Recovering a Data Disk Drive

[Steve Gierach]

I recently upgraded a PC in my home network from Windows
98 to Windows 2000, since we were experiencing problems
with it due to spyware. After the upgrade, my youngest
son informed me that he could not access any of the D-
Drive files he needed on that system from the PC in his
bedroom. So, without realizing that the D-Drive on the
upgraded system was previously formatted as FAT32, I re-
assigned access permissions on each of the folders that my
son and my wife needed, so that they would not have
problems accessing them.

Now, when I try to access the D-Drive on the upgraded
system, I receive an error message, "D Drive is
inaccessible", even though the Windows 2000 Disk Manager
indicates that the D-Drive is "Healthy (Active)".

What tools or procedure can be utilized to restore access
to this disk drive (the D-Drive) without losing the data
files contained on that drive?

Any sensible suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Scott McKillop]

I'm assuming that the drive was accessible before you set the permissions.
I'm also assuming that you are logged in as an administrator and that the
drive is still accessible to the other PC (son's bedroom) through the share.

I'm guessing that you removed the Administrators group or denied access to
the administrators group.

Open Windows Explorer
Rright click on the D:\ drive
Choose Properties
Click on the Security Tab (the listing may be blank)
Click Advanced
Click on the Ownership Tab
Click on the Administrators Group in the list
Check the box to Apply Ownership on Subcontainers and objects
Click Apply
Click OK

With any luck, that will solve your issue.