At my company, we have a network shared folder that contains all of the sharable SolidWorks data (i.e. Document Templates, Sheet Formats, Blocks, Material Databases, etc.).

As it stands, all of these data sets are editable by anyone.  However, we are wanting to "lock down" editability of the Material Databases to a select few people.  I am looking for suggestions on the best way to go about doing this.

I have thought about simply using Windows permissions on the Material Database files to control this.  However there are a few problems with this.

1. Our IT dept. frowns upon people setting permission.  I could probably do it if I had to though.
2. All of our designers have the same Windows rights as me.  Meaning, if someone really wanted to, they could go into the permissions and "unlock" it for themselves.
3. When I tried this, I set the "Everyone" Group to deny write access, and the material administrators to "Full Control" individually.  This in turn popped up a warning stating that deny takes precedence over allow.  And that if people belonged to multiple groups, deny would take precedence over their allow permissions.  Since the material administrators also belong to the "Everyone" group, I would assume that this would then give them deny (I didn't go through with it to test it).  I am no "permissions" expert.  So, I may be wrong on this.

So, does anyone else have any suggestions on how to lock down the Material Databases besides Windows permissions?  It may very well come down to using permissions.  But I may have to resort to experts to help me set that up even.