Windows IT Pro is the leading independent community for IT professionals deploying Microsoft Windows server and client applications and technologies.
  
  
  Advanced Search 


May 09, 2007

In Windows Vista, how can I take ownership of a file from the command line?

RSS
Subscribe to Windows IT Pro | See More Tips Articles Here | Reprints | Or get the Monthly Online Pass—only $5.95 a month!

A. Vista retains the Takeown command, which lets you take ownership of a file. A number of switches (e.g., /s) let you specify a remote system, along with the user context to use (e.g., /u and /p for username and password). Here's some sample usage for taking ownership of a specific file:

takeown /f intlcfg.exe
SUCCESS: The file (or folder): "D:\Temp\intlcfg.exe" now owned by user "SAVILLTECH\john"

To take ownership of a folder and all its content, you can add the /r switch for recursive execution:

takeown /f . /r
SUCCESS: The file (or folder): "D:\Temp" now owned by user "SAVILLTECH\john"
SUCCESS: The file (or folder): "D:\Temp\boot.wim" now owned by user "SAVILLTECH\john"

You can also use the /a switch to make the ownership go to the Administrators group instead of the current user:

takeown /f intlcfg.exe /a
SUCCESS: The file (or folder): "D:\Temp\intlcfg.exe" now owned by the administrators group.

End of Article



Reader Comments

You must be a registered user or online subscriber to comment on this article. Please log on before posting a comment. Are you a new visitor? Register now




Top Viewed ArticlesView all articles
WinInfo Short Takes: Week of November 9, 2009

An often irreverent look at some of the week's other news, including some more Windows 7 sales momentum, some Sophos stupidity, Microsoft's cloud computing self-loathing, more whining from the browser makers, Zoho's "Fake Office," and much, much more ...

Command Prompt Tricks

One reader shares his tip for setting up the command prompt to reflect a remote path. ...

Windows 7 Sets Sales Record

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer described Windows 7's first ten days of sales as "fantastic" while in Japan yesterday. ...


Related Events WinConnections and Microsoft® Exchange Connections

Deep Dive into Windows Server 2008 R2 presented by John Savill

Check out our list of Free Email Newsletters!

Windows OSs eBooks Understanding and Leveraging Code Signing Technologies

A Guide to Windows Certification and Public Keys

SQL Server Administration for Oracle DBAs

Related Windows OSs Resources Introducing Left-Brain.com, the online IT bookstore
Looking for books, CDs, toolkits, eBooks? Prime your mind at Left-Brain.com

Discover Windows IT Pro eLearning Series!
Clear & detailed technical information and helpful how-to's, all in our trademark no-nonsense format


Windows IT Pro Home Register FAQ for Windows WinInfo News
Europe Edition About Us Contact Us/Customer Service Media Kit Affiliates / Licensing  
SQL Server Magazine Office & SharePoint Pro DevProConnections IT Job Hound
Left-Brain.com Technology Resource Directory asp.netPRO ITTV Windows SuperSite 
 
 Windows IT Pro is a Division of Penton Media Inc.
 © 2009 Penton Media, Inc. Terms of Use | Privacy Statement