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PDF Permissions problem?

Printed From: www.exp-systems.com
Category: PDF reDirect
Forum Name: Using PDF reDirect
Forum Discription: Questions and Comments on using PDF reDirect Freeware and Pro
URL: http://www.exp-systems.com/Forum_exp/forum_posts.asp?TID=245
Printed Date: 22 Nov 24 at 3:10AM


Topic: PDF Permissions problem?
Posted By: D2011
Subject: PDF Permissions problem?
Date Posted: 27 Jul 06 at 12:18AM
I am getting this problem where 1 single user out of 10 is printing a pdf using pdf redirect & after the pdf is created. They somehow have ownership of that file & only they can access it. Not even my administrative account can access it.

The only way myself & others can access it, is for me to take ownership of the file & reset permissions for all other users.

I have tried uninstalling & re-installing it. Didnt work.
Tried another pdf writer. It worked, but I dont want to use that writer.

Any ideas?


Replies:
Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 28 Jul 06 at 4:43PM

Hello D2011,

   Weird. Is it always the same user? Or does the problem occur every 10th use?

   Anyway, PDF reDirect (the Port Monitor portion of the code) runs initially as a "system" process because it is a printer. I then request a Token from Windows for the logged-in user that started the print job, and then run the user interface using the credentials of the ser supplied from Windows. This ensures that the user only has the priviledges that he/she is entitled to.

   So, so summarize: nothing obvious comes to mind. What we can do is I can give you a special version of the Port Monitor which will generate a log of what is going on. We can take a look at that to see if anything unusual is going on with that one person.

   If you don't mind, please wait until early next week (Tue or Wed). I am currently in Northern Canada visiting my parents with only spotty wireless coverage for web access via the cell phone. Things will get back to normal as soon as I return to office.

   Cheers!

Michel.

Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 01 Aug 06 at 2:20PM
Another thought: you could use Filemon to monitor the writing of the output of the PDF file. Perhaps something would show up that would explain why the user's PDF files do not seem to have the right priviledges. Filemon is a freeware utility that looks at all read/write activities on a PC or server. It is available at http://www.sysinternals.com - www.sysinternals.com

Michel

Posted By: D2011
Date Posted: 01 Aug 06 at 5:49PM
Thanks, Michel

I will give that a go.

D

Posted By: BobLLL
Date Posted: 03 Aug 06 at 12:58PM
I'm in over my head here, but is this issue related to the fact I cannot copy a pdf created by PdfRedirect across my network? I get an "access denied" error. Its a plain old peer network, WinXpHome at both ends, all accounts are administrators. I can copy (drag and drop, or copy/paste) any file from a shared directory on Pc1 to Pc2, except PdfRedirect creations. I can copy any PdfRedirect file from a directory on PC1 to another directory on PC1.

Now I notice that in file explorer on PC2, I cannot even see PdfRedirect files on PC1. They don't show in the directory listing. So I don't seem to have permission or whatever to get PDFRedirect files on another computer on the network.

Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 03 Aug 06 at 1:40PM
Hi Bob,

   Thanks for the description of the problem. I have not seen this problem. I will perform some testing this afternoon to see if I can reproduce this issue, and I will let you know of the results shortly.

   Regards,

Michel

Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 03 Aug 06 at 2:20PM
Bob,

   I finished the test, and I was unable to duplicate the error. I created a PDF on a shared drive, and that PDF was accessible from all the remote computers (a Windows 2000, 98SE and a Windows XP machines). Unfortunately, I do not have any licenses for Win XP Home, although I do not believe that the problem is related.

   Next, I would recommend you check the security settings for your shared directory:
  • From the computer that owns the shared directory (PC1?), right-click on the shared directory, and select "Properties"
  • Click the "Security" Tab
  • Check the permissions of the users that are listed, and make sure that they are appropriate. Administrators and System should have full access.
  • Now check the permissions for those accessing the files over the network by clicking the "Sharing" tab, then click the "Permissions" button.
  • Check the permissions for the users listed. Is your account that you use on PC2 listed? Does that user have Full Control? Note that even if your PC2 is logged in as an "administrator" on PC2, it DOES NOT give it Administrator priviledges on the remote directory unless you have mapped that shared directory with a name/password which is recognized as an Administrator on PC1. If that is the problem, you can either re-map the drive and give it the proper credentials, or you can increase the rights of "Users" to allow greater control.
  • Close the Property window(s).
  • Now, let's check the PDF file itself: right-Click the PDF file that is giving you trouble and select "Properties"
  • Click the "Security" tab for that PDF, and ensure that Administrators and SYSTEM have full control.


