Add “Take Ownership” Option in Right Click Context Menu

Are you sick of having to go through a files properties to 'Take Ownership' of it. Then here is something for you. First open up Notepad and paste this into it...

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"

And save it as " InstallTakeOwnership.reg " (No quotation marks)..
To un-install it open up a new notepad and paste this into it...

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]

And save it as " RemoveTakeOwnership.reg " .

It can be fruitfull to do a search, before posting.You will find several posts on this same subject. The .reg file is also available here. There is a current thread discussing the subject, also.

Also, it might usefull to post actual help, not only system mods...

LeHaM - many of these tweaks you're posting, if not all, are available using a handy little application called: Ultimate Windows Tweaker v2.1

You can get it at. www.thewindowsclub.com

or click here:
Ultimate Windows Tweaker, a Tweak UI for Windows 7 & Vista

It saves the end-user from having to write all those registry entries in notepad and it's a free-standing application.

No install is necessary.

We are pleased to release our Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 2.0 for Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a freeware TweakUI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows 7 & Windows Vista, 32-bit & 64-bit. It can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application to customize your Windows to meet your requirements. With judicious tweaking, it can make your system faster, more stable, and more secure with just a few mouse clicks. The tweaker detects whether you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista installed and accordingly offers you the relevant tweaks only.

UPDATE: 12.12.09 – The latest version is Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 2.1. It includes bug-fixes and may be downloaded from the link mentioned below.


The tweaker is a 345KB .exe file which does not require an install, but yet packs over 150 tweaks & settings. Simply download the zip file, extract its contents and run Ultimate Windows Tweaker. Please don’t detach Empty Icon from executable’s root, the Empty Icon is copied to system directory and referred in runtime. The tweaker has been designed by my MVP collegue Ramesh Kumar for The Windows Club.

i tried it but couldn't get it to apply any of the tweeks

OK, what dave said is true, this subject has been posted in some other threads but I do think it's important for members to be able to post topics that interest them. Firecat you like to post tutorials which can be helpful to people looking for general info on a subject, but for me, I already knew the information you shared in your tutorials; I saw the value in them for others.

I personally love registry hacks, I like making W7 do things only geeks would have read about. LeHaM has already been of great value to me personally, having solved a problem that was irritating me for months now. For this particular articles registry hack I prefer to install the "Take Ownership" script rather than typing all that, but I still can see the value of the information.
http://www.howtogeek.com/downloads/TakeOwnership.zip

Welcome to the forums LeHaM and thanks again for the mouse-click program. Now as to Nibs recommended tweaker product not working for you ...

I don't use the product Nibs listed but I guess the first question would be, does this product require administrative privileges and are you running it that way? Also, some registry tweaks require you to logout and log back so have you tried rebooting?

You select the tweaks in each section then click SAVE, it will ask if you want to reboot. Answer NO and go to the next section, and choose other tweaks and so on till you're done with the tweak selection.

Then reboot and you're good to go.

I have used this many times.

Also, what I do is "Copy & Paste" it to my C drive and leave it there. Then when I want to change something else, it's there ready to use.