What's the difference between NTFS Read, and Read & Exec

Rulkiewicz

If John has NTFS Read on a file, can he execute the file, then save a copy locally, or can he only see that there's a file there, and wouldn't be allowed to open it?

Mishra

John can open a document with read permissions only and save a copy locally, just not overwrite the original file.

You should try some of these things out on your desktop to get a feel for it.

sprkymrk

The execute permission allows you to run the file in addition to opening it. Applies more to executables like .exe, .msi, and the like.

So for something like the Windows Calculator program, "calc.exe", read only permission wouldn't let you do much with it, but execute permission will let you run it and perform math functions with it.