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The forum thread discusses the security restrictions imposed on certain system folders in Windows 10, particularly those protected by the "Trusted Installer" account, which is used to safeguard critical system files. The original poster questions the legal and technical implications of accessing these folders, with responses clarifying that such restrictions are primarily security measures, similar to root or administrator permissions, and that "Trusted Installer" is a special user account for system protection. Overall, the participants conclude that while it's technically possible to take ownership of protected files and folders, doing so is generally not recommended due to potential system issues.
BlessYahowah

BlessYahowah

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A Windows Forum user, ussnorway, posted the following curious statement:
"Correct... did you know there are folders on a Windows 10 system that you as the owner of that computer don't have the legal right to look at... nevermind change (under US law)?"

Would someone be kind enough to point me to that particular U.S. law and explain the reasoning behind it?

Also, where can I get more detailed information on how to use the "Trusted Installer" account? I infer from posts here that it is the equivalent (sort of kind of) of the Unix Super User. Is that an accurate assessment?
 

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Neemobeer
No, SYSTEM account would be more akin to the unix/Linux root user. There are some folders that are locked down, but it's really for security reasons. A good example is C:\Windows\CSC This is used for offline file cache and branchcache. CSC stands for Client Side Cache. Windows uses the DAC permission model (Discretionary Access Control) and even if you don't have any permissions you can, as an administrator, take ownership of almost anything and then grant yourself access. The Trusted Installer user is a special virtual user used to protect system resources and certain registry information. You can't log in with this account.
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Neemobeer

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#2
No, SYSTEM account would be more akin to the unix/Linux root user. There are some folders that are locked down, but it's really for security reasons. A good example is C:\Windows\CSC This is used for offline file cache and branchcache. CSC stands for Client Side Cache. Windows uses the DAC permission model (Discretionary Access Control) and even if you don't have any permissions you can, as an administrator, take ownership of almost anything and then grant yourself access. The Trusted Installer user is a special virtual user used to protect system resources and certain registry information. You can't log in with this account.
 

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Mike

Mike

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#3
Ultimately, it is just a security measure as @Neemobeer says. There are ways to get around it, and this would screw up your system, in quite a few ways. Most notably, since most of the Windows files are digitally signed, meaning, if altered, its detected, you would have problems. There are probably provisions about trying to reverse engineer Windows in the license agreement, but first of all, no one reads this stuff, to be quite frank, and second, at the end of the day, if its your system, and its not hurting anyone, who cares, really. I don't know of any prohibition for modifying Windows whatsoever, unless you were planning on selling this "updated version". You know... pretty much how intrusions take place when people download fake copies of the OS.
 

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ussnorway

ussnorway

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#5
You can take back files from the basic ‘Trusted Installer’… I was thinking of the store.
I agree that taking ownership of 'trusted user' files/ folders is allowed but not a good idea in most senarios.
 

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