HELP! Need to unlock an old 'Doc and Settings' personal folder after rebuild.

[Tricky Dicky]

Hi all,

My PC died.. Bummer. Didn't have any backup solution either... I
know, I know...

Anyway - repaired XP and did manage to recover some old files.

However, I can't get into my old 'MyDocuments' and 'Desktop' folders
as the parent directory is locked and I get an 'Access denied'
message.

I built the PC with the same username and password, and I can get at
my girlfirends old files, but not mine?!? What gives?

Does this make sense? Is there a way around it?

Thanks in Advance,

Richard.

P.S. bought a Freecom data tank and Acronis True Image today! No more
losses hopefully....

 

[R. McCarty]

Even with the same Username/Password the new instance of XP has
different SIDs ( Security Identifiers ). To the new XP setup you do not
have access privileges to the pre-existing folders/data. You have to
take "Ownership" of the older folders so you can access them.

The following Microsoft KB article describe the process for taking
ownership:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Anyway - repaired XP and did manage to recover some old files.

However, I can't get into my old 'MyDocuments' and 'Desktop' folders
as the parent directory is locked and I get an 'Access denied'
message.

"How to set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions in
Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308418/en-us

"How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421/en-us

I built the PC with the same username and password, and I can get at
my girlfirends old files, but not mine?!? What gives?

Same username and password != same SID

 

[nl]

Hi all,

My PC died.. Bummer. Didn't have any backup solution either... I
know, I know...

Anyway - repaired XP and did manage to recover some old files.

However, I can't get into my old 'MyDocuments' and 'Desktop' folders
as the parent directory is locked and I get an 'Access denied'
message.

I built the PC with the same username and password, and I can get at
my girlfirends old files, but not mine?!? What gives?

Does this make sense? Is there a way around it?

Thanks in Advance,

Richard.

P.S. bought a Freecom data tank and Acronis True Image today! No more
losses hopefully....

I have been in the same situation as you but have never seen this
error message when recovering data from the old folders. The one thing
I did not do was rebuild the PC with a username and password identical
to the old one.

I wonder if this is the source of the problem, as I always associate
Access Denied messages with those times when I am trying to save a
file that is open elsewhere on the system.

If the system crash was due to a faulty hard disk, back up all the
files you can before the whole thing goes tits up and your data
disappears.

If you have already isolated the cause and are happy that the disk is
healthy, rename the PC and create a new user, or plug the disk into a
different PC and try to read it on that one.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I have been in the same situation as you but have never seen this
error message when recovering data from the old folders. The one thing
I did not do was rebuild the PC with a username and password identical
to the old one.

I wonder if this is the source of the problem, as I always associate
Access Denied messages with those times when I am trying to save a
file that is open elsewhere on the system.

If the system crash was due to a faulty hard disk, back up all the
files you can before the whole thing goes tits up and your data
disappears.

If you have already isolated the cause and are happy that the disk is
healthy, rename the PC and create a new user, or plug the disk into a
different PC and try to read it on that one.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks guys for all the helpful suggestions - definately a few things
here to try. I'll post the results tomorrow!

NL - in terms of my hard drive - it seems stable at the moment, but
who knows what may happen? I've just bought an external hard drive
and Acronis True Image - so I intend to take a complete backup of the
system as soon as it arrives!!

Thanks again guys...

 

[Tricky Dicky]

"How to set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions in
Windows XP"http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308418/en-us

"How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP"http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421/en-us


Same username and password != same SID

Hey Detlev - thanks for the post - although I know the concept of SIDs
- I'm not sure if it being the same as the old one is a good thing or
not?! Should i hae build the PC with the same name and password? It
seemed the logical thing to do....

Thanks
Richard

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Hey Detlev - thanks for the post - although I know the concept of SIDs
- I'm not sure if it being the same as the old one is a good thing or
not?! Should i hae build the PC with the same name and password? It
seemed the logical thing to do....

Actually, this doesn't matter. Just take the ownership of that folder,
its subfolders and files and you should be all set. Good luck.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Thanks guys for all the helpful suggestions - definately a few things
here to try. I'll post the results tomorrow!

NL - in terms ofmyhard drive - it seems stable at the moment, but
who knows what may happen? I've just bought an external hard drive
and Acronis True Image - so I intend to take a complete backup of the
system as soon as it arrives!!

Thanks again guys...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Dear all,

The plot thickens.... I tried to take over permissions of the folder
as suggested above, but there was no 'security' tab under the
properties of the folder. I was logged in with administrator
priviledges...... any ideas?

 

[Plato]

However, I can't get into my old 'MyDocuments' and 'Desktop' folders
as the parent directory is locked and I get an 'Access denied'
message.

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308418