How to take ownership of a folder
Note You must be logged on to the computer with an account that has
administrative credentials. If you are running Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition, you must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an
account that has Administrative rights to have access to the Security tab.
If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must disable Simple File
Sharing. By default, Windows XP Professional uses Simple File sharing when it
is not joined to a domain.
To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:
1. Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click
Properties.
2. Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one
appears).
3. Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
4. In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are
logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to
take ownership of the contents of that folder, select the Replace owner on
subcontainers and objects check box.
5. Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message:
You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do
you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you
Full Control?
All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.
Note folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership
of.
6. Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you
want for the folder and its contents.
How to take ownership of a file
Note You must be logged on to the computer with an account that has
administrative credentials.
To take ownership of a file, follow these steps:
1. Right-click the file that you want to take ownership of, and then click
Properties.
2. Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one
appears).
3. Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
4. In the Name list, click Administrator, or click the Administrators group,
and then click OK.
The administrator or the Administrators group now owns the file. To change
the permissions on the files and folders under this folder, go to step 5.
5. Click Add.
6. In the Enter the object names to select (examples) list, type the user or
group account that you want to give access to the file. For example, type
Administrator.
7. Click OK.
8. In the Group or user names list, click the account that you want, and
then select the check boxes of the permissions that you want to assign that
user.
9. When you are finished assigning permissions, click OK.
