Resetting NTFS files permission in Windows – Graphical Utility

Update 04/30/2017:

New version 1.2.0 released with Unicode support and lots of bug fixes!

Download the reset permission tool from the download section below. 

The post entitled “Resetting NTFS files security and permission in Windows” is very useful to show you how to reset the files permissions from the command line.

However, not all readers are savvy with following system commands and for that reason, I made a small graphical utility to automate NTFS resetting files permissions and taking their ownership:

Usage

This utility needs administrator privilege in order to run. To use it, first click on “Choose folder” to select the folder you want to reset permissions then press “GO” to proceed.

It is also possible to edit the commands, change or add new commands before you press the “GO” button.

Explanation of user interface:

The options:

  • Reset files permissions: This is the basic option. You may uncheck it if you want to carry other operations.
  • Take ownership: Sometimes it is necessary to take ownership of the files before resetting their permission. For that reason please check this option if needed.
  • Apply for all sub-directories: Use this option to apply the selected commands recursively.
  • Reset hidden and system files: This command will make invisible files visible.
  • Don’t follow links: this option applies to the “Reset files permission” and “Take files ownership” options only.
  • More options: see the section below.

The action buttons:

  • GO: executes the commands in the “Command that will be executed” text box.
  • HELP: takes you to this blog post
  • ABOUT: Shows the version and about text

Advanced

This is a new feature introduced in version 1.1.0.  When you press this button, you get two options:

  • Add to Explorer folder context menu
  • Remove from Explorer folder context menu
  • Backup / Restore permissions. Those two features are explained in details in this article here.

Note: always press “GO” after you select any of the advanced options.

When the ResetPermission utility is added to the Explorer folder context menu, you will be able to right-click on any folder and then choose a new option called “Reset Permission”.

Check this screenshot:

resetperm-ctxmenu

How it works

To keep the explanation short and less technical, this utility is just a shell that uses the following utilities from Microsoft:

All the commands that are going to be executed are showed to you beforehand.

You have a chance to tweak the commands before you press “GO” and execute them.

Checkout the free tools:
Pic2Pdf
WifiShare
Windows Error Reporting – Local crash dump collection graphical tool
MAC address changer on Windows

Backing up / Restoring the files permissions

Don’t you wish you could undo all the permission changes you did because your system became unstable due to misusing this utility?

Now you can, with the two new “Backup permissions” and “Restore permissions” functionalities. Please read more about that in this article.

Disclaimer

Please use this utility at your own risk. Backup the permissions beforehand if you have to.

I am not responsible for mishaps due to using this tool recklessly (for example trying to reset system or root folders permission), however, I display a warning when this tool is about to be used on a root folder:

ResetPermission-1.1.3-Root-Warning

Check the “How it works” section above then please refer to Microsoft TechNet site for information about the tools used.

Download

Download WifiPasswordReveal

Download the utility executable – use the password: lallouslab

Note: Windows Defender might block this attack. Add a folder exclusion to Windows Defender to solve the issue.

Download the source code
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batchography-good-resDo you want to master Batch Files programming? Look no further, the Batchography is the best book on the topic and the most up to date!

Available in print or e-book editions from Amazon.

 

12/19/2016 – Very important – ResetPermissions.exe is NOT a virus or trojan, read on:

ResetPermission tool continues to be plagued by Antivirus falsely reporting it as a Trojan or virus!

It is a shame that even in 2016, AntiVirus solutions are very poor at distinguishing malware from good ware.

If you follow this VirusTotal link here, you will see that as of 12/19/2016, only 2/41 falsely detect the ResetPermission.exe as a virus and the remaining AntiVirus solutions detect correctly.

What is more shameful is that “top” and “reputable” AntiVirus solutions like “Windows Defender” from Microsoft, “BitDefender”, “Kaspersky Antivirus” among many other AVs do a very poor job telling which is a malware and which is not!

In the AntiVirus hacker’s handbook book that I co-authored, I explain how Anti-Virus solutions are not optimal and just give you a false sense of security!

If you want to learn more about the Antivirus industry and how their technology is outdated, then read Part IV (Chapters 16 and 17) in the Antivirus Hacker’s handbook. Part IV is written in simple English and does not require you to be a computer geek to understand what the A/V industry is all about!

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Please support my efforts and time put into writing this utility by donating through PayPal:

Thank you.
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Me, myself and smoking cigarettes – A little story

Introduction

In this blog post I am going to share with you my story with smoking cigarettes for five or so years, how it all started, why I stopped and how.

I will try to make this post pleasant to read and inspirational so by the end of it you will get encouraged to think again about your smoking habit.

Before we begin, would you care for a short story? Continue reading “Me, myself and smoking cigarettes – A little story”

Meeting Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (2013)

Introduction

On 05/24/2013, Amma (also known as Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) was visiting Bellevue, Washington as part of her north America tour.

It was the first time for me to go and see her. Many of my acquaintances talk about her, be it acquaintances from France, Belgium or those from where I currently live (in the Seattle area).

