Hi Group,

Need some help. Let me give you a lay of the land first.

I had a desktop (MSW XP Home SP2) that was getting on 4 years old.
The power supply finally failed and I am left with out a PC until my
new laptop comes (MSW Vista Home). I have begun to use my work laptop
at home (MSW XP Pro; NO Admin access). While I wait for me new laptop
to get here, I went out and bought a HD Enclosure Kit. Got er all set
up, and plugged the old internal desktop HD into my existing work
laptop via USB. Drivers were installed properly and my old home
desktop HD was now visible on my work laptop. I browsed the disk--
Program Files, Windows folders, etc--with no problem. Opened a few
files, etc. However, when I went into X:\Documents and Settings\Me
(where I kept all my docs, etc), I received an Access Denied message.

I read a bit about that here:
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...0a6bb004bbdcf1,
and I am wondering if this applies to me?

Clearly the HD works, but I cannot access my My Documents. I am
unable to log in as an Admin on my only computer for now (the work
laptop w/o Admin rights) and I am wondering if I will be able to
access my old desktop HD once I plug it into my new Windows Vista
laptop? If not, then what are my options.

Thoughts?

Dano

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421/en-us

"Dano" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Group,
>
> Need some help. Let me give you a lay of the land first.
>
> I had a desktop (MSW XP Home SP2) that was getting on 4 years old.
> The power supply finally failed and I am left with out a PC until my
> new laptop comes (MSW Vista Home). I have begun to use my work laptop
> at home (MSW XP Pro; NO Admin access). While I wait for me new laptop
> to get here, I went out and bought a HD Enclosure Kit. Got er all set
> up, and plugged the old internal desktop HD into my existing work
> laptop via USB. Drivers were installed properly and my old home
> desktop HD was now visible on my work laptop. I browsed the disk--
> Program Files, Windows folders, etc--with no problem. Opened a few
> files, etc. However, when I went into X:\Documents and Settings\Me
> (where I kept all my docs, etc), I received an Access Denied message.
>
> I read a bit about that here:
> http://groups.google.com/group/micro...0a6bb004bbdcf1,
> and I am wondering if this applies to me?
>
> Clearly the HD works, but I cannot access my My Documents. I am
> unable to log in as an Admin on my only computer for now (the work
> laptop w/o Admin rights) and I am wondering if I will be able to
> access my old desktop HD once I plug it into my new Windows Vista
> laptop? If not, then what are my options.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Dano
>

Note: The default password for the built in ( hidden admin account) Windows
Administrator account is normally blank (none).

For XP Home users:
Boot the computer into Safe Mode
Do this by pressing the F8 key after the Power On Self Test is finished,
until the Start menu appears.
This will get you to the correct menu window.
Once in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account
and any other accounts.
(Note: Accounts are displayed alphabetically).
Use the Up/down arrow keys to highlight the 'Adminstrator' account;
Remember as mentioned above: The default password is a blank (no password
required).

Also See: Forgotten your Windows XP Home password
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894902/en-us
and: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894901/

For XP Pro users:
You do not need to go into Safe Mode.
At the Welcome Screen, do/press the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys twice to display the
Windows logon box.
Type in "Administrator" (without the quotes) and 'if' you assigned a
password when you set up Windows, then enter it. (Note: by default the
password is blank, no password need be entered)

As to those Access Denied messages see below:
Access is Denied Error Message XP Pro:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

Error Message: "Access Is Denied" XP Home:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823306/en-us

Also read this MS KB article about how to take ownership of files.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

Understanding and Applying NTFS Permission in Windows XP Professional
http://www.winxpsolution.com/ApplyingNTFSXPPro.aspx

Shared folder access:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/sdperms.htm

There is also a utility named: Unlocker
I have not used it but it has been mentioned a number of times.
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

