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How
to Take Ownership of a File or Folder
Administrators
have a lot of power on XP machines. One manifestation of that power is
the ability to take ownership of files or folders on NTFS partitions that
were created by other users. The owner of a file or folder can change
its permissions, thus controlling who can and can't access it. Note that
once you take ownership, though, you can't give it back without the other
user knowing.
Here's how
to take ownership of an NTFS object in XP Pro:
- Log on
as Administrator.
- First
you need to turn off simple file sharing if it's on. To do that, click
Start | My Computer. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, then the
View tab. Go to Advanced Settings and clear the box that says Use Simple
File Sharing (Recommended). Click OK.
- Now navigate
to the folder you want to own, and right click it. Select Properties
from the context menu.
- Click
the Security tab, click the Advanced button, and click the Owner tab.
- In the
Name list under "Change owner to," click Administrators. If
you also want to take over ownership of everything within a folder,
check the box that says Replace owner on subcontainers and objects.
- Click
OK.
Remember that this only works on files and folders stored on NTFS partitions.
Objects stored on FAT partitions don't have owners or file level permissions.
You can't turn off simple file sharing in XP Home edition, but you can
take ownership by booting into XP in Safe Mode as Administrator, and then
following steps 3 through 6.
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