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Unable to restore Documents & Settings

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HP 6715b running WinXP Pro had severe problems but I managed to save Docs & Settings to an external drive before system crashed entirely. Have had to reload WinXP Pro on to computer because recovery could not resolve problem, but I am unable to restore Docs & Settings from external drive. I suspect I need to change registry settings. Has anyone got a positive solution?

7 replies

by thumbsup2

What did you use to save it with? What are you using to 'restore' it with?

There shouldn't be any 'restore' to it. Have you tried copy n paste?

by brian

Straight copy folder from one drive to another. Not much time for anything else. I tried to copy and paste from the external HD having first renaming the new Documents & Settings Folder (using Win PE Active@ Boot Disk) but the contents - users, data, pictures, etc., could not be accessed.

by oh smeg

You may be required to Take Ownership of this files by following the directions here

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

The bit you may require should be this

[i]Prerequisites
Log on as an administrator
You must be logged on to Windows as an administrator in order to change security permissions for a file or a folder. If the computer is your personal computer, you are likely already logged on with an administrator account. If the computer is part of a network at work, you might have to ask the system administrator for help. To verify that you are logged on to Windows with a user account that is a computer administrator, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/admin (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/admin)
Start Windows XP Home Edition in safe mode
If you are running Windows XP Home Edition, you must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an account that has administrative rights in order to access the Security tab. Access to the Security tab is required in order to change security permission. If you are running Windows XP Professional, you do not have to start the computer in safe mode. For more information about how to start Windows XP in safe mode, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
304449 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449/ ) How to start the System Restore tool at a command prompt in Windows XP
Disable Simple File Sharing in Windows XP Professional
If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must disable Simple File Sharing. By default, Windows XP Professional uses Simple File Sharing when it is not joined to a domain. For additional information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307874 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874/ ) How to disable simplified sharing and set permissions on a shared folder in Windows XP
Back to the top
To take ownership of a file or a folder
How to take ownership of a file
You must have ownership of a protected file in order to access it. If another user has restricted access and you are the computer administrator, you can access the file by taking ownership.

To take ownership of a file, follow these steps:
Right-click the file that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click Administrator, or click the Administrators group, and then click OK.

The administrator or the administrators group now owns the file.
To change the permissions on the file that you now own, follow these steps:
Click Add.
In the Enter the object names to select (examples) list, type the user or group account that you want to have access to the file. For example, type Administrator.
Click OK.
In the Group or user names list, click the account that you want, and then select the check boxes of the permissions that you want to assign that user.
When you are finished assigning permissions, click OK.
You can now access the file.
How to take ownership of a folder
You must have ownership of a protected folder in order to access it. If another user has restricted access and you are the computer administrator, you can access the folder by taking ownership.

To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:
Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of the folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message:
You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?
All permissions will be replaced if you click Yes.

Note folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.
Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.
Back to the top
NEXT STEPSIf these methods did not work for you, you can use the Microsoft Customer Suppor...If these methods did not work for you, you can use the Microsoft Customer Support Services Web site to find other solutions to your problem. Some services that the Microsoft Customer Support Services Web sites provide include the following:
Searchable Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1) : Search technical support information and self-help tools for Microsoft products.
Solution Centers (http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub) : View product-specific frequently asked questions and support highlights.
Microsoft Customer Support Newsgroups (http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx) : Contact counterparts, peers, and Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs).
Other Support Options (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=csshome) : Use the Web to ask a question, contact Microsoft Customer Support Services, or provide feedback.[/i]

But I have included the full Link just in case you need it.

Col

by brian

Thank you for your extensive reply. To respond, I copied and pasted the Docs & Settings from the failing system to the external HDD. There wasn't time for other recovery activities and I didn't want to risk the possibility of transferring a virus. After reloading Windows the new system has its own Docs & Settings which will not accept elements from the saved system. For instance the saved system has four users whilst the reloaded system has only one.

by thumbsup2

back to somewhere on the hard drive. You may need to take ownership of documents in the 4 old user profiles. No use copying anything else of the settings, except maybe Outlook PST files if you use that program. You won't want to copy them into place though. You will want to import.

by oh smeg

Files from the 4 User Accounts. These are the My Documents Files that you copy into the New My Documents Folder then there are the files in the Favorite Folder which are the main ones. These just get Copied directly into the New Folders.

Then you need to Import the Address Book/s and the Saved E-Mail through the respective programs that where being used.

I have done this literally thousands of times without a Problem in the past and I wouldn't expect you to experience any problems doing it though to make your life easier I do recommend Super Copier 2 available to download from here. It's just better than the Windows Copier.

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/SuperCopier-Download-60363.html

Col

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