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My documents access denied Win XP

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8 replies

by frantic9k

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This is for a friends PC. She was having problems with a program she just installed and decided to use system restore. What she didn't realize was she was using HP's system restore and not XP's restore.

When it was done the PC was restore to how it was when she got the PC a few years back. The HP restore said it does not delete files so I started looking for them and this is what I found. The profile folder that she was using previous to the restore and the profile folder she is using now are different.

If you try to click on the old profile folder it says access denied. So I started up in safe mode went in to the Administrator account and went to the security for that folder. I changed the owner of the folder to administrator and made sure it had full access. I also made sure that the box was checked to apply to all subfolders and files. I logged out of the PC and logged back in as administrator and I could access the old profile folder but I could not access any of the other folders. SO I tried taking ownership to the My documents folder, repeated the above steps and it still would not work.

So I decided to rename the 2 profiles so that the PC would boot up in to the old profile. The PC did boot up in the old profile but access was still denied. I also changed the access back to "owner" and I even tried it in safe mode.

My friend has no back up of these files and there are many important documents that she needs to get to. She is an indepenant accountant and many client files are at risk. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

This is a HP Desktop running Windows XP Home with SP2

8 replies

by Former member

1) Do a full backup of the drive on to a new drive.
2) Send it to the people who specialize in this type of work i:e
http://www.salvagedata.com/
I hope everything works out for you.

by ic-it

User from the Safe Mode Admin account. While there right click the drive and add the new user to the entire drive, insure that it applies to all folders and sub-folders.
Go a few folders deep to verify that the permissions applied. Verify her old My documents folder and then move all contents to her new profile (user) account.

by frantic9k

I created the account and it appeared to have access went in to the new account and it still didn't work. I tried to do it from normal and safe mode.

I did some more fiddling around in the PC and I can now see the files in the My documents folder but when trying to access or copy them it still gives access denied message.

by jdunigan

You will have take ownership of the folder. The trick is to remember to apply to all files and subfolders.
Right-click the folder
Choose properties
click on the Security tab
Click on the Advanced Button.
Click on the Owner Tab.
Add your account or the Administrator account even if it is already there!!!!!
Be sure to click to replace owners on all subcontainers and folders.

Sometimes I have had to go the extra mile and replace permissions on all the folders also.
If none of these work, turn off inherit permisions from parent folders, then click to replace permissions again.
Let me know if this helps.

by oh smeg

Here is M$ fix for this problem.

http://tinyurl.com/3aw7

However if the System was previously Encrypted the Files will remain encrypted and the Encryption Key has been overwritten.

Col

by lwardle

Try booting with KNOPPIX, and coping the files to a different folder

by dejudicibus

There is NO MORE NEED to go to Safe Mode in Windows XP Home to change the ownership of a file or folder. I had the same problem and I solved it in few minutes by using a German freware tool I found by Google. I also did a review of that tool on my blog. In my opinion is VERY good BUT it is ONLY for advanced users.
You can find my review here: http://lindipendente.splinder.com/post/18345612/FaJo+XP+File+Security+Extensio

Name of tool is FaJo XP FSE. Their site is both in English and German and it is quite simple, but the tool is outstanding.

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