They say she has lots of energy and that she can help me in my spiritual path. A quote attributed to her is worthwhile mentioning:

Amma’s hugs and kisses should not be considered ordinary. When Amma embraces or kisses someone, it is a process of purification and inner healing. Amma is transmitting a part of Her pure, vital energy into Her children. It also allows them to experience true, unconditional Love. When Amma holds someone it can help to awaken the dormant spiritual energy within them, which will eventually take them to the ultimate goal of Self-realization. — Amma

She hugs people for free, however during her visit, a 3-days retreat (that costs $290) is offered.

During the retreat, spiritual lectures are given, a proprietary meditation technique called “IAM – Integrated Amrita Meditation Technique®” is offered for free among the other things that are part of the retreat.

I mainly went to the retreat in order to learn the IAM meditation technique and also to get to experience this infamous hug and see how it bestows unconditional love.

The rest of the article will describe my experience from my point of view. Please know that I am not bashing or defaming Amma in any way. This blog post is to share my observations and thoughts with others. Continue reading “Meeting Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (2013)”

My religion

Today I was flipping through an old notebook and I ran into a note that dates back to 09/26/2011.

It was a nice reminder and worth sharing, I hope you find an inspiration by reading it.

The note’s title was: “My Religion” and it reads:

  • I am a free human being. I believe in being a good citizen, respecting the law and justice
  • All humans have equal rights that do not transgress the rights of others
  • All humans have the freedom of choice, thought and religion (or non religion)
  • As I’m created (constructed) so shall I be deconstructed
  • I believe in my deeds
  • Be aware and considerate. Love and serve others in the means of your capacity
  • Harvest pure thoughts and learn to purify your heart and mind from thoughts that can harm others and cause you to harm yourself
  • Treat your neighbor as you want him/her to treat you
  • No fear can instill in my heart as long as I do no harm or misdeed in/during my life on earth
  • Religious or non religious people are still people. May everyone find personal peace
  • May freedom from fear prevail
  • Live and express yourself. Make your homeland earth like your own personal dwelling (like you do in your home). Treat it with respect, earn your living and respect other peoples’ boundaries

Improve and track your sleeping patterns with Zeo Sleep Manager Pro

What is Zeo Sleep Manager Pro

Zeo Sleep Manager Pro is a system composed of a headband sensor and a Bluetooth transmitter unit. It records the brainwave activity (during sleep) and send the data to another Bluetooth capable device for recording and further analysis.

The Zeo headband connects to software running on an iOS or Android device (via Bluetooth).

Additionally, Zeo provides a website where your sleep data can be uploaded so you can analyze the data or export it for use with other software.

In this blog post, I will be sharing with you my experience with this unit. For tips on how to improve your sleep, I recommend this article. Continue reading “Improve and track your sleeping patterns with Zeo Sleep Manager Pro”

God of War: Ascension Collector’s Edition

Today I received my first ever “Collector’s Edition” game and it was my favorite game: “God of War” (or GoW in short).

I found out about God of War when I got my first PSP (Playstation Portable) to play the first God of War on it. Later I bought a PlayStation 2 only to play GoW I and GoW II.

When GoW III was out, I had to buy a PlayStation 3 to play this game! Smile

This is the contents of the pack (photo taken by me):

pack1 Continue reading “God of War: Ascension Collector’s Edition”

Introduction To Fasting

 

Topic: Introduction To Fasting
Author: Elias Bachaalany

What is fasting

Fasting is the act of abstaining from food (all food). It is not as simple as it sounds for some nor impossible for others but for its proven therapeutical effects it will become worthwhile the efforts.

Fasting is not something new, it is mentioned throughout the book of Exodus. Moses, Elijah, Gandhi, Jesus and others fasted for up to 40 days. Christians also use a variation of fast, where they fast half a day and stop taking meat for a 40 days period. Also Muslim fast during Ramadan.

I may here note that starvation, the denial of food supply by accident or intent from a system that is in need of that food, is not fasting at all!

“We may talk about sex being the strongest fleshly drive, but it is not. We may think ego is the strongest of the fleshly impulses, but it is not. From the day we are born, the desire for food reigns dominant.” [B]

Continue reading “Introduction To Fasting”

Too much for the end of the world! :)

So, back in mid 2011, I stumbled upon a website that sells tickets to escape the earth as a safety measure regarding the foreseen end of the world (per the Mayan Calendar).

I found the idea of the website funny so I decided to chip in some money and get myself an intergalactic ticket! 🙂

One week after, I received the package. That gave me a sense of security, knowing that I will be saved in case of Armageddon! 🙂 Continue reading “Too much for the end of the world! :)”

Rental Car and the car damage waiver insurance plan

Recently, I started going on personal trips in various States and each time I had to rent a car.

Renting a car means that not only you pay a daily rental rate for the car but are also offered to buy an optional LDW (Loss/Damage/Collision Waiver insurance plan aka LDW / CDW).

