got this working under Windows 2000, and
let's see what the difference is.

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.

18 Oct 2006 8:10 PM

AricC

Nvrmind I've found an alternative fix for the problem.
Chuck wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

> On 13 Oct 2006 12:40:18 -0700, "AricC" <aric***@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Oddly however Windows 2000 has no problems with this
>
> Well, we're here to try and help you. Since you're there in front of the
> computers, and we aren't, all we can do is advise based upon what you tell us.
> <http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html>
> http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html
>
> So as LanWench says, tell us how you got this working under Windows 2000, and
> let's see what the difference is.
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Chuck, MS-MVP [Windows - Networking]
> http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
> Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
> My email is AT DOT
> actual address pchuck mvps org.

14 Oct 2006 3:02 PM

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

In news:1160763049.234343.135940@m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com,

aric***@gmail.com <aric***@gmail.com> typed:

> Howdy everyone! I am trying to hide a network folder I know about the
> $ trick however anyone who has show hidden files and folders can see
> the folder if turned on.

No, not true. Hiding a share with the $ appended to the share name will not
expose that share to anyone *browsing* the network. It has nothing to do
with hidden files and folders.

> Here is what I would like to do. I have a
> shortcut to a program, I would like to make it so they can't see and
> or access the folder the actual program is in, while being able to
> open it from the shortcut. Anyone know any tricks to do this? The
> reason being lets say I have a program called 'Foo' and its sitting
> in the C:\Temp\Foo directory and the shortcut is in C:\Temp I don't
> want my users to be able to copy/cut/paste the .exe file? Anyone
> have any ideas how to do this?

What is the goal here? Are you talking about access across a network? If so,
what locally installed application will actually *run* for a user across the
network ?

Remember, if users can *see* something, they can copy it, generally
speaking. You might explain your setup, and your ultimate goal, a little
more clearly - as there may be a better way to do this.

15 Oct 2006 1:50 AM

AricC

Here is what I want to do:

We have a program that runs our ERP system and users have been known to
copy the program file from there account to another account. The
problem with this is depending on the user accoun if they copy that
file it contains there user access and a user could possibly get to
screen they are not authorized to get to. Ie... I have access to some
reports some other users do not have access too. We have machines
running XP and 2000 and the 2000 machines can be set to not allow
access to the folder however access the program in the folder.
Thanks,
AC

15 Oct 2006 2:54 PM

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

In news:1160877053.309363.54450@f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com,

AricC <aric***@gmail.com> typed:

> Here is what I want to do:
>
> We have a program that runs our ERP system and users have been known
> to copy the program file from there account to another account.

This is a behavioral problem. Do you have a written computer use policy?
Get one in place and have everyone sign it.

Are you on a domain/using AD?

> The
> problem with this is depending on the user accoun if they copy that
> file it contains there user access and a user could possibly get to
> screen they are not authorized to get to.

Your software has some serious problems if it can't be configured to ask for
credentials at login. I would take this up with the manufacturer.

>< Ie... I have access to some
> reports some other users do not have access too. We have machines
> running XP and 2000 and the 2000 machines can be set to not allow
> access to the folder however access the program in the folder.

How did you do that? Note, WinXP is really no different from 2000 under the
hood.

Show quoteHide quote

> Thanks,
> AC

17 Oct 2006 12:23 PM

AricC

The software is extremely old but like I said it runs our ERP system
and that is not changing.

17 Oct 2006 1:34 PM

Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]

In news:1161087824.114362.59820@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com,

AricC <aric***@gmail.com> typed:

> The software is extremely old but like I said it runs our ERP system
> and that is not changing.

Hi - please don't snip out all the quoted text when you reply; it makes it
very difficult for anyone to follow the thread.

If you're stuck with this software, that's a shame, but I guess it is what
it is. That said, I can't think of anything that would be different in W2k
and winXP in this regard, so perhaps you should explain in detail exactly
how you got something to work in Win2k and what doesn't work when you try it
in WinXP.