I installed Ubuntu 7.10 the other day. From this operating system I've got full access to my Windows Vista drive. I have two physical hard drives. Windows Vista is installed to the first divided into two partitions, the second partitioin storing the user accounts and other data.Ubuntu is loaded onto the second hard drive.In Vista I have two user accounts, a standard account and my administrator account. Within Vista, from the standard account it can not gain entry to the other account's user folders, asks for administrator password to proceed. This, I thought is all good.As mentioned from within Ubunto (Linux) I can navigate all over my Vista partitions on the first hard drive. There are no password dialog windows popping up. In Vista, it appears to be applying security and yet the doors wide open for another operating system to have a good look around.What steps do I need to take in order to fully secure some folders or partition of Vista. Any advice appreciated.

Hi, Thank you for your post. Analysis: Please understand that the Windows Vista system drive (The first partition in the first hard disk) is considered as a common partition when you log onto Linux. The NTFS security permission is system independent. That is, if you logon another dual boot system on the same computer, you may be able to perform some operations on the original operating systems drive like a normal data drive. For example, if the dual boot system is also Windows Vista (or other versions of Windows such as Windows XP), the local administrator can take ownership first and then assign himself with necessary permissions. Actually, one important security principle is to strictly control the physical access to that computer. If a computer can be physically accessed, it is no longer safe. This is also the reason why the business critical servers must be physically protected. Please refer to the following documents (especially "Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore"): 10 Immutable Laws of Security http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/community/columns/security/essays/10imlaws.mspx?mfr=true 5-Minute Security Advisor - Basic Physical Security http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/community/columns/security/5min/5min-203.mspx?mfr=true Suggestion: We have many additional methods to secure the data. More detailed information can be found in the following KB article: 818200 An attacker with physical access to a computer may be able to access files and other data http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;818200 For example, you may consider Encrypting File System (EFS) and BitLocker. Also, as an important note, please make sure you are fully understand EFS/BitLocker before deploying it, and ensure the recovery keys have been safely backed up. I hope it helps. Sincerely, Joson Zhou Microsoft Online Community Support