Having trouble deleting files because Access Denied. I just take the hard drive and put it in another computer and take ownership of the folder I need to get into.
Disable Simple File Sharing in Windows XP Professional
If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must disable Simple File Sharing. Open My Computer, Click Tools, Folder Options, View, at the bottom unclick Use Simple File Sharing. By default, Windows XP Professional uses Simple File Sharing when it is not joined to a domain. For additional information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:To take ownership of a file or a folder
How to take ownership of a file
You must have ownership of a protected file in order to access it. If another user has restricted access and you are the computer administrator, you can access the file by taking ownership.To take ownership of a file, follow these steps:
- Right-click the file that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
- Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
- Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
- In the Name list, click Administrator, or click the Administrators group, and then click OK.
The administrator or the administrators group now owns the file.
