Windows Deleted, Accounts Inaccessible

[sinclair75]

For some lovely reason, despite anti-virus and firewall software,
windows xp is no more, well the folder remains but there are 0 bytes
and 0 folders within even though I can't open it to check. Everything
else on my partitioned drive remains but not all is accessible. My
user account cannot be accessed and neither can my wife's. At present
I have taken my HD out of the case and connected it to a laptop via an
external USB housing. I'll try to install windows xp later, but would
really like to be able to access my accounts sooner. Is there a way to
do this - to access my user account, and my wife's, through another
computer's Windows XP OS?? Administrator account, on the laptop, says
access denied, safe mode command prompt says the same. Any advice
would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Michael.

 

[DatabaseBen]

who knows,
maybe a windows repair via the setup cd can help restore the os.
personally, I don't remember too much about the details of file
management by the o.s. But it may be possible that the MFT
is not reporting the correct file sizes. And if you were formatted
via NTFS, then you may have enable some further protection.

If by chance the setup cd cannot find the former installation,
then the only option left would be to reinstall it again or use the
recovery console and see if you can log into that lost installation.

If you can log in, you may have a chance if you can get into
the directories and double check to see if they still report zero
size. I don't remember what other options you have in the recovery
console, maybe rebuilding the MFT or maybe copy those personal files to
a safe place incase you need to do a new install.

If the repair cannot help you then instead of installing it to the same
directory as the former os, install it
under a different folder name, e.g. winxp2nd or something like this.
That way, there could be a chance that even though you may have lost
the former operating system, you may regain access to your personal files.

Just an unpredictable suggestion for your current predicament...

 

[sinclair75]

It would seem the comp made an automatic back-up a couple of weeks ago,
fingers crossed it'll work. It's restoring as I type.

 

[sinclair75]

Afraid not, the windows directory is still corrupt and unreadable. ho
hum

 

[John John]

When the drive is in the USB enclosure and when logged on as
administrator on the laptop take ownership of the files and move them to
a secure location. See: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

If you install Windows without salvaging the files you will lose the
entire contents of the "Documents and Settings" folders!

John

 

[DatabaseBen]

doesn't a backup set the attributes of everyfile on the harddrive as it
reads? This may be the cause of your
headache. Have you done a little research of your backup manufacurer? Maybe
your harddrive or partition was
taken offline... but not sure about today's backup softwares, but certainly,
whatever assurance you had about thier backup system "did not work". Maybe
you should switch to disk images; as I have been unfortunate about 50% of
the time with "backups" myself.

In any case, maybe you should try finding a windows cd from anyone/anywhere
and attempt a "repair" and not a new installation from it. As mentioned if
the files are still there, maybe the repair can bring them back alive
again... If you use someone else cd, you don't have to register / activate
for a small period of time, thus allowing you to either restore your system
or switch the product key out with the one you own.

Or depending on your system, you might have a hidden drive containing the
setup files you need. But again you would have to research the net for your
pc's mfg.