Who owns this - an easy way to see who owns a file or folder.

   Information

dir /q in a Command Prompt window will show you who the owner of a file or folder is. The following is my way of automating this so I can use it easily as often as I want.

Add Who owns this to the Windows Explorer/File Explore/This PC right click Context Menu. When used it will show you who the current owner of a file or folder (and subfolders) is.

Step 1:
Create whoOwns.bat.
Click Start, type notepad and press Enter.
Copy and paste the following RED line into the Notepad window:

dir /q %* > %temp%\whoOwnsRes.txt & notepad %temp%\whoOwnsRes.txt & del %temp%\whoOwnsRes.txt & exit

Save the files as whoOwns.bat in a folder you will be keeping. Enclose the name in double quotes or set the Save as type to All files (*) to prevent Notepad from adding .txt to the end.

Step 2:
Create AddwhoOwns.reg as follows:

Click Start, type notepad and press Enter.
Copy and paste the following RED lines into the Notepad window:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\whoOwns]
@="Who owns this"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\whoOwns\command]
@=""C:\\xxxxxxxx\\whoOwns.bat" "%1""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\whoOwns]
@="Who owns this"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\whoOwns\Command]
@=""C:\\xxxxxxxx\\whoOwns.bat" "%1""

Note: Change xxxxxxxx to the folder you put whoOwns.bat in.

Save the file as AddwhoOwns.reg in a folder you will be keeping. Enclose the name in double quotes or set the Save as type to All files (*) to prevent Notepad from adding .txt to the end.

Step 3:
Merge AddwhoOwns.reg into you registry by double clicking on it or right clicking and select Merge.

To use, open Windows Explorer/File Explore/This PC and navigate to the file or folder you are interested in.
Right click on it and select Who owns this.

A Command Prompt and a Notepad window will open with the results in file %temp%\whoOwnsRes.txt.
When you close the Notepad window the %temp%\whoOwnsRes.txt file will be deleted and the Command Prompt window will close.

For instance, if I do this for a folder like C:\Program Files, I get the following:

Code:

Volume in drive C is Lenovo_C
 Volume Serial Number is FC29-1F8F

 Directory of C:\Program Files

03/19/2016  11:18 AM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInsta.
03/19/2016  11:18 AM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInsta..
03/03/2016  10:00 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators 7-Zip
02/15/2016  03:12 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators CCleaner
10/30/2015  03:24 AM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaCommon Files
02/15/2016  02:33 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators Everything
02/15/2016  07:18 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators Greenshot
03/10/2016  12:19 PM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaInternet Explorer
02/15/2016  05:35 PM    <DIR>          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM    Macrium
02/15/2016  03:51 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators Malwarebytes
02/20/2016  12:39 AM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators Microsoft Games
02/15/2016  11:11 AM    <DIR>          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM    Microsoft LifeCam
02/15/2016  12:57 PM    <DIR>          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM    Microsoft Office
02/16/2016  11:04 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators MirrorFolder
02/15/2016  08:01 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators Mozilla Firefox
02/15/2016  07:50 PM    <DIR>          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM    MSBuild
02/15/2016  11:11 AM    <DIR>          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM    NVIDIA Corporation
02/15/2016  03:07 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators ooRexx
02/17/2016  09:31 PM    <DIR>          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM    Oracle
02/27/2016  09:11 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators Pale Moon
02/15/2016  11:07 AM    <DIR>          NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM    Realtek
02/15/2016  07:50 PM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaReference Assemblies
02/15/2016  03:57 PM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators Unlocker
03/19/2016  11:16 AM    <DIR>          BUILTIN\Administrators VS Revo Group
10/30/2015  05:02 AM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaWindows Defender
03/02/2016  12:11 PM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaWindows Journal
10/30/2015  05:02 AM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaWindows Mail
03/10/2016  12:19 PM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaWindows Media Player
03/10/2016  12:19 PM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaWindows Multimedia Platform
10/30/2015  03:24 AM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaWindows NT
10/30/2015  05:02 AM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaWindows Photo Viewer
03/10/2016  12:19 PM    <DIR>          NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaWindows Portable Devices
               0 File(s)              0 bytes
              32 Dir(s)  140,497,846,272 bytes free

When I do this for a file like C:\Users\rrkurtz\Documents\Ascenion Fall Festival.zdl, I get:

Code:

 Volume in drive C is Lenovo_C
 Volume Serial Number is FC29-1F8F

 Directory of C:\Users\rrkurtz\Documents

11/10/2006  08:17 PM        30,353,408 DESKTOP\rrkurtz        Ascenion Fall Festival.zdl
               1 File(s)     30,353,408 bytes
               0 Dir(s)  140,502,347,776 bytes free

How about adding the "Owner" column to file explorer:

That's good too (actually it's excellent) but not as much fun.

Thanks for the tip though.

In File Explorer, with the Owner column showing, click on View then Options at far right, then Change folder and search options.
Click on the View tab then Apply to all folders. That makes it universal for me.

Sorry for the late response, I was never notified of your post.

Did you edit the .reg file to point to wherever you stored the .whoOwns.bat file as described in Post #1, then merge it into the registry (Double click on it or right click and select Merge)?