File Permissions Inherited from Directory When Copied

In Windows NT with the NTFS file system, files may lose their permission settings depending on the way they are manipulated. If a file is COPIED from directory A to directory B, the file will inherit the permissions of directory B. If same file is MOVED from directory A to directory B, the file will retain its original permissions from directory A. This behavior is by design.

For example, the file TEST.TXT in the DOCS directory has its permissions set to Administrators=Full Control. TEST.TXT is copied to the TEMP directory. TEMP has permissions set to Everyone=Full Control. Everyone now has full control of the TEST.TXT file in the TEMP directory. If the file was moved from DOCS to TEMP, rather than copied, it would have kept its original permissions. Only the Administrators would have full control of the file.