Change Permissions allows a user to change permissions on a folder. Take Ownership allows a user to take ownership of a folder. Then, when the application attempts to invoke another application or use a system resource such as the file system, access to the new application or system resource is granted or denied based on the permissions of the impersonated user. By forcing applications to run as a user, Windows NT ensures that applications only have access to system resources that are accessible to the user who is running those applications. Also, impersonation reduces the number of times a user is required to enter a password, because a variety of applications and system services can be invoked once the user has been authenticated.
Impersonation also works remotely.
If a user has the proper privileges on a remote machine, an application on the remote machine will impersonate the user who is remotely invoking it. For example, when a user with authoring privileges on a remote Windows NT server attempts to author content on that server, the FrontPage authoring DLL will run as the impersonated user, guaranteeing that the user will only have access to files that are available to that user's account. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.