JS

"Dano" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Group,
>
> Need some help. Let me give you a lay of the land first.
>
> I had a desktop (MSW XP Home SP2) that was getting on 4 years old.
> The power supply finally failed and I am left with out a PC until my
> new laptop comes (MSW Vista Home). I have begun to use my work laptop
> at home (MSW XP Pro; NO Admin access). While I wait for me new laptop
> to get here, I went out and bought a HD Enclosure Kit. Got er all set
> up, and plugged the old internal desktop HD into my existing work
> laptop via USB. Drivers were installed properly and my old home
> desktop HD was now visible on my work laptop. I browsed the disk--
> Program Files, Windows folders, etc--with no problem. Opened a few
> files, etc. However, when I went into X:\Documents and Settings\Me
> (where I kept all my docs, etc), I received an Access Denied message.
>
> I read a bit about that here:
> http://groups.google.com/group/micro...0a6bb004bbdcf1,
> and I am wondering if this applies to me?
>
> Clearly the HD works, but I cannot access my My Documents. I am
> unable to log in as an Admin on my only computer for now (the work
> laptop w/o Admin rights) and I am wondering if I will be able to
> access my old desktop HD once I plug it into my new Windows Vista
> laptop? If not, then what are my options.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Dano
>

On Nov 14, 2:02 pm, "JS" <@> wrote:
> Note: The default password for the built in ( hidden admin account) Windows
> Administrator account is normally blank (none).
>
> For XP Home users:
> Boot the computer into Safe Mode
> Do this by pressing the F8 key after the Power On Self Test is finished,
> until the Start menu appears.
> This will get you to the correct menu window.
> Once in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account
> and any other accounts.
> (Note: Accounts are displayed alphabetically).
> Use the Up/down arrow keys to highlight the 'Adminstrator' account;
> Remember as mentioned above: The default password is a blank (no password
> required).
>
> Also See: Forgotten your Windows XP Home passwordhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/894902/en-us
> and:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894901/
>
> For XP Pro users:
> You do not need to go into Safe Mode.
> At the Welcome Screen, do/press the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys twice to display the
> Windows logon box.
> Type in "Administrator" (without the quotes) and 'if' you assigned a
> password when you set up Windows, then enter it. (Note: by default the
> password is blank, no password need be entered)
>
> As to those Access Denied messages see below:
> Access is Denied Error Message XP Pro:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881
>
> Error Message: "Access Is Denied" XP Home:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823306/en-us
>
> Also read this MS KB article about how to take ownership of files.http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421
>
> Understanding and Applying NTFS Permission in Windows XP Professionalhttp://www.winxpsolution.com/ApplyingNTFSXPPro.aspx
>
> Shared folder access:http://windowsxp.mvps.org/sdperms.htm
>
> There is also a utility named: Unlocker
> I have not used it but it has been mentioned a number of times.http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/
>
> JS
>
> "Dano" <djleah...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
>
> > Hi Group,
>
> > Need some help. Let me give you a lay of the land first.
>
> > I had a desktop (MSW XP Home SP2) that was getting on 4 years old.
> > The power supply finally failed and I am left with out a PC until my
> > new laptop comes (MSW Vista Home). I have begun to use my work laptop
> > at home (MSW XP Pro; NO Admin access). While I wait for me new laptop
> > to get here, I went out and bought a HD Enclosure Kit. Got er all set
> > up, and plugged the old internal desktop HD into my existing work
> > laptop via USB. Drivers were installed properly and my old home
> > desktop HD was now visible on my work laptop. I browsed the disk--
> > Program Files, Windows folders, etc--with no problem. Opened a few
> > files, etc. However, when I went into X:\Documents and Settings\Me
> > (where I kept all my docs, etc), I received an Access Denied message.
>
> > I read a bit about that here:
> >http://groups.google.com/group/micro....mediacenter/b...,
> > and I am wondering if this applies to me?
>
> > Clearly the HD works, but I cannot access my My Documents. I am
> > unable to log in as an Admin on my only computer for now (the work
> > laptop w/o Admin rights) and I am wondering if I will be able to
> > access my old desktop HD once I plug it into my new Windows Vista
> > laptop? If not, then what are my options.
>
> > Thoughts?
>
> > Dano- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Guys,

Thanks for all the help. I will have my new Vista computer the next
time I plug in the new external HD and I will be an admin on that new
computer...will I have access to the old HD as the admin on the New
Vista laptop? Did that make sense?

Also, I may not have been clear with my earlier post:

1. My XP Home machine is no more--it is the one that had the power
supply fail.
2. The XP Pro laptop is a fortune 50 owned laptop with uber
restrictions and where I am NOT an ADMIN, but where there are ADMINs
and ADMIN PWs.

Does this change how I can access my old HD from my new Vista laptop?

Dano