When you move a file between 2 NTFS partitions file permissions are retained?

When you copy or move NTFS files, the permissions that have been set for those files might change. The following points should be remebered while moving or copying a file.

• If you move a file from one folder to another folder on the same NTFS volume, the file will retain the original NTFS permissions.

• If you move a file from one folder to another folder between different NTFS volumes, the file is treated as a copy and will have the same permissions as the destination folder.

• If you copy a file from one folder to another folder (on the same volume or on a different volume), the file will have the same permissions as the destination folder.

• FAT partitions cannot hold permission details and if you copy or move a folder or file to a FAT partition, it will not retain any NTFS permissions.

When you drag files from one folder to another with different permissions, the permissions from the previous folder follow the file. Then, when someone tries to open the file in the new folder, they do not have permission to open the file.

This has nothing to do with WAFS/CDP; it is the built in Windows behavior for NTFS volumes. When you copy or move a file or folder on an NTFS volume, how Windows Explorer handles the permissions on the object varies, depending on whether the object is copied or moved within the same NTFS volume or to a different volume. When moving files, Windows keeps the original file permissions if you are moving files to a location within the same volume. If you copy and paste or move a file to a different volume, it will be assigned the permissions of the destination folder.

Microsoft has a fix for this situation. (This is a per-system fix.)

//support.microsoft.com/kb/310316

You can modify how Windows Explorer handles permissions when objects are copied or moved to another NTFS volume. When you copy or move an object to another volume, the object inherits the permissions of its new folder. However, if you want to modify this behavior to preserve the original permissions, modify the registry as follows.

What happens to NTFS permissions if you copy or move the files or folders? The answer is: it depends. Read more to learn what happens!

To give you a clearer explanation, consider the following three scenarios. Let’s assume that you are going to copy “D:MyFolder” and let’s assume that “D:” has an NTFS format.

Move D:MyFolder to D:MyFiles

Results:

• The file or folder retains its original NTFS permissions.
• You must have the “Write” permission set up for the destination folder to move files and folders into that folder.
• You must have the “Modify” permission set up for the source file or folder. The “Modify” permission is required to move a file or folder because Windows 2000 deletes files and folders from the source folder after they are copied to the destination folder.
• You become the creator and owner.