Moving drive to new computer - file access

[Ragnar Midtskogen]

Hi,

A friend of mine had a problem with his computer, Windows could not start.
When visiting his house I tried repairing Windows by using the restore CD
that came with PC, but got message that some files could not be found.
Gave up and suggested my friend try to move HD to another PC with Win XP, as
a secondary or a slave drive.
He says he did and the drive was recognized OK.
The original PC had several users, and now he say he can't see any of the
files for the other users.
Does anyone know any reason why this should happen?
As far as I know, you should be able to see all the files when using Windows
Explorer, but you can not edit any files belonging to a different user.
I am not sure what the effect is on moving HD to anothe PC, even if userid
is the same.
Any help on ths would be appreciated. It is hard to debug a problem like
this via Email.

Ragnar

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi,

A friend of mine had a problem with his computer, Windows could not start.
When visiting his house I tried repairing Windows by using the restore CD
that came with PC, but got message that some files could not be found.
Gave up and suggested my friend try to move HD to another PC with Win XP,
as a secondary or a slave drive.
He says he did and the drive was recognized OK.
The original PC had several users, and now he say he can't see any of the
files for the other users.
Does anyone know any reason why this should happen?
As far as I know, you should be able to see all the files when using
Windows Explorer, but you can not edit any files belonging to a different
user.
I am not sure what the effect is on moving HD to anothe PC, even if userid
is the same.
Any help on ths would be appreciated. It is hard to debug a problem like
this via Email.

Ragnar

You need to seize ownership of the inaccessible folders. Click Start / Help
and look for help on "Ownership" if unsure how it's done.

 

[Kelly]

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q308421

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove File and Folder Permissions
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/4/18.asp


--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP/DTS&XP)

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm

SupportSpace
www.supportspace.com/pages?aiu=kellyskorner

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

While the links you provide are highly informative, I believe there is
benefit in getting posters to use the extensive help functions built into
Windows. Once they acquire the habit of using Windows Help, there is no need
for them to memorise numerous links in order to resolve most of their
everyday-problems. In other words, posters become self-sufficient instead of
having to post here for a link that answers their specific question.

 

[Nepatsfan]

Any user who has XP Home Edition installed on their computer will get nowhere
following your advice to look in Help and Support for information about
Ownership. The listing of "Take ownership of a file or folder" that appears
under Pick a task in XP Pro's Help and Support is missing in XP HE. There's a
listing of "Change a file or folder's permissions" which when clicked on in XP
HE will show a "Cannot display the page" error message. Where would you like us
to go from here?

At least the links that Kelly has passed on will point out the fact that you
need to boot into Safe Mode if you're going to attempt to take ownership of a
folder in XP HE.

Before you try to play the "teach a man to fish" game you might want to consider
that we're not all using the same bait.

Nepatsfan

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Any user who has XP Home Edition installed on their computer will get
nowhere following your advice to look in Help and Support for information
about Ownership. The listing of "Take ownership of a file or folder" that
appears under Pick a task in XP Pro's Help and Support is missing in XP
HE. There's a listing of "Change a file or folder's permissions" which
when clicked on in XP HE will show a "Cannot display the page" error
message. Where would you like us to go from here?

At least the links that Kelly has passed on will point out the fact that
you need to boot into Safe Mode if you're going to attempt to take
ownership of a folder in XP HE.

Before you try to play the "teach a man to fish" game you might want to
consider that we're not all using the same bait.

Nepatsfan

Gulp. If you had told me a few days ago that the security/ownership stuff
under WinXP Home is only accessible in Safe Mode then I would have doubted
you. If you had told me that the inbuilt help facility under WinXP Home has
nothing of any use to say about these subjects then I would have said you're
wrong. In the meantime I've built myself a WinXP Home system and found both
claims to be correct. I'm amazed that Microsoft could be so remiss when
documenting the file/folder security features of WinXP Home. Kelly's advice
was, of course, totally appropriate.

 

[Twayne]

Gulp. If you had told me a few days ago that the security/ownership
stuff under WinXP Home is only accessible in Safe Mode then I would
have doubted you. If you had told me that the inbuilt help facility
under WinXP Home has nothing of any use to say about these subjects
then I would have said you're wrong. In the meantime I've built
myself a WinXP Home system and found both claims to be correct. I'm
amazed that Microsoft could be so remiss when documenting the
file/folder security features of WinXP Home. Kelly's advice was, of
course, totally appropriate.

I firmly believe most of the Help files for windows are written either
by the engineers themselves or ex-engineers of other programs as opposed
to technical writers with any interpersonal skills or pshychology
awareness. They're good at links and extra topics, but boy, they can't
seem to pull things together into one place when all it would take is
one or two more sentences.!
The "secret" of Safe Mode of course is that in Home, the Simple File
Shareing is turned off and you're allowed to see/use the Security tab of
the Properties windows. But darned if they just come out and say that
anywhere I've ever noticed. Help is helpful in some areas though.

Cheers,

Twayne