Can't directly copy from a network hard drive

Hi All,

I just had a weird problem. I tried to copy the
contents of

K:\WindowsInternet\Firefox\SearchPlugins

directory to

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins

I got asked to elevate to Administrator rights, then
got told that the K: directory did not exist.

So, I copied to C:\drivers\Firefox and then to program
files and had no problem.

Why did I have to do this in two steps?

Many thanks,
-T

In ,
Todd typed:
Hi All,

I just had a weird problem. I tried to copy the
contents of

K:\WindowsInternet\Firefox\SearchPlugins

directory to

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins

I got asked to elevate to Administrator rights, then
got told that the K: directory did not exist.

So, I copied to C:\drivers\Firefox and then to program
files and had no problem.

Why did I have to do this in two steps?

Many thanks,
-T

Because Program Files folder is a one of those special protected
folders. I sync my portable applications and under XP, keeping them in
Program Files is no problem. Under Windows 7 or 8, they have no write
access. So I have to create another folder like Program Apps and run
them there.

--
Bill
Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino 758 1.5GHz - 1.5GB - Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 SP2

On 01/22/2013 01:04 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Todd typed:
Hi All,

I just had a weird problem. I tried to copy the
contents of

K:\WindowsInternet\Firefox\SearchPlugins

directory to

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins

I got asked to elevate to Administrator rights, then
got told that the K: directory did not exist.

So, I copied to C:\drivers\Firefox and then to program
files and had no problem.

Why did I have to do this in two steps?

Many thanks,
-T

Because Program Files folder is a one of those special protected
folders. I sync my portable applications and under XP, keeping them in
Program Files is no problem. Under Windows 7 or 8, they have no write
access. So I have to create another folder like Program Apps and run
them there.


Hi Bill,

I suspected it was a security feature. I like you idea about a separate
directory to run things from.

Thank you,
-T

"BillW50" wrote:
Todd typed:

I just had a weird problem. I tried to copy the
contents of

K:\WindowsInternet\Firefox\SearchPlugins
directory to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins

I got asked to elevate to Administrator rights, then
got told that the K: directory did not exist.

So, I copied to C:\drivers\Firefox and then to program
files and had no problem.

Why did I have to do this in two steps?

Because Program Files folder is a one of those special protected folders.
I sync my portable applications and under XP, keeping them in Program
Files is no problem. Under Windows 7 or 8, they have no write access. So I
have to create another folder like Program Apps and run them there.

Um...Bill, that would be a possible response if the OP had reported getting
an access violation, but he reported that the system said the drive letter
for the network folder didn't exist. Note his successful workaround: copy
the files from the network drive to a local folder to which he has write
access while unelevated, *then* copy them to the FireFox folder in "Program
Files (x86)".

The problem here is that a drive letter mapped to a network drive by an
unelevated process isn't visible to an elevated process and vice-versa.
I've not seen Microsoft's reasoning on this, but my guess is that one
doesn't want an external resource mapped with high privilege to be available
to the low-privilege process (which might not be authorized to access that
resource), and you don't want a resource mapped with low privilege to be
automatically visible to the high-privilege process (consider the ways a
spoofing attack could use this).

And yes, it can be irritating...but so are most security features.

As for the permissions on Program Files (x86): both "Program Files" and
"Program Files (X86)" give Administrators different privileges on the top
folder (all privileges EXCEPT "Full Control") compared to the privileges on
subordinate files and folders (everything, including "Full Control"). The
authority on the top folder includes the ability to create new folders.

Joe

In ,
Joe Morris typed:
"BillW50" wrote:
Todd typed:

I just had a weird problem. I tried to copy the
contents of

K:\WindowsInternet\Firefox\SearchPlugins
directory to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins

I got asked to elevate to Administrator rights, then
got told that the K: directory did not exist.

So, I copied to C:\drivers\Firefox and then to program
files and had no problem.

Why did I have to do this in two steps?

Because Program Files folder is a one of those special protected
folders. I sync my portable applications and under XP, keeping them
in Program Files is no problem. Under Windows 7 or 8, they have no
write access. So I have to create another folder like Program Apps
and run them there.

Um...Bill, that would be a possible response if the OP had reported
getting an access violation, but he reported that the system said the
drive letter for the network folder didn't exist. Note his
successful workaround: copy the files from the network drive to a
local folder to which he has write access while unelevated, *then*
copy them to the FireFox folder in "Program Files (x86)".

The problem here is that a drive letter mapped to a network drive by
an unelevated process isn't visible to an elevated process and
vice-versa. I've not seen Microsoft's reasoning on this, but my guess
is that one doesn't want an external resource mapped with high
privilege to be available to the low-privilege process (which might
not be authorized to access that resource), and you don't want a
resource mapped with low privilege to be automatically visible to the
high-privilege process (consider the ways a spoofing attack could use
this).
And yes, it can be irritating...but so are most security features.

As for the permissions on Program Files (x86): both "Program Files"
and "Program Files (X86)" give Administrators different privileges on
the top folder (all privileges EXCEPT "Full Control") compared to the
privileges on subordinate files and folders (everything, including
"Full Control"). The authority on the top folder includes the
ability to create new folders.
Joe

All very good points, thanks Joe. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2

"Joe Morris" wrote in message ...


Um...Bill, that would be a possible response if the OP had reported getting
an access violation, but he reported that the system said the drive letter
for the network folder didn't exist. Note his successful workaround: copy
the files from the network drive to a local folder to which he has write
access while unelevated, *then* copy them to the FireFox folder in "Program
Files (x86)".

The problem here is that a drive letter mapped to a network drive by an
unelevated process isn't visible to an elevated process and vice-versa.
I've not seen Microsoft's reasoning on this, but my guess is that one
doesn't want an external resource mapped with high privilege to be available
to the low-privilege process (which might not be authorized to access that
resource), and you don't want a resource mapped with low privilege to be
automatically visible to the high-privilege process (consider the ways a
spoofing attack could use this).

And yes, it can be irritating...but so are most security features.

As for the permissions on Program Files (x86): both "Program Files" and
"Program Files (X86)" give Administrators different privileges on the top
folder (all privileges EXCEPT "Full Control") compared to the privileges on
subordinate files and folders (everything, including "Full Control"). The
authority on the top folder includes the ability to create new folders.


Great explanation. Thanks!

--
....winston
msft mvp consumer apps