Clarifications about the Read Only property

[Sarah]

Hello dear reader,

After seeing how many of our players are misinformed and/or not understanding how the "Read only" property works or how to identify it, I've decided to make this guide to explain it thoroughly.

First things first, I will be using Windows 10 for my screenshot examples, however, the display style of the permission has been working just like this since Windows XP, so no matter which version of Windows you're using, the information is accurate.

So, let's get started.

As you probably know, the download guide to our game client tells you to remove the Read only property from the whole WoW folder. For the screenshot examples below I will be using the "Data" folder, as it's the most important one and it's more simple to explain by using a specific folder rather than by using the full client folder:



So, what does this tell us? The answer is simple: Pretty much nothing.

The text in brackets clearly states that the property only applies to FILES INSIDE FOLDER. Folders themselves can not be or not be set to read only. The black square you see is a default state which only exists for folders. You are able to change the black square into either a tick or an empty box. This is to change the FILES INSIDE THE FOLDER to be read only (if ticked) or to not be read only (if using the blank box).

When unticking it for the first time, there should be a small popup window to apply the changes to each file inside the folder. Now, this is where the misinformation starts for many people.

First, let's have a look at one one of the files inside the folder (any file will do):



Okay, great! It's not set to read only anymore, making the change worked. (In the original torrent download it will be set to read only before you change it)

But wait, what happened to the properties on our Data FOLDER?



You see, it still looks exactly like it did before. What's shown on the Properties window of the folder itself is irrelevant, it has no information on whether or not the files are set to read only or not, they are only there to make changes to them. If you want to know whether or not something is read only, check the FILES INSIDE THE FOLDER.

I hope this helped you understand the Read only property a little bit better!


Best regards
Sarah