accessing password protected files from Windows XP Pro

im a upcoming music producer and in a hole.... ill runthrough the problem exactly how it happened...

1. 120 gig hd was the master with important music files on it..
2. made that the slave and put a brand new hd and formated the new harddrive with xp on it...
3. i enter documents and settings on the harddrive with my music on it and i try to access the folder called administrator (thats the name i was using to log in and i had to enter a password) and it gives me a message ," access is denied"
4. cant put the 120 back as the master because i deleted the Windows folder on the 120... (something a friend suggested)
5. reinstalled xp back on the 120 (its the only hd in at this point) but i didnt format... just reinstalled xp.. so my files are still there because the hd is full.. and when i click on the administrator folder, same message appears.

basically im just giving you as much info as possible because this is my first time on this site and im trying to find a solid solution to gainging access to my files which are password protected. i read somewhere that its possible accessing xp files from windows 2000 recovery console.. please, i would appreciate any kind of help or at least a finger in the right direction to get my files... (2 years worth of work!).. much appreciated. Thank You

 

Set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions

To set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions, follow these steps: 1.Click Start, click My Computer, and then locate the file or folder where you want to set permissions.2.Right-click the file or folder, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.

Note If the Security tab is not available, see the "Troubleshooting" section.3.Use one of the following methods: •To set permissions for a group or for a user that does not appear in the Group or user names box, click Add, type the name of the group or of the user that you want to set permissions for, and then click OK.•To change or remove permissions from an existing group or user, click the name of the group or user.4.Use one of the following methods: •To allow or to deny a permission, select the Allow or the Deny check box in the Permissions for User or Group box, where User or Group is the name of the user or group.•To remove the group or user from the Group or user names box, click Remove.5.Click OK.Important If you are not joined to a domain, or you are running Windows XP Home Edition, and you want to view the Security tab, follow the steps for your operating system.

Windows XP Professional 1.Click Start, and then click Control Panel.2.Click Appearance and Themes, and then click Folder Options.3.Click the View tab, and then clear the Use simple file sharing [Recommended] check box in the Advanced settings box.4.Click OKHow inheritance affects file and folder permissions

After you set permissions on a parent folder, new files and subfolders that are created in the folder inherit these permissions. If you do not want the files and folders to inherit permissions, click This folder only in the Apply onto box when you set up special permissions for the parent folder. If you want to prevent only certain files or subfolders from inheriting permissions, follow these steps: 1.Right-click the file or subfolder.2.Click Properties.3.Click the Security tab.4.Click Advanced.5.Clear the Inherit from parent the permission entries that apply to child objects. Include these with entries explicitly defined here check box.If the check boxes are not available, the file or folder has inherited permissions from the parent folder. There are three ways to make changes to inherited permissions: •Make the changes to the parent folder so that the file or folder inherits the permissions.•Click to select the opposite permission (Allow or Deny) to override the inherited permission.•Clear the Inherit from parent the permission entries that apply to child objects. Include these with entries explicitly defined here check box. When you do so, you can make changes to the permissions or remove the user or group from the permissions list. However, the file or folder does not inherit permissions from the parent folder.In most cases, Deny overrides Allow unless a folder inherits conflicting settings from different parents. In this situation, the setting that is inherited from the parent that is closest to the object in the subtree has precedence.

Notes •Allow permissions are cumulative. Therefore, a user's permissions are determined by the cumulative effect of all of the groups that the user belongs to.•Deny permissions override Allow permissions. Use caution when you apply Deny permissions.Only child objects inherit inheritable permissions. When you set permissions on the parent object, you can use the Apply onto setting to determine whether folders or subfolders can inherit the permissions. You can determine which permissions a user or group has on an object if you view the effective permissions.

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To view effective permissions on files and folders

To view effective permissions on files and folders, follow these steps: 1.Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.2.Locate the file or folder that you want to view effective permissions for.3.Right-click the file or folder, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.4.Click Advanced, and then click the Effective Permissions tab.5.Click Select.6.In the Name box, type the name of a user or group, and then click OK. The check boxes that are selected indicate the effective permissions of the user or group for that file or folder.Troubleshooting

If the Security tab is not available, and if you cannot configure permissions for users and groups, either the file or folder that you want to apply permissions to is not an NTFS drive, or simple file sharing is enabled. To troubleshoot, follow these steps: 1.Verify that the file or folder that you want to apply permissions to is an NTFS drive. You can set permissions only on drives that are formatted to use NTFS.2.By default, simplified sharing is enabled in Windows XP unless you are on a domain. To work around this behavior, disable Simplified Sharing.
308419 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308419/) How To Set, view, change, or remove special permissions for files and folders in Windows XP