Getting files off of HD

I am trying to get some files off of an old hard drive, I installed the drive into my PC and everything works fine.

The problem is that I can not get into the Owners Documents and Settings on the old HD, I'm getting an access is denied message.

Any way I can override this?

Thanks

 

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder

CAUSE
This issue may occur if the folder that you cannot open was created on an NTFS file system volume by using a previous installation of Windows, and then installing Windows XP. This issue may occur although you enter the correct user name and password. This issue occurs because the security ID for the user has changed. Although you use the same user name and password, your security ID no longer matches the security ID of the owner of the folder that you cannot open.

For example, although you use the same user name and password, you may no longer have permission to open the folder after you complete the following steps:
1. Before you install Windows XP Professional, you change the actual location, or target location, of the My Documents folder to another volume.
2. You format the primary partition.
3. You install Windows XP Professional.

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RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, you must turn off Simple File Sharing, and then take ownership of the folder:
1. Turn off Simple File Sharing:
a. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
b. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
c. Under Advanced Settings, click to clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box, and then click OK.
2. Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message, if one appears.
4. Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
5. 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.
6. Click OK.

You may receive the following error message, where Folder 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. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control? All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.
7. Click Yes.
8. Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and the folder contents.

or

How to take ownership of a folder
Note You must be logged on to the computer with an account that has administrative credentials. If you are running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, you must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an account that has Administrative rights to have access to the Security tab.

If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must disable Simple File Sharing. By default, Windows XP Professional uses Simple File sharing when it is not joined to a domain.

For additional information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307874 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874/) How to disable simplified sharing and set permissions on a shared folder in Windows XP
To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:
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.

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How to take ownership of a file
Note You must be logged on to the computer with an account that has administrative credentials.

To take ownership of a file, follow these steps:
1. Right-click the file 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 Administrator, or click the Administrators group, and then click OK.

The administrator or the Administrators group now owns the file. To change the permissions on the files and folders under this folder, go to step 5.
5. Click Add.
6. In the Enter the object names to select (examples) list, type the user or group account that you want to give access to the file. For example, type Administrator.
7. Click OK.
8. In the Group or user names list, click the account that you want, and then select the check boxes of the permissions that you want to assign that user.
9. When you are finished assigning permissions, click OK.

I copied this as a text file from the web, as I thought it might come in handy on occasion.
Bug

 

Hey Bug, have you actually tried this? I run into the 'access is denied' thing alot when trying to recover files from a slaved drive (for example). I usually end up booting to a PE CD, and copying the data to an external USB drive. If this works, it'll make life a bit easier I think.

hd2k

EDIT: upon reading the instructions a bit closer, maybe booting to the PE CD is actually easier

 

Thanks, but it appears that I can not turn off simple file sharing on windows XP Home edition.

Hopperdave, what is a PE CD? Is this something I can do with the home edition?

Thanks

 

A PE CD (also known as Bart's PE) is a bootable CD that's more or less like running Windows from a CD, independent of your hard drive, so you can access all the files on the hard drive. Building a PE CD is kind of confusing, so read the instructions (print 'em out if possible) thouroughly 2 or 3 times before doing anything. Here's the link: http://www.ubcd4win.com It's called the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows and you'll need your XP CD for the build. I'm pretty sure you can download the file from MajorGeeks, but the build info is at the website above (so is the download) http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5710 The end result is bootable full of diagnostic tools, antivirus, file management, data recovery, and other applications that all run from a Windows-like environment from the CD. It's a VERY useful item. Look into it, and don't be discouraged by the instructions; just read 'em, and take your time! Good luck! If I can help with the build, I'll try

hd2k

 

Hopperdave, thanks, I created the PE CD and was able to recover the files. Majorgeeks continues to be the best resource I've found.

Thanks!!!

 

Fan-freekin-tastic!!
I know that the UBCD (or PE CD) has saved my a$$ many, many times. It is a priceless utility. Congrats! I'm glad I could point you in the right direction!