My laptop's mainboard bit the dust. I've removed the HDD and placed it in a groovy USB-2 enclosure but I can't access my data files in "Documents and Settings" but I can see the entire drive and access non-password protected files in the guest folder. I am obviously not booting from this drive which is NTFS formatted in WXP Prof w/ SP2 updated. Can I get around the standard file protection and access these data files? There is nothing structurally wrong with the drive.
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Right click on the file you want, select security, form the resulting window press the "add..." button and add the user you are logged in as to the people who can access this folder. This should get you access to the folder.
If, on the old laptop, you set your documents folder to private, the documents will not be accessable to a different user. Can you create another login on the new computer using the same username and password that you had on the old computer? If so, login as that user and remove the privacy by right clicking the appropriate folder and choosing properties, then click the sharing tab and uncheck the box making the files private. You can then log out and back in using your new login and access the files. The old user account can be deleted.
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See link below - Re: Take ownership of files and folders
You can NOT recreate the original account. It won't even work on the same machine. The account is identified by a unique number generated when the account name is created. A new account with the same name will have a different Unique Identifer.
An Administrator account, however, can TAKE ownership of the files and folders.
If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended.
Access to Documents on Old HDD