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Documents and Settings in Windows XP

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7 replies

by shadowslash 1 view

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My younger brother did something to my Windows XP computer but unfortunately, he can't remember how to undo it nor do I still have a copy of the Windows XP CD. So here's the problem, the Documents and Settings folder in my drive C is missing but when I try to create a new folder and rename it to Documents and Settings, it says that the access is denied. I tried using the "cd" command in cmd to navigate to the folder and it also says "Access Denied". The only way I can access the inside of the folder is when I type DOCUME~1 which is the shortcut name for that folder. Is there any way to allow access to my Documents and Settings folder again without having to use the cmd prompt everytime? Because this also limits my other programs from installing or accessing saved information. It says that the installer can't access C:\Documents and Settings\. If you're gonna tell me to boot to safe mode then I got another problem with that, my younger brother also somehow managed to mess up the Safe Boot options and my PC only hangs up when I try to boot it to safe mode.

7 replies

by captbilly1eye

Does you brother have a separate login? If so, is the folder visible when you're logged in as him?

... Is Explorer set to 'Show Hidden Files and Folders?"
(Tools > Folder Options > View)
If turning that on makes the folder visible, right click it, select Properties, on the General Tab un-check Hidden and click Apply & OK.

Then lock your brother out of your computer. :-)

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by suni_u786

hai,
try to restore it to a previous good contition date.for ths go help(F1)-"undo changes to your computer with system restore"
it'll not delete any of ur documents.
try & let us know .....

by shadowslash

For those who may be wondering. I've already set my Show Hidden Files and Show Hidden System Files to true using Tools > Folder Options. I already made a new admin account without any luck at all. The situation is basically like this, I can't see the "Documents and Settings" folder inside the drive C: however possible I can think of. But it is there because it can be seen in the command prompt when I use "cd" command and go to the short 8-digit name format used in Win98 or 95 if I'm not mistaken. (Like DOCUME~1)

by captbilly1eye

This may point you in the right direction:

The creation of 8.3-compliant short names on NTFS partitions is controlled by a registry value, which by default is set to enable the creation of short names.

If the following value is set to 1 then short file names are not created:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\
CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\
NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation=1
If the value is missing, or set to 0, then short file names are created:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\
CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\
NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation=0

A reboot is required for the change to fully take effect. The change has no effect on existing files and directories (it only affects new writes). To create short names for files and directories which are already on the hard disk it is necessary to force this data to be rewritten, e.g. with a backup/restore (or XP Restore Point).

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