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Cacls.exe Cannot Apply Security to Root of a Volume Mount Point

Article ID: 237701 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q237701

SYMPTOMS

When you try to use the Windows 2000 Cacls.exe tool to set permissions on the root of an NTFS volume, you may be unable to do so, and you may receive an error message. Instead, permissions may be applied to the folder itself and not the underlying mounted volume root. To view this problem:

Use Cacls.exe to view the permissions on a volume mount point. For this example:

C: is the host NTFS volume.
C:\host is the Volume Mount Point that mounts another NTFS volume.
```
cacls.exe c:\host   (shows applied permissions)
everyone: (OI)(CI)F
						
```
Use Cacls.exe to apply additional permissions to the volume, and then view applied permissions. Note that it appears that the permissions are applied correctly as in the following example:
```
cacls c:\host\. /E /G user1:F
processed dir: c:\host
cacls c:\host    [or cacls c:\host\.] (shows applied permissions 
as expected)
everyone: (OI)(CI)F
user1:(OI)(CI)F
						
```
Assign a drive letter to the mounted volume (drive D), and then run Cacls.exe against drive D or view the properties of the volume in Disk Management:
```
cacls D:
everyone: (OI)(CI)F
						
```
Note that the permissions are not applied to the root of drive D as expected, but are instead applied only to the folder named "C:\host."

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CAUSE

This problem can occur if you try to use the Cacls.exe tool to set permissions on the root of an NTFS volume that is mounted using a Volume Mount Point. The Cacls.exe tool cannot correctly interpret Volume Mount Points.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, use Disk Management to temporarily assign a drive letter to the mounted volume, and then apply permissions to the root of the volume using Cacls.exe against the assigned drive letter, or apply permissions using the Security tab while viewing the properties of the volume in Windows Explorer.

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