old admin acct access after system recovery

[Carl and Anne Booth]

Worked on a friend's machine with XP Home Edition trying to t/s a problem
where the on-board NIC wasn't working. Tried driver update, checked
configuration, etc. which was OK, nothing worked. So, tried system restore
but nothing happened (this computer used by several family members).
Windows Explorer search function inoperable. So I figured that many cooks
in the kitchen had botched the OS in ways I couldn't determine. Not being
able to run system restore, I ran the safe system recovery to retain the
data files. After loading all the requested recovery CD and rebooting I
found that the admin account ( the one I created after completion of the
recovery) is unable to view the files and folders (Access denied) of the
previous admin. This is a real problem as the former admin account had many
many personal files and pictures. I hope there is a way to access those
files. Any pointers/solutions are appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Ricky]

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&Product=winxp
In XP Home you have to boot in safe mode to see the security tab. In XP Pro
you have to disable simple file sharing.