Windows 10: Can't take ownership of external hard disk with W11

I have an external hard drive and when i try to open it, it says access denied..when i try to see the ownership, it says unable to determine owner.When i try to change the ownership through various methods like cmd promp takeown or by going to the properties of the drive, it says unable to set new owner, Going to Properties/Security/AdvancedThere is not Owner tab. Only a field Owner with a button Change. When I click on that a window pops up where no owner can be changed or assigned. Why is W10 all of a sudden doing this? I have used the same folder with my W11 computer before. I never changed

:)

 

Can't take ownership of external hard disk

Hi Jenil,

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

In order to assist you better could you please confirm a few things like:

• Have you installed any third party folder lock software on your computer?

I would suggest you to follow methods and check if it helps.

Method 1:

Step 1: Make sure that you are logged in as an administrator.

Step 2: Try to take ownership of the files and check if it helps.

Taking ownership of a folder from explorer

1) Locate the file or folder on which you want to take ownership in windows explorer.

2) Right click on file or folder and select “Properties” from Context Menu.

3) Click on "Security" tab.

4) Click on “Advanced” button.

5) Now click on "Owner" tab in Advanced Security Settings for User windows.

6) Click on Edit Button and select user from given Change Owner to list if user or group is not in given list.

7) Click on other users or groups. Enter name of user/group and click ok.

8) Now select User/group and click apply and ok. Check “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects” if you have files and folder within selected folder.

9) Click ok when Windows Security Prompt is displayed.

10) Now Owner name must have changed.

11) Now click Ok to exist from Properties windows.

Once you have taken the ownership of file or folder next part comes is granting permissions to that file/folder or object.

If the above method doesn’t work, you could try taking ownership from the command line.

Or Taking ownership of a file or folder from command line

Open an elevated Command Prompt window.

To do so:

a. press windows + X.

b. Select Command Prompt as Administrator.

c. Type the following command and press ENTER:

takeown /f <foldername> /r /d y

d. To assign the Administrators group Full Control Permissions for the folder, use this syntax:

icacls <foldername> /grant administrators:F /T

The /T parameter is added so that the operation is carried out through all the sub-directories and files within that folder.

e. To know more information about the above commands, run these commands from a Command Prompt window.

takeown /?

icacls /?

Once you take ownership, you can grant permissions on those files or folders.

Method 2:

Try the steps in the following Microsoft article.

Windows help & learning - Microsoft Support

Chkdsk disclaimer.

Important: While performing chkdsk on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found on the hard drive when chkdsk tries to repair that sector if any data available on that might be lost.

Hope this information was helpful and do let us know if you need further assistance. WE will be glad to assist.

 

External Hard disk contents are not visible.

Hi Pranoti,

For us to narrow down your concern with your external hard disk, we would like to know the following:

• Were there any changes made on your computer prior to the issue (e.g., updates, software installation)?
• To make sure that we have not missed on anything, what troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
• Do you hear any clicking sound when connecting your hard disk?

In the meantime, we suggest that you update all your device driver.

We look forward to your response.

 

No access to external hard disks after last window 10 update

hello Petra

Method 1:

Check whether the external hard disk is detected in Device Manager, right click on it and click on Uninstall the drivers. Plug in the external hard drive again so that Windows automatically installs the drivers. Check if the issue persists.

If the issue persists, go to the External hard drive in Windows Explorer, right click on it and select Properties. Click on the Security tab and then click on Edit and click on Add and type Everyone and press enter. Select Everyone from the list and place a
check mark in Full control. Press apply and ok and check if you are able to access the External hard drive.

Method 2:

If you are still unable to access your hard drive, I suggest you to refer to the steps mentioned in the following link and try to take the ownership and check:

"Access Denied" or other errors when accessing or working with files and folders in Windows

"Access Denied" or other errors when you access or work with files and folders in Windows