Access to files on external hard drive.

Hi,
I have a really annoying problem. I have a sata hdd connected via usb to my pc. I am running windows 8.1. The external hard drive belongs to a friend that wants their data.
I can locate the folders in explorer. But when I try to copy any of the files it says: You'll need to provide administrator permission to copy this file. so I click on continue and it tries to move it, then says : You need permission to perform this action
You require permission from the computers administrator to make changes to this file.
Neither the folder the file is in, nor the Hdd show a security tab in properties unlike all of the rest of the drives / folders on my pc.
I have tried adding take ownership to my left click context menu, but that didn't help either.
What do I have to do to be able to copy these files?

If your friend doesn't mind that the permissions are changed on the drive, what you need to do is this:
1.  Take Ownership of all the folders and files.  To do so you need to have Explorer running As Administrator.
2.  Set the permissions of all the folders and files so that you have Full Control (or at least Read) access.  Same requirement as step 1.
It's really as simple as that.  If you find you can't do one of these steps,
then you are not executing the program you're trying to use to do the step with administrative privileges.
Yes, I agree that UAC gets in the way of doing the things you want to do.  IMO it's a poor implementation of a bad idea, which is why I disable it.
-Noel
Detailed how-to in my eBooks:  
Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options

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