Windows 10 file system access and privacy

Some apps need to access your file system to allow you to take full advantage of the functionality they provide. Allowing an app to have file system access enables it to have access to the same files and folders to which you have access. The app must request this access, and you can choose to allow or deny the request.

Allowing access to your file system might give apps access to personal content that you want to manage. This is why we give you control over the files you share by letting you choose which apps you’ll allow to access your file system. If you give an app permission but change your mind later, you can turn off that app’s access to your file system by going to Start > Settings > Privacy > File system.

Note: File system access might be turned off already if you’re using a device assigned to you by your workplace, or if you’ve added a work account to your personal device. If that’s the case, you’ll see a message telling you that “Some settings are managed by your organization” at the top of the File system settings page.

How the file system access settings work

To allow or block file system access for a specific app and service

Go to Start , and then select > Settings > Privacy > File system.

Make sure Allow apps to access your file system is turned On.

Under Choose which apps can access your file system, choose the individual apps and services for which you want to allow or block file system access and change the settings to On or Off.

To deny file system access for most apps

Go to Start , and then select > Settings > Privacy > File system.

Make sure Allow apps to access your file system is turned Off. This will prevent apps from accessing your file system on that device while you’re signed in to it. If other people share the same device, they can still turn on file system access when they’re signed in with their own accounts.

Exceptions to the file system access privacy settings

Not all apps will appear under Choose which apps can access your file system. Certain Windows programs, such as those that are downloaded from the internet or installed with some type of media (such as a CD, DVD, or USB storage device) won’t appear in that list and are not affected by the Allow apps access your file system setting. To allow or deny file system access for one of these programs, check the settings in the program itself.

Как включить Windows Projected File System на Windows 10

Компания Microsoft недавно представила предварительную сборку Windows 10 под номером 17604 в канале обновление «Ранний доступ». В этом релизе добавляется одна интересная функция под названием Windows Projected File System.

• Откройте меню Пуск > Служебные — Windows > Панель управления > Программы и компоненты > Включение или отключение компонентов Windows. Здесь поставьте галочку напротив строки Windows Projected File System (в моём случае в сборке 17110 на ней написано beta).

Защита файлов Windows File Protection (WFP) не позволяет программам заменять критически важные системные файлы Windows. Приложения не могут перезаписывать их, поскольку операционная система и другие программы пользуются этими файлами.

Microsoft представила Windows File Protection для защиты этих критически важных системных файлов и предотвращения проблем в работе операционной системы. Windows File Protection не является новой функцией Windows. Microsoft использовала эту подсистему ещё в Windows 2000 и Windows XP, вернув обратно к жизни в 2018 году.

Однако вряд ли новый механизм полагается на архитектуру 20-летней давности. Например, Microsoft переименовала GVFS (Git Virtual File System) в ProjF (Windows Projected Filesystem).

Как работает Windows File Protection

Если программа использует метод для замены защищённых файлов, WFP восстанавливает оригинальные файлы. Инсталлятор Windows подключается к WFP при установке критически важных системных файлов и делает запрос на установку и замену защищённых файлов вместо попытки установить или заменить их самостоятельно.

WFP работает главным образом незаметно в фоновом режиме. Механизм защиты запускается после того, как WFP получает уведомление об изменении файла в защищённой директории. Система заменяет изменённый файл на файл из кэша или источника установки, отменяя изменения.

What will be the FIle System of Windows 10?

Windows 8 and 8.1 use ReFS, rather than NTFS, although they can both read files on NTFS. ReFS is the ‘Resilient File System’. It has a huge maximum file size limitation, is self-repairing and self-organizing. (no defragging) I, frankly, don’t see any difference between Win10 and Win8*, so I suspect it uses the same file system. Fortunately, the OS can read both NTFS and ReFS, so there’s no need to wait for the new format to replace existing disks.

Sorry, but this is incorrect, Windows 8x still uses the NTFS file system as the default.

