I have two partitions on my hard drive, one for the operationg system and the
other for data files. I re-formatted and installed Vista on the operating
system partition. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had protected certain
folders on the data partion through my previous XP SP2 version so the guest
accounts could not open these files. Now, under Vista I get a "Windows cannot
access the file" error when I try to open the file. Is there a way to recover
these files or are they encrypted beyond recovery? Unfortunately, I did not
back-up my previous installation of XP as I figured I would do a clean intall
if needed as the os was becoming unstable. However, the usernam and password
are the same for both XP and Vista Installations.

Might be a stupid suggestion but have you tried to alternate click (right
click) on the folder where the file resides, select properties and click on
the security tab in the new window that opens?
From there you might be able to add yourself or modify permissions.


"garvinr" wrote:

> I have two partitions on my hard drive, one for the operationg system and the
> other for data files. I re-formatted and installed Vista on the operating
> system partition. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had protected certain
> folders on the data partion through my previous XP SP2 version so the guest
> accounts could not open these files. Now, under Vista I get a "Windows cannot
> access the file" error when I try to open the file. Is there a way to recover
> these files or are they encrypted beyond recovery? Unfortunately, I did not
> back-up my previous installation of XP as I figured I would do a clean intall
> if needed as the os was becoming unstable. However, the usernam and password
> are the same for both XP and Vista Installations.

Oh I see, you are talking about encryption..

"Silo" wrote:

> Might be a stupid suggestion but have you tried to alternate click (right
> click) on the folder where the file resides, select properties and click on
> the security tab in the new window that opens?
> From there you might be able to add yourself or modify permissions.
>
>
> "garvinr" wrote:
>
> > I have two partitions on my hard drive, one for the operationg system and the
> > other for data files. I re-formatted and installed Vista on the operating
> > system partition. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had protected certain
> > folders on the data partion through my previous XP SP2 version so the guest
> > accounts could not open these files. Now, under Vista I get a "Windows cannot
> > access the file" error when I try to open the file. Is there a way to recover
> > these files or are they encrypted beyond recovery? Unfortunately, I did not
> > back-up my previous installation of XP as I figured I would do a clean intall
> > if needed as the os was becoming unstable. However, the usernam and password
> > are the same for both XP and Vista Installations.

I'm a Vista newbie, and I also am plagued by permission problems when trying
to edit or view an XP document, file, object, or whatever. Right clicking on
every folder is riduculous. Is there a way to turn off permissions on my
entire C: drive (XP)?

"Silo" wrote:

> Might be a stupid suggestion but have you tried to alternate click (right
> click) on the folder where the file resides, select properties and click on
> the security tab in the new window that opens?
> From there you might be able to add yourself or modify permissions.
>
>
> "garvinr" wrote:
>
> > I have two partitions on my hard drive, one for the operationg system and the
> > other for data files. I re-formatted and installed Vista on the operating
> > system partition. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had protected certain
> > folders on the data partion through my previous XP SP2 version so the guest
> > accounts could not open these files. Now, under Vista I get a "Windows cannot
> > access the file" error when I try to open the file. Is there a way to recover
> > these files or are they encrypted beyond recovery? Unfortunately, I did not
> > back-up my previous installation of XP as I figured I would do a clean intall
> > if needed as the os was becoming unstable. However, the usernam and password
> > are the same for both XP and Vista Installations.