
Once you've gained access to a file or folder, you have complete ownership over it on your operating system. Taking ownership of a file or folder is a specific process of gaining permissions, and therefore access, to a file or folder. Related: Computer Skills: Definitions and Examples What is taking ownership of a file or folder on Windows 10?

In this article, we explain what taking ownership of a file or folder is, review why you'd take ownership of a file or folder and give a step-by-by-step guide to the process. Learning how to take ownership of a file or folder on your computer can be a helpful technical skill for anyone working in an office environment. There are several reasons you may need to learn to do this, such as editing files you don't own, requiring access to folders that aren't yours or a working on a group project in which each team member requires owner capabilities. The System Image Backup tool is located in the Windows Control Panel, but it’s in a different place on different versions of Windows.Taking ownership of a file or folder within a Microsoft Windows operating system can be a simple process of following a series of steps. But free is free, and if you don’t need the extra features, the Windows tool offers a solid way to perform a full backup of your system. For example, both support incremental backups, password-protected images, and the ability to browse backups for individual files.

Third-party apps like Macrium Reflect or Acronis True Image-at least, the paid versions-do offer some advanced features you won’t find in the Windows system image backup tool. RELATED: How to Use All of Windows 10's Backup and Recovery Tools With that in mind, however, image backups can still be really handy. It would be like trying to plug your hard drive into another PC and expecting everything to load well. You’re creating an image of your full Windows installation and, since Windows is set up specifically for your hardware, it just won’t work as-is in another PC. The biggest disadvantage with system image backups-other than taking a bit longer-is that you can’t restore the backup to a different PC. On the other hand, normal backup tools, including online backup services like Backblaze or Windows’ built-in File History feature, essentially copy your files to another location.

No need to reinstall Windows or your apps.

The advantage of a system image is that if a hard drive crashes, you can replace it, restore the image, and have your system right back to where it was when the image was captured. Open System Image Backup in Windows 10 and Windows 11Ī system image backup is essentially a complete snapshot of an entire hard drive.