The ReFS file system (Resilient File System ) is still in the early stages of development. It takes many years of development and testing before a new file system can be used in a production environment. Consider that NTFS was first used in Windows NT 3.1 back in 1993 and the first time it was made the default file system in a consumer version of Windows was in Windows XP.

The only way the ReFS file system can be used in Windows 8.1 is on a Mirrored Storage Space using Storage Spaces in Control Panel. This keeps it completely isolated from the OS.

Other than that, ReFS is only available on the Server 2012 R2 and even there, it is only used in certain components.

The ReFS file system will be the successor to NTFS, but this will not happen for at least another few years of development and testing.

Resilient File System Overview:

Resilient file system (Windows):

Building the next generation file system for Windows: ReFS:

How to enable Windows Projected File System on Windows 10

Microsoft recently rolled out a new Windows 10 build to Fast Ring Insiders. So, if you already got bored with the previous build, you can now install build 17604.

This new release adds a very interesting feature to the table, namely the Windows Projected File System.

Insiders can already enable this feature by going to Windows Features > Turn Windows features on and off. All you need to do is check the Windows Projected File System box and that’s it.

Tero Alhonen also noticed this change and shared the screenshot above with the whole world on Twitter.

On the other hand, Walking Cat suggests that Microsoft renamed the GVFS (Git Virtual File System) to ProjF (Windows Projected Filesystem).

Anyway, we’ll dig more into this and update the article as soon as new information is available.

So, if you installed the latest Windows 10 build on your computer and tested the Windows Projected File System feature, tell us more about your experience in the comments below.

UPDATE:

As one of our readers explained, instead of having developers install GVFS, the Redmond giant is now including it as a feature of Windows. This corroborates Walking Cat’s hypothesis.

For more information, you can check out our reader’s comment below. Thank you, Josedolf.

Windows Projected File System is not security-related as Windows Security is focusing on Virtualization-Based Security. Windows Projected Filesystem is likely similar to what they did with OneDrive: the files are on a remote server, and you can see “placeholders”, but they’re not actually on your machine unless you open them (thus a “projected” file system).
UPDATE : Just checked some Windows Insider and other developers’ Twitter accounts, and Windows Projected File System is what powers GVFS, allowing for very large repositories with little performance impact. It is marked “Beta” because there is no documentation yet.

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How to Find Windows 10 Computer Specifications & Systems Requirements

Here’s an overview of how to find computer specification requirements, versions, and languages available for Windows 10.

Table of Contents

System requirements for installing Windows 10

These are the basic requirements for installing Windows 10 on a PC. If your device does not meet these requirements, you may not have the great experience intended with Windows 10 and might want to consider purchasing a new PC.

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit

Hard drive size:

32GB or larger hard disk

Note: See below under “More information on hard drive space to install or update Windows 10” for more details.

Compatible with DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver

Display: 800×600 Internet Connection:

Internet connectivity is necessary to perform updates and to download and take advantage of some features. Windows 10 Pro in S mode, Windows 10 Pro Education in S mode, Windows 10 Education in S mode, and Windows 10 Enterprise in S mode require an internet connection during the initial device setup (Out of Box Experience or OOBE), as well as either a Microsoft account (MSA) or Azure Activity Directory (AAD) account. Switching a device out of Windows 10 in S mode also requires internet connectivity. Learn more about S mode here.

There may be additional requirements over time for updates, as well as requirements to turn on specific features within the OS.

Keeping Windows 10 up-to-date

Windows 10 is designed to deliver updates for the supported lifetime of the device. Two types of updates may be provided: quality updates and feature updates. Quality updates include both security and non-security updates and are typically targeted to be released once a month. Feature updates also include security and non-security fixes as well as new features to Windows 10 and are typically provided twice a year. Ensuring that your device receives these updates and is kept up-to-date is important for your device security. Windows 10 periodically checks for updates so you don’t have to. When an update is available—and sufficient free disk space is available on your device—it will be automatically installed. So that Windows 10 continues to stay updated, it’s important to ensure your device has sufficient free space. See additional applicable details in the following notes.

