Low Level Access to a Partition in Windows

[Guest]

Hi,

I want to create a program that will allow me to store files on a partition that has a custom file system, the data is sensitive so I need a way to prevent anybody accessing it. Can anyone point me to some info about direct disk access under windows.

thanks.

[Tim]

If you want to protect your data, use the security functions built into Windows. If you're using a version of Windows without security (95, 98 or Me), direct hard disk access is all but impossible anyway.

[Guest]

Hi,

The problem is that even though it is very strong, windows services can be cracked! Quite easily with the right tools. I want to create a unique system so that noboby has even a chance of cracking it, because they will not understand it.

thanks.

[Tim]

The security Windows provides cannot be cracked, providing you set it up correctly (I'm thinking file encryption in Windows 2000/XP). What you are intending to do is security based on obscurity: "if they don't know it's there, they can't see it". Any administrator can see the raw contents of a volume given the right tools. However, no user -- not even an administrator -- can recover the contents of an encrypted file without the right key.

No user can see a file that they don't have read permission for, either. If they have physical access to the computer they can boot from a disk containing a DOS NTFS driver and read protected files, but not encrypted files.