Symptoms: Error entries appear in the Errors panel for specific folders, stating access is denied.
Causes and solutions:
Insufficient permissions — The user running the tool (or the alternative credentials configured in the profile) doesn’t have read access to the folder’s security descriptor. Grant at least “Read Permissions” access on the affected folders, or use an account with broader access.
Enable Advanced File System Access — In the profile’s Options tab, enable “Advanced File System Access.” This activates SE_BACKUP_NAME and SE_RESTORE_NAME privileges, which bypass standard access control checks. The user must be a local administrator.
UAC interference — If running on the same machine as the folders, User Account Control may limit the effective permissions. Run NTFS Permissions Auditor as administrator (right-click → Run as administrator).
Alternative credentials — If auditing remote shares, configure alternative credentials in the profile’s Authentication tab with an account that has the necessary permissions.
Share Discovery Fails
Symptoms: No shares are found when scanning a server or domain, or errors appear during discovery.
Error
Cause
Solution
Access Denied (code 5)
Insufficient permissions to query shares
Use an account with administrative access on the target server
Network path not found (code 53)
The server name cannot be reached
Verify the server name or IP, check network connectivity
Network busy or unavailable (code 1231)
Network connectivity issue
Check that the target server is online and reachable
RPC server unavailable (code 1722)
RPC service is not running or blocked by firewall
Ensure the RPC service is running on the target, check firewall rules for RPC ports
Session timeout (code 2312)
The connection timed out
Check network latency, try scanning fewer servers at once
For domain-wide discovery, the machine must be domain-joined and the user must have read access to Active Directory computer objects.
Alternative Credentials Not Working
Verify the username format: use DOMAIN\username or username@domain.com
Confirm the account isn’t locked out or expired
Check that domain trust relationships exist for cross-domain scenarios
Test access manually: try accessing \\server\share from Windows Explorer using the same credentials
Credentials are stored per-profile in Windows Credential Manager — if you changed the password, re-enter it in the profile
Audit Is Slow
Reduce scope — Enable depth limiting to scan fewer levels. Use directory exclusions to skip large, irrelevant trees (temp folders, backup directories).
Disable group member expansion — “Get group members” and especially “Get nested group members” add significant time because each group requires Active Directory queries. Disable if you don’t need per-user breakdown.
Network latency — Remote shares are slower than local folders. Audit during off-peak hours if the file server is under heavy load.
Large number of directories — Each root directory is scanned in parallel, but each individual directory tree is sequential. Breaking large audits into smaller profiles can help.
Export Fails or Is Truncated
OutOfMemoryException on large Excel exports — Disable “Include cell borders” in export settings. This option consumes significant memory on reports with 100,000+ rows. Also enable “Large data export mode (100K+ rows)” to disable formatting.
Excel worksheet row limit — Excel has a maximum row count per worksheet. The application automatically creates additional worksheets (“Part 2”, “Part 3”, etc.) when this limit is reached.
Export canceled — If you click Stop during an export, the partial file may be incomplete. Re-run the export.
Empty export — If a filter is applied, only matching entries are exported. Clear the filter and try again to verify the data exists.
Scheduled Task Not Running
Check Windows Task Scheduler — Open Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc) and look for the task. Verify its status, last run result, and next run time.
Profile not found — If the profile was deleted after the task was created, the task will fail. Check the task’s profile assignment.
Credentials expired — If the task is set to “Run whether user is logged on or not”, the stored credentials may have expired. Re-save the task to update credentials.
Application not installed — The task calls NTFSPermissionsAuditorCmd.exe from the installation directory. If the application was moved or uninstalled, the task will fail.
License issue — Scheduled tasks require a Pro license. If the license has expired, the task will fail with “Incorrect license.”
Email Sending Fails
SMTP settings — Verify the server name, port, and SSL settings in Settings → Email. Use the “Test message” button to isolate email issues from task issues.
Firewall — Ensure the machine running the task allows outbound connections on the SMTP port (25, 465, or 587).
Authentication — If your SMTP server requires authentication, verify the username and password. Some servers reject connections from unauthorized senders.
Recipient validation — Some SMTP servers reject messages to invalid email addresses. Verify the recipient addresses.
Credentials for scheduled tasks — SMTP credentials are stored in Windows Credential Manager for the user that configured them. If the task runs as a different user, SMTP credentials need to be configured for that account.
Orphaned SIDs / “Cannot Find SID Details”
Unresolved SIDs (displayed as raw SID strings like S-1-5-21-...) indicate accounts that existed when the permissions were set but can no longer be found. Common causes:
The user or group was deleted from Active Directory
The account exists in a domain that’s no longer trusted or reachable
The SID is from a local account on a different machine
These are typically safe to clean up by removing the permissions in Windows Explorer, but verify first that the SID doesn’t belong to a service account or cross-domain trust.
Updating from Old Version / Data Import Issues
The old version must be at least version 1.6.0.0 with “Allow export” enabled
The import reads data from the old version’s database — both versions can coexist during migration
If import fails, check that the old database isn’t locked by the old version running simultaneously
Debug Logging
To help diagnose problems:
Go to Settings → General
Enable Debug logging
Note the Debug path (default: %LOCALAPPDATA%\NTFS Permissions Auditor\logs\)