This all in one guide will help you to take ownership of a file, folder, drive or registry key from TrustedInstaller in Windows 8 or later. Convert your Windows Server 2008 to a Workstation! Windows Server 2008 to Workstation Manual.
How to Take Ownership of a file or folder using command-line in Windows Vista, 7,8 and 10. How to Add “Take Ownership” to the Right- Click Menu in Windows Explorer. Taking ownership of files or folders in Windows is not simple. Both the GUI and command line take too many steps. Why not add a simple context menu command that lets you take ownership of any file or folder? You can add a “Take Ownership” command to your context menu by editing the Registry manually in two locations—one for files and the second for folders. You can also just download our one- step Registry hacks to make those changes for you. In Windows, a user that has ownership of a file or folder has implicit rights to change permissions on that object. That user is also always allowed to access the file or folder—even when other permissions seemingly contradict that access. Sometimes, you might run into a situation where you need to take over the ownership of a file or folder. It might be a system file you need to alter to apply some hack—like replacing Notepad with another text editor—in which case, a built- in user account named Trusted Installer has the ownership by default. ![]() ![]() Or you might have a hard drive from another computer that you need to control files on. Whatever the reason, you can take ownership by using the various permissions dialog boxes in Windows or by using the Command Prompt. But both methods require that you complete several steps. With a few edits to the Registry, though, you can add a simple “Take Ownership” command to the File Explorer context menu that lets you take ownership in one step. We’re going to show you the manual method for making those changes to the Registry, but we also have a one- step hack you can use to install those changes without the hassle. Note: The technique in this article works in most versions of Windows—from Vista on up through 7, 8, and 1. Add “Take Ownership” by Editing the Registry Manually. To add a “Take Ownership” command to the context menu in any version of Windows, you just need to make some changes in the Windows Registry. It’s a fair list of changes, and you’ll be working in two separate Registry locations. But take your time, follow the steps, and you’ll get there. And if you’d rather not make the changes yourself, you can skip ahead and just download our one- step hacks. We would recommend at least skimming this section, though, so you understand the changes getting made. Standard warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty simple hack and as long as you stick to the instructions, you shouldn’t have any problems. That said, if you’ve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes. Open the Registry Editor by hitting Start and typing “regedit.” Press Enter to open Registry Editor and give it permission to make changes to your PC. You’re going to make the same set of changes in two locations in the Registry. The first location adds the “Take Ownership” to the context menu for files of any type and the second location adds the command to the context menu for folders. Add the “Take Ownership” Command to the Context Menu for Files. In the Registry Editor, use the left sidebar to navigate to the following key: HKEY. Right- click the shell key and choose New > Key. Name the new key “runas.” If you already see a runas key inside the shell key, you can skip this step. Next, you’re going to change the (Default) value inside the runas key. With the runas key selected, double- click the (Default) value to open its properties window. In the properties window, type “Take Ownership” into the “Value data” box and then click “OK.” The value you type here will become the command you see on your context menu, so feel free to change this to whatever you want. Next, you’re going to create a new value inside the runas key. Right- click the runas key and choose New > String Value. Name the new value “No. Working. Directory.”Now, you’re going to create a new key inside the runas key. Right- click the runas key and choose New > Key. Name the new key “command.”With the new command key selected, double- click the (Default)value in the right pane to open it’s properties window. In the “Value data” box, type (or copy and paste) the following text and then click “OK.”cmd. Right- click the command key and choose New > String Value. Name the new value “Isolated. Command” and then double- click it to open its properties window. In the “Value data” box, type (or copy and paste) the following text and then click “OK.” Note that this is the same command we just added to the (Default) value. Let’s move on to the changes you need to make to get the command onto the menu for folders. Add the “Take Ownership” Command to the Context Menu for Folders. To add the “Take Ownership” command folders, you’re going to make essentially the same changes you just made in the previous section, but to a different location in the Registry. In Registry Editor, use the left sidebar to navigate to the following key: HKEY. Right- click the shell key and choose New > Key. Name the new key “runas.” If you already see a runas key inside the shell key, you can skip this step. Next, you’re going to change the (Default) value inside the runas key. With the runas key selected, double- click the (Default) value to open its properties window. In the properties window, type “Take Ownership” into the “Value data” box and then click “OK.” The value you type here will become the command you see on your context menu, so feel free to change this to whatever you want. Next, you’re going to create a new value inside the runas key. Right- click the runas key and choose New > String Value. Name the new value “No. Working. Directory.”Now, you’re going to create a new key inside the runas key. Right- click the runas key and choose New > Key. Name the new key “command.”With the new command key selected, double- click the (Default)value in the right pane to open it’s properties window. In the “Value data” box, type (or copy and paste) the following text and then click “OK.”cmd. Right- click the command key and choose New > String Value. Name the new value “Isolated. Command” and then double- click it to open its properties window. In the “Value data” box, type (or copy and paste) the following text and then click “OK.” Note that this is the same command we just added to the (Default) value. You can close Registry Editor. These changes should take place immediately, so test it out by right- clicking any file or folder and making sure you see the “Take Ownership” command. If you want to reverse the changes at any time, just