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i'm making a small project. it's Windows Form Application. i got some sources in a folder (C:/sources). When my program runs, it uses sources from the folder. Currently i can edit the folder by windows explorer, it can cause errors for my program. So i want to lock the folder (C:/sources) from being edited/renamed/deleted when my program runs. How to do so?

EDIT; Is it possible to show a message like this when user has tried to edit the folder:

"the action cannot be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program"

the program that we are talking about is mine..

mnhjddn
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2 Answers2

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Although I don't believe it's the best idea to have files that are critical to the application in a open area like the C: drive, I would look into NTFS file permissions and set the folder to read only, but this wont stop administrative users

See these two posts

restrict access to folder outside of program c#

Setting NTFS permissions in C#.NET

Community
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Wamadahama
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  • Hey Wamadahama, thanks for the advices, i'm trying to find a solution to solve this problem, i'm thinking about this message in windows explorer "the action cannot be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program", is there any other solutions? – mnhjddn Aug 26 '15 at 19:23
  • It might just be better to put the files in a less accessible location like %appdata%, however that message will deter some from opening it – Wamadahama Aug 26 '15 at 19:50
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There are a couple of approaches that you could venture and they vary in difficulty of implementation. It all depends on how important this task is for you. But, before discussing these options; can't you embed those resources in your WinForms application instead? If this is not an option then you can do one of the following:

  1. Write a device driver that can prohibit the access of such resources if your application is running. There are fallbacks to this approach. For example one can impersonate your application by having the same name. But, am not getting in to too much details in trying to break any approach as I am trying to address possible solutions to the current problem. There are different types of drivers that you can consider. Probably the simplest form of this approach would be to implement a mini-filter driver.

  2. Hook certain API's like CreateFile(), NtCreateFile(), ZwCreateFile() although there are many ways to circumvent such mechanism of defense. But, again we are only venturing what you can do to address this constraint of yours.

  3. Open these resources directly from your application and lock it exclusively. For example:
    File.Open("test.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.None);
    as this will result in people getting the message that you desire if they try to open the file.

Maybe you can give more information on what these resources are and we can help you determine which is the best way to protect your files in a reasonable fashion?

halsten
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