Important notes about updates:

• A device might not be able to receive updates if the device hardware is incompatible, if it lacks current drivers or sufficient available hard drive space, or if it’s otherwise outside of the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (“OEM”) support period. Visit the Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet or the Lifecycle FAQ for Windows products to learn more about the servicing timeline for each feature update.
  • Some of the disk space needed for installing updates is only temporarily required. Typically, ten days after installing an update, a disk cleanup will be automatically performed to delete copies of the older, unneeded Windows files and free up space again.
• Not all features in an update will work on all devices.
• An internet connection is required to perform updates and Internet access (ISP) fees might apply.
• If you need assistance installing an update, Windows 10 Update Assistant may be able to help.

More information on hard drive space requirements to install or update Windows 10

The size of the Windows operating system that comes with your device and the amount of space needed to download and install Windows updates, are highly variable as they depend on a variety of factors. Visit here to learn why. The factors that impact the amount of free hard drive space needed to take an update include: the versions of Windows previously installed on the machine, the amount of disk space available to reuse from Windows files, such as the virtual memory pagefile or hibernation file, which applications are installed on your device and how those applications store data. Starting with the May 2019 Update, the system requirements for hard drive size for clean installs of Windows 10 as well as new PCs changed to a minimum of 32GB. The 32GB or larger drive requirement is set to leave space for users to install apps and to keep data on the device. Installing Windows or updating from a previous version of Windows on devices with less than 32GB storage will continue to work if the device has enough free space available. When updating, Windows will attempt to automatically free up enough hard drive space and guide you through freeing up even more if the automatic cleanup is not sufficient. You can also take steps to free up space on your own. For more information, see Free up space to install the latest Windows 10 update or visit the related FAQ.

Feature-specific requirements for Windows 10

In addition to the requirements above that are needed to run Windows, some features have additional requirements. In some cases, features included with updated versions of Windows 10 will be best experienced with newer processors. For specific hardware support please refer to your Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Below are some additional details regarding requirements for key features:

• BitLocker Drive Encryption (available with Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Enterprise only) requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 or higher and Trusted Computing Group (TCG)-compliant BIOS or UEFI. BitLocker can be used on devices without TPM, but you will need to save a startup key on a removable device such as a USB flash drive. TPM 2.0 and InstantGo support is required when you want to automatically encrypt the local drive when joining a device to Azure Active Directory (AAD). Check with your PC manufacturer to confirm if your device supports the correct TPM version and InstantGo for the scenario you want to enable.
• BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (available in Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
• Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (available in Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
• Cortana is only currently available on Windows 10 for the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Spain, Australia and India.
• Microsoft account is required for some features.
• Miracast requires a display adapter which supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.3, and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct.
• Movies & TV application is not available in all regions. For the most up-to-date list of regions, please go to the Movies & TV information page.
• Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database.
• Skype is available only in select countries and regions. Calling to select countries and regions only. Excludes special, premium and non-geographic numbers. For details, visit the Office FAQ page.
• Snap: The number of applications that can be snapped will depend upon the minimum resolution for the application with a limit of two applications in Tablet mode and four applications in Desktop mode.
• Speech recognition will vary by device microphone. For a better speech experience, you will need a:
  • High fidelity microphone array
  • Hardware driver with microphone array geometry exposed
• Tablet mode is available on tablets and 2-in-1s with GPIO indicators or those that have a laptop and slate indicator will be able to be configured to enter «tablet mode» automatically.
• Touch: To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multi-touch.
• Two-factor authentication requires the use of a PIN, Biometric (finger print reader or illuminated infrared camera), or a phone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
• Windows Hello requires a camera configured for near infrared (IR) imaging or fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Devices without biometric sensors can use Windows Hello with a PIN or a portable Microsoft compatible security key.
• Xbox application requires an Xbox Live account, which is not available in all regions. For the most up-to-date list of regions, please go to Xbox Live Countries and Regions website.
• Wi-Fi Direct Printing requires a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct and a device that supports Wi-Fi Direct Printing.