Take Ownership of All Files


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For some reason I don't have proper permission to install the Steam client, while on an administrator account.

I've had a lot of problems with file permissions on my two computers and with my friend's computer.

I've tried using the takeown command but it doesn't seem to actually change the permissions.

Is there a way to change permissions of all files to make my account the owner?

And if not in Windows, then is it possible via an Ubuntu live cd?

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You really don't want to do this.

Windows does not expect the administrator to be the owner of most files and the Administrator should not be the owner of any files outside of the Administrators folder.

In addition, if you give access permissions to the administrator and nobody else, you'll completely break Windows.

If you're having problems with the steam client, its due to something else.

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It's not a problem with Steam because it's happened with other installers and when simply deleting a file.

I don't want to deny access to files from other accounts, just give write access to mine.

I've also had problems with Firefox not being able to save a file to the desktop.

This is all on a clean install no more than 20 minutes old.

Edited by Raiden0899
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It's not a problem with Steam because it's happened with other installers and when simply deleting a file.

I don't want to deny access to files from other accounts, just give write access to mine.

I've also had problems with Firefox not being able to save a file to the desktop.

This is all on a clean install no more than 20 minutes old.

This is an issue you've only been having with Win7? If you've been having it with Vista too, it's something you're doing wrong.

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I noticed that the Take Ownership addon did not work with 7100, I thought that it was just a buggy version of that addon, but if you are also having that problem - then.... bug?

Anyway - you just need to take ownership manually - thought - the right-click - security tab - advanced. It is a pain in the arse though and you have to wait when it writes new NTFS permission settings to files. By default, you are considered a threat (I would guess?) in Windows 7, so it pretty much sets all the files and folders protected from your meddling.

The first time I noticed that, I had XP home edition (no NTFS permissions), so when I removed W7 - to actually remove W7 - it forced me to actually reformat an entire partition... :(

What was (and is still) Microsoft thinking?!

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