Exam 70-290 - Copying/Moving Folders & Files

Exam 70-290: Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment is Perform system will test your knowledge of NTFS permissions. Some of the topics you need to know include:

• How to configure NTFS permissions

• Determine the effective permission for a user or group
• How to change ownership of a folder or file
• Combining NTFS and share permissions
• Troubleshooting NTFS permissions

One topic that is not explicitly listed as an exam objective, but one that has been known to appear on exams, is the effects of moving/copying folders and files. You may very well be familiar with this topic already. If not, then you need to study up on the rules.

NTFS permissions can be affected when you copy or move a folder or file within or between NTFS partitions. What you really need to remember though is this…the only time a folder or file will retain its original permissions, is when it is moved within the same NTFS partition. Let’s take a look at an example. Two folders, Private and Public, are stored on F (and F is an NTFS partition). There is a file called Employees.doc stored in the Private folders. Users have been assigned Read permission. However, users have been assigned Full Control to the Public Folder. When Employees.doc is moved from the Private folder to Public, it will retain its original permission (in this case, Read).

All other actions will result in a permission change. If you copy a folder or file within the same NTFS partition, the folder or file will inherit the permissions of the destination and the original permissions are lost. If you copy or move a folder or file between NTFS partitions, the original permissions are also lost, and the permissions of the destination folder are inherited.

One final note as well, if you move a folder or file to a FAT partition, obviously the NTFS partitions will once again be lost. So if you can remember these simple rules, you should be successful in answering any related exam questions.