Security Tab Extra Marks Mystery

From: R.N. Folsom (rnfolsom@netscape.net)
Date: 09/28/02 

From: "R.N. Folsom" <rnfolsom@netscape.net>
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2002 14:43:56 -0700

        This message asks for any information from anyone
about some mysterious extra marks and nested dotted boxes
that appear on the Security Tabs of my Windows 2000
Service Pack 2 NTFS computer: a Dell Latitude C800
Pentium III 1ghz laptop, 512mb RAM, 20gb primary hard
drive.

        The computer came with Dell having already
installed Windows 2000 with Service Pack 1; I installed
Win2k's Service Pack 2. Shortly after I acquired the
computer in August 2001, I partitioned its primary hard
drive into two approximately equal partititions C: and D:,
using Partition Magic 6.0. Whether I installed Service
Pack 2 before or after the partitioning I do not know.

        This message has four remaining sections: ISSUE
describes the Security Tab extra marks and nested dotted
boxes; PARTIAL SOLUTION describes the dependence of these
extras on the computer's Display Properties font size;
PURPOSE OF SECURITY TAB EXTRA MARKS AND NESTED DOTTED
BOXES guesses about what the purpose of these extras might
be; and PATH TO THE PARTIAL SOLUTION describes how the
dependence of these Security Tab extras on font size was
discovered.

ISSUE

        When the machine first arrived and I began to
investigate it (before I installed Win2k's SP2), I
discovered that for ANY folder's property *** (of course
I haven't checked nearly all folders, but I have
discovered no exceptions), the Security tab has the
following arrangement:

                        Allow Deny

Full Control CB / CB |

Modify CB / CB |

Read and Execute CB / CB |

List Folder Contents CB / CB |

Read CB / CB |

Write CB / CB |

where the three columns line up (regardless how they may
appear here), CB represents a square check box, /
represents what really looks like a small forward slash a
bit less than half the height of the check box (or maybe
it is an uncurved comma), and | represents a vertical line
that is the same height as the check box.

        These security tab extra marks (the short / and
the |) act as if they are some sort of bookmark: If I
click on any item in the list, for example "Modify," a box
drawn using very light dots surrounds the Allow
column's "CB /" (unless it is greyed out due to inherited
permissions, in which case it surrounds the deny "CB |").
Also, within that dotted box, another dotted box surrounds
the / or the |. And if I either add or remove a check
from a checkbox, the same set of nested dotted boxes marks
the location. On any screen, I have never seen more than
one of these nested dotted boxes; it moves around and
marks only the most recently selected item (row) or
checkbox. And it disappears as soon as Apply is clicked.
I have never seen any nested dotted boxes when a
securities tab is first opened.

        Until September 2002, I knew nothing about these
extra marks and nested dotted boxes, except that I
discovered them shortly after my computer arrived from
Dell in early August 2001. They have been a complete
mystery.

        I can find no Windows 2000 book (including the MS
Windows 2000 Resource Kit) that discusses these marks or
includes them in its security tab illustrations, and I can
find no other Win2k user (including on CompuServe's WinNT
forum) who has seen these extra marks in their security
tabs. Dell support technicians claim never to have seen
these extra marks (although in my experience Dell support
has often been misleading or simply wrong).

        Norton Anti-Virus reports no problems, and I do
have the latest ATI video drivers for my computer (two
questions asked by a Dell technician).

        These security tab extra marks are so precisely
placed, and the nested dotted boxes around them respond so
definitely and precisely (they first appear, and then
move, in response to any new selection, that to me it is
clear that they are designed to do exactly what they are
doing. And the lines all are evenly spaced --- the
security tab looks exactly as in a book illustration,
except for those extra marks and boxes.

PARTIAL SOLUTION, as of September 2002

        In early September 2002, I discovered that these
Security Tab extra marks and nested dotted boxes do NOT
appear if the standard font size is set at 154% (148
pixels per inch) or lower (at Display Properties,
Settings, Advanced). They DO appear if (and apparently
only if) the standard font size is set at 155% (149 ppi)
or higher, and that same boundary applies not only in
normal mode but also in Safe Mode. Of course, that
boundary may be specific to a Dell Latitude C800 15" UXGA
(1600x1200) screen, with an ATI display driver.

        Moreover, at this boundary, in normal mode the
darkness of fonts used on Windows tab labels (and some
fonts on some other Windows boxes, such as the "Windows is
starting" box and the logon box) switches from light to
heavy --- my GUESS is that on the Dell's UXGA LCD screen,
a given Windows tab label font type at 154% and lower is
drawn using lines one pixel wide, but at 155% is drawn
using lines two pixels wide. (Here I am using "Windows
tab labels" very precisely: an example is labels on the
tabs in the Display Properties box. As nearly as I can
tell, the fonts and darkness of these tab labels is NOT
controlled by any setting in Display Properties,
Appearance.)

PURPOSE OF SECURITY TAB EXTRA MARKS AND NESTED DOTTED BOXES

        An unanswered question remains: what is the
purpose of these Security tab extra marks and nested
dotted boxes?

        On CompuServe's WinNT forum (Section 20, Security
Concerns), Jerry Lippey wrote

>> I'm still not convinced that this is
intentional. . . . From what you've said, it seems to me
more likely that it's due to an unplanned combination of
screen, font, resolution, and so forth. [Security Tab
Mystery thread, his message 807816 of 17-Sep-02.] <<

That these extra marks and nested dotted boxes could be an
unplanned result is certainly possible. I'm sure that
when the UXGA 1600x1200 spec was written, its authors did
not expect it to be used on a 15" LCD screen (or 15"
cathode ray tube, for that matter), and therefore did not
expect anyone (unless visually handicapped) to set the
font size at 155% or above.
 
