How to Take Ownership of a Item in Vista and Windows 7

Ok friends.. So here goes the reason for this post...
Actually, I was trying to delete a file from Windows 7. My login has 'Administrative' rights. But even then the OS kept on saying that I need SYSTEM rights or I have no rights to delete the stupid file. So, u can imagine how irritating the situation would have been. I mean, in my own PC i was having no control over what files i should keep and which I should delete. Hence I wint out googling for some way. Its then when I stumbled upon this solution. So I thought to share it with u guys as wel...

This method will add Take Ownership to the Context (right click) menu for all folders and files in Vista. The Application files, (EX: EXE, CMD, MSI) will still have Run as administrator in addition to Take Ownership now. When you use Take Ownership on a folder, it will take ownership of all the files and subfolders within that folder to.


EXAMPLE: Before and After Context Menus

STEP ONE
Add or Remove Take Ownership
1. To Add Take Ownership -
A) Click on the download button below to download the
Add_Take_Ownership.reg file.

B) Go to step 3.
2. To Remove Take Ownership -
A) Click on the download button below to download the
Remove_Take_Ownership.reg file.

3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.

4. Right click on the .reg file (on Desktop) and click on Merge.

5. Click on the Run button in the Security Warning pop-up.

6. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.

7. When done, you can delete the .reg file (on Desktop).
Tip
Taking ownership only changes the "owner" of the file to be your user account. It does not change the permission level of the file.

After you have taking ownership of the file, you may still need to "Allow" your user account "Full Control" of the file before you will have full permission to access it. See steps 11 to 22 in the tutorial below for how.

Take Ownership of file - Vista Forums

STEP TWO
How to Use Take Ownership
1. Right click on a folder or file.
NOTE: When you use Take Ownership on a folder, it will take ownership of all the files and subfolders within that folder to.

2. Click on Take Ownership. (See Example at top)

3. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.

4. You will see a command window pop-up and then go away when it's finished. (See example screenshot below)

5. The folder or file has been taken ownership of.
NOTE:
A) You can verify from METHOD TWO step 7 here: How to Take Ownership of a Item in Vista
B) It will have your user name listed as the owner.
Tip
Taking ownership only changes the "owner" of the file to be your user account. It does not change the permission level of the file.

After you have taking ownership of the file, you may still need to "Allow" your user account "Full Control" of the file before you will have full permission to access it. See steps 11 to 22 in the tutorial below for how.

Take Ownership of file - Vista Forums


Source of this great solution: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/112795-context-menu-take-ownership.htmlhttp://www.vistax64.com/attachments/tutorials/19678d1276323719-context-menu-take-ownership-remove_take_ownership.reg