Recovering Data from Hard drive after Windows will not Boot - Please Help

[Rebecca]

My Windows XP Pro computer will not boot. I get a blue screen with an
error message and Dell says I need a new hard drive for my computer.

I have most of my data backed up, but some of the most recent data is
not backed up in another location. My data is held within a User
Profile that is password protected. I have removed the hard drive from
my laptop and connected it to another computer as an external hard
drive (via USB) and I can see the drive files very well. Except, I
cannot access/see anything behind my user account (that is password
protected). For example, I can see "Documents and Settings" and then
my account folder "Rebecca", but whenever I click on "Rebecca" to try
to access and copy the files, I get a message saying "Access Denied".
I believe this is because I normally had a password when I logged in to
"Rebecca" via Windows' User Login. Does anyone know how I can access
the files within "Rebecca" to retrieve them?

I've seen some suggestions online about booting from a Windows CD and
using the "Recovery Console".
(See
http://www.wikihow.com/Access-Data-...er-in-Windows-XP-in-Case-the-PC-Fails-to-Boot)


Does anyone know if this procedure with the Recovery Console works?
Are there any other options? I would really appreciate any help. Also,
the computer that I currently have the hard drive attached to is
running Windows XP Home (in case that is an important piece of
information).

THANKS!
Rebecca

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My Windows XP Pro computer will not boot. I get a blue screen with an
error message and Dell says I need a new hard drive for my computer.

I have most of my data backed up, but some of the most recent data is
not backed up in another location. My data is held within a User
Profile that is password protected. I have removed the hard drive from
my laptop and connected it to another computer as an external hard
drive (via USB) and I can see the drive files very well. Except, I
cannot access/see anything behind my user account (that is password
protected). For example, I can see "Documents and Settings" and then
my account folder "Rebecca", but whenever I click on "Rebecca" to try
to access and copy the files, I get a message saying "Access Denied".
I believe this is because I normally had a password when I logged in to
"Rebecca" via Windows' User Login. Does anyone know how I can access
the files within "Rebecca" to retrieve them?

I've seen some suggestions online about booting from a Windows CD and
using the "Recovery Console".
(See
http://www.wikihow.com/Access-Data-...er-in-Windows-XP-in-Case-the-PC-Fails-to-Boot)


Does anyone know if this procedure with the Recovery Console works?
Are there any other options? I would really appreciate any help. Also,
the computer that I currently have the hard drive attached to is
running Windows XP Home (in case that is an important piece of
information).

THANKS!
Rebecca

Your method of connecting the disk to some other PC is good - much
better than working through the Recovery Console. To access your
folders, you need to seize ownership of them. Click Start / Help, then
read up on the subjects dealing with ownership.

 

[Rebecca]

Your method of connecting the disk to some other PC is good - much
better than working through the Recovery Console. To access your
folders, you need to seize ownership of them. Click Start / Help, then
read up on the subjects dealing with ownership.

Pegasus,
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get any
information about "Taking file ownership" or really understanding or
managing file ownership via the Help section. I get a message that
says "The information you are trying to locate is not available in this
version of Windows". Maybe this is because it is Windows XP Home.
Would you be able to give me a quick idea of what I need to do to
access my password-protected files?
Thank you,
Rebecca

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Pegasus,
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get any
information about "Taking file ownership" or really understanding or
managing file ownership via the Help section. I get a message that
says "The information you are trying to locate is not available in this
version of Windows". Maybe this is because it is Windows XP Home.
Would you be able to give me a quick idea of what I need to do to
access my password-protected files?
Thank you,
Rebecca

Your suspicion is correct: WinXP Home does not provide the GUI
(or the Help screen) for setting folder ownership. However, WinXP
Home still appears to support the concepts that are behind ownership!
Here are a couple of ways to get around this restriction:
- Connect the disk to a WinXP Professional machine, then use the
GUI to seize ownership.
- Post a valid EMail address (suitably encoded to prevent it from
being harvested by hackers). I will then send you a copy of
subinacl.exe, which is the command line tool to set permission.
It appears to work under WinXP Home.

 

[Malke]

Your suspicion is correct: WinXP Home does not provide the GUI
(or the Help screen) for setting folder ownership. However, WinXP
Home still appears to support the concepts that are behind ownership!
Here are a couple of ways to get around this restriction:
- Connect the disk to a WinXP Professional machine, then use the
GUI to seize ownership.
- Post a valid EMail address (suitably encoded to prevent it from
being harvested by hackers). I will then send you a copy of
subinacl.exe, which is the command line tool to set permission.
It appears to work under WinXP Home.

This is not necessary. To see the security tab in XP Home, simply go
into Safe Mode.

How Do I Get the Security tab in Folder Properties? -
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_security_tab.htm

Malke

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

This is not necessary. To see the security tab in XP Home, simply go
into Safe Mode.

Learn something every day!

 

[Rebecca]

Pegasus and Malke,

Thanks for the messages. I will try starting in Safe Mode and taking
ownership of the files. I'll keep you updated... but hopefully this
will work!

Rebecca

 

[Rebecca]

Latest Update:

I retrieved all of my data!!!!

I connected my hard drive to a Windows XP Pro machine, disabled the
"Simple File Sharing" and then took ownership of the files. This
allowed me full access to the files, which I then copied to an external
hard drive.

Thank you again for all of your help!!!

Rebecca

 

[Malke]

Latest Update:

I retrieved all of my data!!!!

I connected my hard drive to a Windows XP Pro machine, disabled the
"Simple File Sharing" and then took ownership of the files. This
allowed me full access to the files, which I then copied to an
external hard drive.

Thank you again for all of your help!!!

That is just great! Thanks for taking the time to let us know.

Malke