Access denied - Cannot even copy

Hi! I have the most terrible problem. My XP Pro died and I've put the (only) hard disk into a Win2000 machine to backup the files and everything went smooth except my user profile. The files seem to be there, they all have size, dates and all looks normal but when I try to open, copy or save a file/folder it goes "Access is denied. The source file may be in use." There were two users on the computer, both with admin rights and the other user's profile was copied without problems.
Now, I might have put a protection of sorts on my profile a while back but I forgot all about it. If I did, it was definitely not a third party software, just some XP protection that others can't open the files or something like that.

Pleeeaseee help, everything important I have is in that folder!!!

 

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&Product=winxp
Quote:
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NOTE: You must be logged on to the computer using an account that has administrative privileges. If you are running Windows XP Home Edition, in order to have access to the Security tab, you must first start in Safe Mode and log on with an account that has Administrative rights.

If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must disable Simple File Sharing. By default, Windows XP Professional uses Simple File sharing when not joined to a domain. For additional information about how to do this, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307874 HOW TO: Disable Simplified Sharing and Password-Protect a Shared Folder in Windows XP

To take ownership of a folder:
Right-click the folder 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, 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, click to select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK. The following message appears, where folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of:
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.

Click Yes.
Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.
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How to Take Ownership of a File
NOTE: You must be logged on to the computer using an account that has administrative privileges.

To take ownership of a file, follow these steps:
Right-click the file 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 Administrators group now owns the file. To change the permissions on the files and folders under this folder, continue to step 5.
Click Add.
In the Enter the object names to select (examples) list, type the user or group account to which you want to give access to the file. For example, Administrator.
Click OK.
In the Group or user names list, click the account that you want (for example, Administrator), and then click to select the check boxes of the permissions that you want to assign that user. For example, Full Control [Allow]. When you are finished assigning permissions, click OK.
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Thank you jujet. I've already ran into this Microsoft article and I did everything it says (at least the equivalent of it on Win2000) and it didn't change anything. Could it be because I'm not on XP?

 

Ok let's back up what do you mean that your XP pro died.

 

Ok, I shut down one evening normally and tommorrow it wouldn't boot anymore. The black pre-windows screen shows up for a few seconds as usual, then it goes blank and normally the black xp screen with the logo would come up next but not anymore. The screen just stays blank (that greenish shade of black when the monitor is on but shows nothing, like a blank screen scr.saver). I've tried safe mode and it starts the progress bar in the bottom of the screen, makes about 25% of it and stays there. Then tried last known good configuration with the same effect. If I put the XP cd in and say Repair, it takes me to c:\windows but I wouldn't know what to do from there. Bios didn't show anything unusual like no HD... that's all I can say about it.

 

How to do a repair install,some screenshots on how it's done. you will not lose any info but you will have too reinstall the window updates.
http://tinyurl.com/1h3r

 

Forgot also chk here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q315341/
Method 2: Reinstall Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD
To reinstall Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD, follow these steps:
1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
2. When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears on the screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.

Note Your computer must be configured to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For more information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, see your computer's documentation or contact your computer manufacturer.
3. You receive the following message on the Welcome to Setup screen that appears:
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Press ENTER to set up Windows XP.
4. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.
5. Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.
6. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to reinstall Windows XP. After you repair Windows XP, you may have to reactivate your copy of Windows XP.

 

Hey thank you so much! The method with changing the owner did work after all! When I moved the HD to a XP Pro system it let me change the owner and unlock the files! My biggest worry is over now. BUT the problem that I've described during system boot seems to come ack. I've just started a new installation and in the first reboot it makes after formatting the HD it didn't manage to start. It just hung on that blank screen that appears after the initial black screen where it recognizes the devices.. Could it be a hardware problem?

 

Why would you want to reformat the HD,after you had fixed your problem with your files.Did you make a backup of all you files?Reformatting your HD,wipes your HD clean.You lose everything on your HD.I thought you just wanted to do a repair.