Written By:
Date Posted: August 27, 2001

So, that's pretty much it. How you're going to format it is up to you. Personally, if I didn't do it at the initial install, I'd use the convert tool, since it's the only way that I know of that you can covert your system drive without losing data.

Now that your drives are formatted into NTFS, how do you secure it? Simple, just fire up Windows Explorer by pressing Windows Key+E. Pick your newly formatted drive and right click on it.

Select properties, and a new window will appear. This is your local disk properties. Don't bother with the other tabs for now, and go straight to the Security tab. You're going to see that Everyone has full access to this drive. Typically, you should select everyone, and remove it, then add authenticated users. By default, they'll only have a few permissions. You can add more or take some away. Be sure to add yourself and make sure you have full control. Click Ok, and you'll be dropped back to Windows.

As I mentioned earlier, you can do the same thing to subfolders, and to the actual files themselves. Like security for folders, security for files works the same way. Right click on the file, select properties, security, then you'll be presented with the same interface as explained earlier.

Anyhoo, that wraps up my guide on NTFS security. There's a lot more to it than what I explained today, but the information I provided should get you on the right track. Don't forget that this isn't foolproof, and this does not replace the need for a personal firewall, strong passwords, and regular backups.

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