   Give all of the above a try and let me know if that helped any. If not, there is perhaps one or two more things that we could try.

   Regards,

Michel

Posted By: BobLLL
Date Posted: 03 Aug 06 at 2:34PM
Michel,
I don't see a Security tab. Just General, Sharing, and Customize. I think that is a diff between XP Pro and Home. Less control over security.

The problem appears to apply to all PDFredirect files in all shared directories, created at different times, from different source applications, and no other types of files have the problem. So it is something broader than a single file. For whatever that may be worth.

Thanks for looking at this,

Bob

Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 03 Aug 06 at 3:14PM
Hi Bob,

   No prob.

   Did you perform the 4th and 5th bullet? That is, the permissions associated with File Sharing? Also, please check the security properties of the PDF file itself for a hint of what might be wrong. Although you are very clear that the problem seems to be with PDF reDirect (and I agree with you), I am curious nonetheless to ensure that those settings are correct as it may provide a hint to me as to what is going on.

    With respect to your other comment: the application that was used to create the PDF would indeed have no bearing. When you select "Print", the Windows Print Spooler performs the print job, and eventually calls my Port Monitor code which is running as a "SYSTEM" process (ie not associated with the user, but rather with Windows itself). Eventually, my Port Monitor code calls the User Interface portion of PDF reDirect but it does so using the credentials of the currently logged in user. I am guessing that is where the problem occurs.

   I will send you shortly by e-mail an alternate version of the Port Monitor which will log all of the error codes. Please install that, and send back to me the error log. Hopefully that will point me in the right direction as to what might be wrong.

   Cheers!

Michel

Posted By: D2011
Date Posted: 03 Aug 06 at 5:16PM
Ok guys, this is what I did.

Ran filemon as Michel suggested. Saw that the problem existed with the particular users profile in question.

Examined the profile again & again. Doc & settings profile has "everyone" permission. I also have folder redirection setup in group policy (W2k3) to redirect their desktop, start menu & my documents.

It was these redirected folders where the problem lay. The problem was, security showed everyone had permission to these directories.But somehow this user took ownership of each file. Gotta love windows.

So what I did, was leave the users account in active directory, but renamed their account in docs & settings & the redirected folders. Once I logged the user on again a new profile was created & new folders for their folder redirection. Then just copied back their data, favs & pst & presto it all works.

Dont know if that was the best, correct or fastest solution, but it worked for me.

Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 03 Aug 06 at 6:07PM
Hi D,

   Thank you very much for the update: hopefully, it will help any others who get in the same jam. Glad to hear that it worked (whether or not it was the right way).

   "Gotta love windows." (no comment)

   Cheers!

Michel

Posted By: BobLLL
Date Posted: 04 Aug 06 at 7:16PM
Similar to D2011, I found my problem was only with redirected folders such as My Documents. I unshared this directory, then recreated the share in the source directory (C:\Documents and settings\BobLLL\My documents) instead of sharing the My Documents "folder" at the top of the directory listing in file explorer. This seems to have fixed the problem. Since I have WinXP Home Edition, I can't see security or permission attributes, so I don't know what is different about PDF reDirect files to originally have caused the problem for only those files.

Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 05 Aug 06 at 12:40PM
Hi Bob,

   Thanks for the post. I'll keep my eye out on why this problem is occuring. I am glad to hear that you found a workaround.

Michel

Posted By: BobLLL
Date Posted: 15 Aug 06 at 12:49PM
My workaround does not really work. A PDF reDirect file copied to My Documents can be shared. A reDirect file created in My Documents will give an "access denied" error when access is attempted from another computer on the network. A reDirect file created in directory outside the My Documents tree will not have this problem (if created in a directory such as c:\pdfprints).

So the solution is to change the default directory for PDF reDirect, although this makes my backup scheme a bit more complex.

Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 16 Aug 06 at 1:01AM
I have been doing some additional testing, and was able to duplicate the "Access Denied" error by sharing "My Documents" as you described, and trying to access the file from a remote PC. However, if I make a copy of the file, I can read the copy just fine. I am looking for tools that will show me what are the differences between the two files seemingly identical files.

   I'll continue working on this when I have some free time though currently, programming the new version is taking most of my time.

-------------
Michel Korwin-Szymanowski
EXP Systems LLC

Posted By: Michel_K17
Date Posted: 25 Mar 07 at 10:33PM
Better late than never, however, I finally found the problem and I have fixed and tested it. The next release available shortly will include the fix for this problem.



-------------
Michel Korwin-Szymanowski
EXP Systems LLC


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