head back into the Registry and delete the runas keys you created in both locations. This will also delete everything you created inside. If you already had runas keys in those locations—for example, you’ve applied other hacks—just delete the command keys you made instead. Download Our One- Click Registry Hacks. There are a lot of steps if you perform this hack manually, so we don’t blame you for wanting to use the quicker method. If you don’t feel like diving into the Registry, we’ve created a couple of hacks you can use. The “Add Take Ownership to Context Menu” hack creates the keys and values you need to add the “Take Ownership” command. The “Remove Take Ownership from Context Menu (Default)” hack deletes those keys, removing the command and restoring the default setting. Both hacks are included in the following ZIP file. Double- click the one you want to use and click through the prompts. Take Ownership Menu Hacks. These hacks are really just the runas key, stripped down to the new keys and values we talked about in the previous section and then exported to a . REG file. Running the hacks just creates or deletes the keys for adding the command to the context menu. And if you enjoy fiddling with the Registry, it’s worth taking the time to learn how to make your own Registry hacks. About $Recycle. bin, Recycler and System Volume Information Folders in Windows. As you might expect, there are many files and folders hidden away in Windows that deal with important tasks such as keeping the system running or allowing certain features to function. A couple of examples of this are Hiberfil. Pagefile. sys that reside in the root of your C drive. You have to enable the show hidden files and protected operating system files settings in Control Panel Folder Options for these and other files to become viewable. More folders in the root of C which also become visible after unhiding are $Recycle. Recycler and System Volume Information. But just what are these folders for? The first thing about hidden files and folders in general is that they’re usually not made visible for a reason, which is often a sign that you’re not supposed to play around with them. But also, like many things in Windows, if something isn’t behaving correctly or the behaviour looks odd, you might want to have a closer look. So what are the $Recycle. Recycler and System Volume Information folders all about? It’s not just System Restore data that gets stored in here though and the Windows Indexing Service uses it to store search databases, the Volume Shadow Copy Service creates live system backup data and also Distributed Link Tracking stores database information to repair shortcuts and linked documents. Check Disk logs are also saved here. There will actually be a System Volume Information folder created on every partition on your computer, including external hard drives and even sometimes flash drives. Because it’s the storage location for System Restore points, if System Restore backs up files that are infected with viruses or other malware, it becomes a problem. Most antivirus software cannot delete viruses from System Volume Information because it’s a highly protected folder. To verify this yourself, simply double click on the folder and you will receive an error “C: \System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied”. What you need to do is either give the appropriate permissions to the currently logged on user for full access to the System Volume Information folder, or delete all the previously created restore points to remove any viruses attached to them. Here we show you both methods. Turning off System Restore. Turning off System Restore completely will remove all your restore points from the System Volume Information folder, removing anything malicious attached to them. After turning System Restore off, restart your computer and then re- enable it again once your system is free of viruses. It will then create a new and clean restore point. By default, System Restore is automatically turned on in all versions of Windows that have it, and you can turn it off from: 1. Go to Control Panel - > System and click on System Protection (XP users simply click the System Restore tab)2a. For Windows XP, simply click the “Turn off System Restore” box and press OK. You can also adjust the percentage of the drive System Restore can occupy. For Windows Vista and above the process is slightly more complicated. Look in the list of available drives, click on any that have Protection set to On and press the Configure button. Then select “Turn off system protection” and click OK. Users just wanting to empty all restore points to free up some space, simply click on Delete. To free up space by deleting restore points you can also use a utility like the popular CCleaner although it won’t delete all restore points and will leave the most recent point in tact. Accessing the System Volume Information Folder. As mentioned earlier, the System Volume Information folder is protected by Windows and you can’t simply open it up and look at the contents because an access denied error message will popup. However, it is possible to gain access by setting the appropriate permissions for the folder, here’s the easy way to do it. For Windows XPBecause Windows XP deals differently with accessing folder security permissions depending on whether you’re using Home or Professional, the easiest solution is to use a context menu shortcut that works on both with a single click. Download Take Ownership XP and extract the zip file. Copy Subinacl. exe, Take. Ownership. File. cmd and Take. Ownership. Dir. cmd to your C: \Windows folder, then double click on Install. Sub. In. ACL is a Microsoft utility to change user security for files, registry keys and services. Now, go to the System Volume Information folder, right click on it and select “Take Ownership” from the menu. You should be able to enter the folder and have a look around without receiving the error. To remove Take Ownership again, run Remove. It’s still not possible or recommended to start deleting stuff from System Volume Information, more on that later. For Windows Vista and above. This method also uses a Take Ownership context menu shortcut but is even easier to install as newer operating systems have a built in tool called Takedown. Download Take Ownership and run the Install. Take. Ownership. reg inside the zip file to import the context menu shortcut. Right click on System Volume Information and select “Take Ownership”, then you can get into the folder straight away. On the next page we’ll show you how to delete the System Volume Information folder and its files, and also talk about the $Recycle. Recycler folders.
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August 2017
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