ICACLS and "Take Ownership" both fail similarly

[CharleyGarrett]

My PC is pretty messed up, but I'm trying to get it back into shape. I can always right click on a folder or file, and then go to properties, and then to security. Frequently there are no permissions established for this object. So, I can edit and add, but it's pretty tedious.

"Take Ownership" is a right click option (I don't remember where I got that from), but it fails frequently.

I've tried ICACLS C:\* /grant Administrators:(f) /grant Charley:(f) /grant Users:(rx)

But this also fails similar to "Take Ownership". What happens is a windows dialog window pops up stating that Microsoft Windows Operating System has stopped working, and then it let me close the program. Later a window will open asking me to check that I'm up to date (I am).

If any of you forum citizens can help me out, I'll be your friend forever.

[CharleyGarrett]

More info. I'm going along updating things manually. I noticed that ICACLS will fail when there are no permissions for an object. I ran something called subinacl in a script that was supposed to go along and fix everything, but (though it seemed to work without an error message), doesn't seem to have improved things a lot. It did make me aware of the vast number of things to be updated, by how long it executed.