Files inaccessable after reinstall

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rb608

To solve some nagging registry/performance issues, I took a blunt instrument
approach and simply did a reinstall of XP. Mostly everything turned out
fine.

Prior to the reinstall, I had three "Users", one of whom, me, was the
administrator with password protected access. After the reinstall, the two
other user files were accessable, but my files under the password protected
account are not. They're not gone, I just can't get them either through
Windows Explorer or even through the DOS prompt. They clearly exist, but I
get a "Access is denied" error when I click on anything associated with that
prior admin account.

I know the password; how can I re-establish access to my files? (FWIW, when
I reinstalled the OS, I chose a different user name for the administrator,
so the files weren't overwritten.)

Help.

TIA,
Joe
 
rb608 said:
To solve some nagging registry/performance issues, I took a blunt
instrument approach and simply did a reinstall of XP. Mostly
everything turned out fine.

Prior to the reinstall, I had three "Users", one of whom, me, was the
administrator with password protected access. After the reinstall,
the two other user files were accessable, but my files under the
password protected account are not. They're not gone, I just can't
get them either through Windows Explorer or even through the DOS
prompt. They clearly exist, but I get a "Access is denied" error
when I click on anything associated with that prior admin account.

I know the password; how can I re-establish access to my files? (FWIW,
when I reinstalled the OS, I chose a different user name for
the administrator, so the files weren't overwritten.)

Help.

TIA,
Joe
Click to expand...

You need to take ownership of those files. Don't have a link available but
you can search MS site for it.

Pop`
 
In
rb608 said:
To solve some nagging registry/performance issues, I took a
blunt
instrument approach and simply did a reinstall of XP. Mostly
everything turned out fine.

Prior to the reinstall, I had three "Users", one of whom, me,
was the
administrator with password protected access. After the
reinstall,
the two other user files were accessable, but my files under
the
password protected account are not. They're not gone, I just
can't
get them either through Windows Explorer or even through the
DOS
prompt. They clearly exist, but I get a "Access is denied"
error
when I click on anything associated with that prior admin
account.

I know the password; how can I re-establish access to my
files? (FWIW, when I reinstalled the OS, I chose a different
user name for
the administrator, so the files weren't overwritten.)

Help.

TIA,
Joe
Click to expand...

You need to disable Simple File Sharing and take ownership of
the files. Take a look at these articles for more info:

How to disable simplified sharing and set permissions on a
shared folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874/

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

Note: 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. To start in Safe Mode, reboot your computer and
start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything displayed
on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup
Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow keys on your
keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
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