        Nevertheless, my own view is that the extra marks
and nested dotted boxes probably are intentional, with
some purpose. If so, my guess is that the purpose has
something to do with Windows' Accessibility features,
particularly for visually handicapped people. This guess
is supported by the Accessibility wizard's ability to
enlarge font size, and by my observation that the font
size boundary that causes these Security tab extra marks
and nested dotted boxes to appear is the same boundary
that causes Windows tab labels etc. to darken
substantially.

        I can think of two ways to investigate that
hypothesis: with a font size greater than or equal to
155%, see what happens to Security tab extra marks and
nested dotted boxes if Accessibility is not running,
either because
a) its services are disabled in Computer Management,
Services, and/or
   its processes are disabled in Task Manager, Processes;
b) it is uninstalled.

For a), unfortunately, in Computer Management > Services,
I do not see any accessibility services (although they may
be there and I simply don't recognize them). Likewise for
the processes in Ctrl-Alt-Delete Task Manager.

For b), although in C:\Winnt\Inf\Sysoc.inf, AccessUtil
and/or AccessOpt, I can remove the HIDE (while retaining
all commas) so that the Accessibility Wizard (and other
non-accessibility accessories) show up in Control Panel,
Add/Remove Windows Components, I am a bit nervous about
uninstalling the Accessibility Wizard --- which uninstalls
not only the Wizard but also all of the Accessibility
features, I think --- for fear that I will have difficulty
getting them back again. Although I am not handicapped
(ignoring any mental deficiencies), I do use the largest
available cursor arrow to compensate for my UXGA screen,
and for some internet websites I sometimes use the
magnifier, since major portions of some websites (e.g.
http://www.jsiinc.com/reghack.htm) use fonts that cannot
be enlarged and that are essentially unreadable on a 15"
UXGA screen, even if I remove my eyeglasses and take
advantage of my natural nearsightedness.

        So until I get more information about services,
and/or screw my courage up enough to uninstall the
Accessibility Wizard, my guess that Security tab extra
marks and nested dotted boxes have something to do with
accessibility will have to remain an untested hypothesis.

        After all, even if I did confirm that
Accessibility had something to do with Security tab extra
marks and nested dotted boxes, I still would not know
their purpose. And I'm not nearly talented enough to
figure out how to search the MS knowledge base for an
answer: "extra marks" and "nested dotted boxes" just
isn't going to cut it.

PATH TO THE PARTIAL SOLUTION (With thanks to CompuServe
WinNT Forum Sysop Jerry Lippey)

        On CompuServe's WinNT forum (Section 20, Security
Concerns), Jerry Lippey --- who suspected a video problem -
-- asked

>> What happens when use the vga driver? You can do that
by booting into Safe Mode. [Security Tab Mystery thread,
his message 807666 of 16-Sep-2002.] <<

        That suggestion gave me something new to try,
which was very important since I was all out of ideas.
And it led to the solution.

        The first time I booted into Safe Mode, security
tabs did NOT show the extra marks, and hence did not show
the nested dotted boxes. But since Safe Mode not only
puts me in MS Standard VGA but also ALSO avoids running
some other services, that didn't tell me that it was the
video.

        While thinking about those other services, I
considered another possibility: My Dell laptop screen is
UXGA, 1600x1200 pixels crammed onto a 15" LCD, with
incredible clarity as the result, but also VERY small
print at Dell's default "large font" size of 125% (120
pixels per inch, instead of the normal "Small Fonts" 100%
= 96 ppi). So for eye comfort, at Display Properties,
Settings tab, Advanced, I ordinarily run a font size of
160% --- which makes 10 point Arial on the Dell almost the
same size as on my SVGA 800x600 12" Texas Instruments
Travelmate laptop (167% would be a match, but it's not
necessary given the Dell's beautiful high resolution
screen).

        But in Safe Mode's MS Standard VGA, the result of
160% is fonts and boxes so large that, for example, the
taskbar Properties box is enough taller than the physical
screen that the OK and Cancel buttons are below the
physical screen's bottom edge --- making it hard to reset
Auto-Hide and start menu small icons. Auto-hide being
essential in this situation, it's a good thing that I'm
used to using the Enter key to bypass the OK button.

        So before going into Safe Mode, while still in
Windows I routinely reset the font size to "Small Fonts"
100% size. And I had reset the font size on this occasion
also, so that in Safe Mode, everything physically fits the
screen.

        The thought occurred: maybe those security tab
extra marks and nested boxes have something to do with
font size? I booted out of Safe Mode back into normal
mode Windows, which still was at "Small Fonts" (although
now UXGA, 1600x1200). I checked some security tabs, and
the extra marks and nested dotted boxes were NOT there. I
went back up to 160%, rebooted into normal windows, and
the extra marks and nested dotted boxes had returned.

        Then by experimentation, I discovered that the
boundary at which Security tabs either do not or do have
extra marks and nested dotted boxes is a font setting of
154% (148 ppi) or lower, versus 155% (149 ppi) or higher.
I discovered also that the same boundary holds in Safe
Mode.

Thanks, very much, for any explanation of these marks that
anyone can provide.

Roger Folsom