Access denied to C:\(OS) after restoring from XP backup file

[Brian P]

HELP! I was trying to restore some documents to my Vista system from a
backup file I made on my XP system before it died. I used the MS NT
Backup-Restore utility and restored a backup file of the "all users" folder,
thinking that is where I could find my "my documents" folder. I set the
settings to restore the files to the original location and to not overwrite
files of the same name. The restore completed and when I went to look in the
C:\ drive, I was denied access ("C:\ is not accessible, access is denied").
Huh?! Looking at the properties of C:\, I find that there is "Capacity = 0
bytes". Ummm. So I reboot, and the reboot is successful, but the problem is
still there. No access to C:\. I am the only user profile set up, and I'm
setup as administrator. I run Norton scan, and Norton can (and does) scan
all the files in C. So they're still there, I just can't access them. Which
means none of my applications (besides Norton) can access them.
Interestingly, when I try to open Internet Explorer (and other programs), I
get error messages reading "incorrect DLL loaded; original API DLL:
C:\U\Software\Google\Google Desktop\; Current API DLL: C:\ram Files." What
do I do? I've been very silly and haven't set any restore points since I got
the thing (I know... I know...stupid). Anybody got a clue? Thought I'd
start here before I make a phone call to someone in another country for tech
support.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Brian

You already know this now, but you should not have chosen to restore those
files to their original location. You should have created a new folder named
Restored Files under your user account folder and restored the files to that
folder. You could then move the documents that you want to save to your new
documents folder and delete the rest.

What you likely have now is a mix of XP and Vista system files, with no way
to reverse the process.

I would recommend a complete, clean reinstall of Vista to recover.