>>>Naoto has the immediate answer to your question: "When you launch an application, generally it launches with the access rights of a "standard" user -- even if you are a member of Administrators."
>>>
>>>Servers have a different mindset from workstations, namely that they are locked down by default rather than being (mostly) open by default. This includes access to local storage.
>>
>>Regardless, I've found I had the same problem as Simon, on my own disk, standalone machine, even in a folder I just created, on W7 and later. Not just dbfs, I'd create a simple text file which I couldn't edit later - that is, I could edit it, but couldn't save under the same name, couldn't delete either.
>>
>>>If I have a chance to set up a new server from scratch I generally configure the storage with a 200 - 250GB partition for the OS (drive C:), and the rest for another "Data" partition with a separate local drive letter. If all the storage has been assigned to C: drive I believe it can be shrunk. Alternately you can create a folder on the root of C: called something like "Shares" and use that as the root of your file shares.
>>
>>The solution which I hated myself for guessing right is exactly the bureaucratic idiocy that is M$ idea of security: give yourself the rights. Personally, i.e. not just as a group, but your own username. Doesn't matter you're already the owner and creator of everything, the full rights are not implied anymore, you need to specifically give them to yourself. Luckily, applies to a folder, recursively all the way down.
>>
>>I hated myself for being able to think their way.
>
>Windows often tends to behave like *nix system that's been configured weirdly -- e..g umask set to 0777 or 0700

It seems to me that Windows wants to move to a *n?x security model, while trying to minimize breakage of existing apps.