Member Avatar for Member #1133358

Hello, a few days ago at my business I everyone lost the ability to drop/copy and paste files to the server's Desktop folder from the other computers in the network.
They can do so to each other, except for the server. In that case, we need to drop the files in the Public folder.

Any ideas?

All computers run with windows 10

Thank you!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rproffitt

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Short summary and targeted troubleshooting steps (quick read)

The server “Desktop” is a per-user Known Folder (usually %USERPROFILE%\Desktop), while the Public/Desktop area is a separate common folder. That difference matters: a Desktop inside a user profile is governed by that user's NTFS ACLs and profile settings, so a remote client can be blocked even though the Public folder accepts drops. (learn.microsoft.com)

Practical checks (do these in order)

  1. On the server confirm the exact path you’re trying to write to (which user’s Desktop). If it’s the Administrator or another user’s profile folder, don’t assume the same permissions as the Public folder. (learn.microsoft.com)
  2. Check the share permissions and the NTFS (Security) tab on that Desktop folder. When accessing over the network both share and NTFS apply and Windows enforces the most restrictive result — so a share set to Allow but NTFS set to Read will still block writes. (support.microsoft.com)
  3. Use Properties → Security → Advanced → Effective Access (select the user account the client uses) to see the calculated rights. If Effective Access denies Write, fix the NTFS or share permissions, not the client. (learn.microsoft.com)
  4. As a diagnostic only: temporarily grant the intended account (or Everyone) Full Control on both share and NTFS to see whether copying succeeds; then immediately revert and apply least-privilege rules if that proves the cause.

Remote-admin gotcha and a safer pattern
If clients are connecting with local administrator-style credentials, UAC “remote restrictions” can strip admin privileges over the network (LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy); that can make admin shares and profile folders behave as read-only remotely. It’s safer to create a dedicated “drop” share with explicit write permissions than to change UAC registry settings. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes tied to earlier replies
was right to focus on ACLs; checking Effective Access will show exactly why writes fail. Avoid adding Guest/Everyone permanently — it “fixes” the symptom but weakens security. A dedicated drop share (or use the Public Desktop intentionally) plus correct NTFS+share permissions is the clean, auditable solution. (support.microsoft.com)

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

Actually that sounds right. The Desktop folder should be protected for many reasons. One example I gave Microosft years ago was how to lock out an user by placing a corrupt jpeg on the Desktop. Maybe they finally got around to fixing that in the usual way.

Member Avatar for Member #1133358

I was suggesting that to my partner but he's hell bent it used to be possible until last week (We upgraded to Win 10 months ago). I would not know since my desktop is the server itself.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

Remember that I'd have to know a few things. To me, drop to desktop means in this context to drop to the user's Desktop folder. I was in Redmond long ago to show what I thought was a bug. That is, copy certain files to the Desktop and Windows would lock up on login. Microsoft's answer back then was "don't do that." Maybe they fixed so that network shares can't be that folder?

Member Avatar for Member #1133358

Yes, it can be done among other members of the network except for dragging and dropping or copying and pasting to the server's desktop folder from another computer in the network.

I broke partership with my ex-business partner because he was literally b$tching that I get it fixed...

Member Avatar for rproffitt

OK, that's clearer. I take it you are a seasoned networker and Windows Guru. You need to check the ACL of the user of what you are calling the server Desktop FOLDER. As you know this folder exists in each user's home directory and to copy to the desktop (which is a very bad idea due to how I can blow up your account by copying in one file&!!) so you need to check that the user that is copying in has rights and is in the ACL. Or you can just write fudge it and add the Guest account to the user list (ACL again.)

&!! = Hey, Microsoft never fixed that lockup issue in over 2 decades. So if you want to run with scissors here and let one wrong file in this folder blow up your business, who am I to tell you it's a bad idea?

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