Need ATS Assistance, PLEASE!!!

Hi Guys,

I got a BIG dilemma, my motherboard blew and I have taken my 2 harddrives out it was a dual boot system Drive C: had German win XP intalled (for my partner) I had english XP installed on Drive D:

The C: (Boot) drive is busted

The D: drive is still working fine it has all the pictures of my son on it since he was born, I intalled the HDD in a friends computer to burn all my photos and stuff to a DVD but I have one HUGE problem I can't open up the my documents folder even in DOS it says access denied. How do I get into the my documents folder so I can back up all my old stuff.

Please help if the pictures of my Son are gone forever I will never forgive myself.

I have faith in my ATS buddies, come on guys you can figure this one out!

Jimmy, you have got to save things like that to disk,man... I don't know if there is anything you can do or not,bud. Maybe someone who knows a little more about the internal workings of a computer can help.

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
Jimmy, you have got to save things like that to disk,man....

I'm learning that now the hard way

Maybe I will get lucky and someone here knows what to do, I will certainly back stuff up though from now on!

Jimmy that would be a wise idea. I have gotten to the point to where if there is anything I think I MAY want to keep, I save it to a disk. I don't leave it to chance anymore.

I'm not sure I understand the problem... Let's see:
You had a computer. It crashed. You took out the HDD and plugged it into a friend's PC to retrieve pictures that was saved under the "My Documents" of the HDD. Now, when you try get to the "My Documents" folder via the friend's PC you aren't allowed access to the folder because access is denied?

I see no reason why if everything was done correctly this could be?!
Is the second HDD (the one you're trying to access) connected as a primary or slave, i.e. do you log in using your friend's HDD and operating system or do you try to boot with yours?
What operating system does your friend's PC have (if you're working through his operating system)?

Do you have any access to your HDD or is it only the "My Documents" folder you're denied access to?

If your drive has a bootable XP installed you can set it as the Primary boot and try to get your friend's OS completely out of the equation. The problem with this is that XP will want to install the drivers of all the "new" hardware, so only do this if your friend still has his drivers for his motherboard and other hardware (only those you're going to use is necessary, like the CD/DVD Writer...) You can try it without the necessary drivers at hand and see if you can get XP to do a full boot – but I strongly advise against this!

I'll wait for the answers to the above questions before we do some more troubleshooting.

Originally posted by Gemwolf

Do you have any access to your HDD or is it only the "My Documents" folder you're denied access to?

If your drive has a bootable XP installed you can set it as the Primary boot and try to get your friend's OS completely out of the equation. The problem with this is that XP will want to install the drivers of all the "new" hardware, so only do this if your friend still has his drivers for his motherboard and other hardware (only those you're going to use is necessary, like the CD/DVD Writer...) You can try it without the necessary drivers at hand and see if you can get XP to do a full boot – but I strongly advise against this!

I'll wait for the answers to the above questions before we do some more troubleshooting.

Basically I cant boot off the drive I have.

All data I previously had is still on the drive but anything that I had saved under my old login for windows XP says access denied when I attempt to open it.

If I could somehow get a computer to boot off the drive I have it will be ok but the problem is previously my old PC booted off another drive then gave me an option on what drive I wanted to work off.

Original bootable drive C: is busted

I know what the problem is, the problem being my files are being protected because they were part of my login profile for XP so it's just preventing anyone accessing it.

This is as clear as I can put it, sorry I'm a bit flustered!

Thanks for replying.

Jimmy

How are you trying to access your "my Documents" folder? Via explorer or a different file manager? You may be able to transfer all data from one disk to another if you connect your harddisk via usb. There are several different devices you can buy for this, and it's usually quite cheap. I.e. a harddisk box with USB connection, or simply a power supply (w/HDD power-connector) and a IDE->USB cable.

If absolutely nothing else works, I have a suggestion...

There is a Linux Program I use to review called "Penguin Sleuth" there is also one called Helix...

These programs run from your RAM and the disk and do not actually access the drive. That is why we use them in forensics... They will pull up any pictures you have on any drive connected to any computer...

They take some getting use to, but once you learn your way around the controls, it is pretty easy, though time consuming...

Here is the website you can go too to download the programs. They are all free...

LiveCdList

If you need some guidance on the programs, U2U me and I will help if I can....

Semper

Originally posted by Jimmy1880
I know what the problem is, the problem being my files are being protected because they were part of my login profile for XP so it's just preventing anyone accessing it.

Try this:
Create a User on your friend's computer with exactly the same login you used on your XP with administrator rights. Log in using this new login and see if you have access now...?

You could also try the Microsoft "Take ownership of Folder" steps... Here's how: (Make sure the "Simple File Sharing" is turned Off if you can't see the security Tab.)

1. Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
3. Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
4. 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 that folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
5. 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 press Yes.
Note folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.
6. Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

Source

Or (if HDD space allow it) copy the entire "Documents and Settings" folder with all the subfolders to your friend's HDD. Make sure you copy it to a subfolder and you don't over-write his Documents and Settings. Check the folder's properties and make sure it isn't read-only. Also check the security tab and see that everyone has full access... See if you can access it now. (You can only do this with a login, which has administrator privileges.)

And similar to Semperfortis' suggestion:
You can try to boot from a Knoppix or 'Ubuntu live CD' (both freeware), it would ignore Windows file permissions and allow you to burn your documents to CD/DVD? It is one recommended way of retrieving material when Windows won't boot.

Thanks guys,

I'm gonna give all this a try.

Originally posted by Gemwolf
You could also try the Microsoft "Take ownership of Folder" steps... Here's how: (Make sure the "Simple File Sharing" is turned Off if you can't see the security Tab.)

I think that is the way to solve the problem, I had it many times with computers from the company where I work and all I have to do is take ownership of the folders.

That also works when you have two versions of Windows installed, like I have. When I am using Vista and try to access files created in XP it says that I do not have permission for it.


PS: do not forget to make back-up copies of your new DVDs, they are not full-proof.