The LDW costs from $9 to $30 dollars a day. That could be the same rate as the car rental itself, thus you are paying double the price to rent a car.

So the question is, what are your options to save money and should you?

There are two answers to this question and each with its cons and pros. Continue reading “Rental Car and the car damage waiver insurance plan”

Partition tables explained

Introduction

partition_viewer

I’ve always been curious about how disks are partitioned, and how the partition table looks like. This article will explain the format of the partition table and will provide a small tool (Partition Viewer) to demonstrate what we explained.

The information in this article apply for x86 systems, I don’t know about disk partitioning on other systems.
You are not required to have prior knowledge about disk partitioning; The goal of this article is to provide just the needed knowledge to understand disk partitioning, hence many details are left out for the readers to investigate by themselves.

Please note that this article does NOT cover the GPT (GUID Partition table). Continue reading “Partition tables explained”

How to show saved Windows 7 Wifi passwords

In this blog post, I am going to illustrate how to view saved Wifi keys under Windows 7 in four easy steps.

Alternative method

You can just use the WifiPasswordReveal script to automatically reveal the saved password with a click of a button without needing administrative privileges!

WifiPasswordReveal article

 

Related posts:

Let’s get started! Continue reading “How to show saved Windows 7 Wifi passwords”

Disposable emails with Gmail

What are disposable emails?

Disposable emails are emails that you can use temporarily with websites you don’t trust and that require registration and/or an email address. After you use the email address you can discard it by creating a filter that redirects the disposable email address to the trash bin directly.

How to use disposable emails in Gmail?

It is very simple. Unlike Yahoo Mail Plus! there is nothing to be created. Suppose your email address is, of course ;), John.Doe@gmail.com; to use a disposable email address for a website, say called www.myshopping.com, simply append a “+myshopping” after the email account name. The disposable email address will be: John.Doe+myshopping@gmail.com.

If you want to keep this email address just create a filter that moves the message to an appropriate Gmail folder. If you discover that this disposable address is amassing a lot of spam then create a filter that redirects all messages to that address directly into the trash bin.

Footprints in the Sand

Many times in life we have doubt, lack of faith and we are always tempted to shout and say: “God, where are you? Why are you not helping me!”. I love to share this story with you as it helped me gain more confidence in life:
jesus-umbrellaOne night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord:
“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied:  “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

origin: Mary Stevenson, 1936

The story of the two water pots

This is yet another classical story that has been circulating around and I would like to share with you:

two-pots
A water bearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house. The cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it
spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.
“I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”
“Why?” asked the bearer.
“What are you ashamed of?”
“I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house.
Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them.
For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers
to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

Moral of the story: Always be grateful even if you don’t see the good things in the bad things immediately. Do not fall in the “compare and despair” trap. Learn about yourself and your qualities.
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The boy and the apple tree

In my last trip to Lebanon, a friend of mine gave me a book called “ZeNLP – The Power to Relax” by Murli Menon. I liked the book as it talks about the technique the other teachers and at the same time the book explores different traditions and techniques out there. What I will be sharing in this blog entry and the coming ones are stories that are found in this book. Enjoy the first story.

Continue reading “The boy and the apple tree”

The story of the two seeds

Here goes another story about taking part in life, risking and trusting:
Two seeds lay side by side in the fertile soil.
The first seed said, “I want to grow! I want to send my roots deep into the soil beneath me, and thrust my sprouts through the earth’s crust above me … I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring … I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the blessing of the morning dew on my petals!”
And so she grew…
The second seed said, “I am afraid. If I send my roots into the ground below, I don’t know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me I may damage my delicate sprouts … what if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them? And if I were to open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No, it is much better for me to wait until it is safe.”
And so she waited…
A yard hen scratching around in the early spring ground for food found the waiting seed and promptly ate it.

Two seeds lay side by side in the fertile soil.The first seed said, “I want to grow! I want to send my roots deep into the soil beneath me, and thrust my sprouts through the earth’s crust above me … I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring … I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the blessing of the morning dew on my petals!”And so she grew…The second seed said, “I am afraid. If I send my roots into the ground below, I don’t know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me I may damage my delicate sprouts … what if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them? And if I were to open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No, it is much better for me to wait until it is safe.”And so she waited…A yard hen scratching around in the early spring ground for food found the waiting seed and promptly ate it.

This story reminds of “The Parable of the Talents” (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-28)

I have nothing to give you

A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by.

“Spare some change?” mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap.
“I have nothing to give you”, said the stranger, then he asked: “What’s that you are sitting on?”
“Nothing” replied the beggar. “Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.”
“Ever looked inside?” asked the stranger.
“No.” said the beggar, “What’s the point, there’s nothing in there”
“Have a look inside” insisted the stranger.

The beggar managed to prey open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

Moral of the story: we may spend all our lives looking for the treasure outside and never spare just a minute to look inside.

Origin: “The power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle