How to Access XP Files on Password Protected account, Sharing won't work

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jack
  • Start date Start date
J

Jack

Hi,
I had a hard drive crash and lost about a months worth of data that
I did not back up. I only really want to get a few files back but need
help. The drive had Windows XP with 4 users but on,only mine was
password protected. I have been able to hook up the hard drive using a
USB adaptor and can access all files in all the user accounts except
mine. (the drive will not boot though)
I have tried the Windows procedure on How to take ownership of a
folder (link below) and it does not work. I have dissabled simple file
sharing and when I try and take ownership of the My Documents folders
under my profile it says access denied. It does not even ask me for a
password.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

Does anyone have any ideas on how I could get access to the files? I
do know the password. Thanks for any help.
 
Jack said:
Hi,
I had a hard drive crash and lost about a months worth of data that
I did not back up. I only really want to get a few files back but need
help. The drive had Windows XP with 4 users but on,only mine was
password protected. I have been able to hook up the hard drive using a
USB adaptor and can access all files in all the user accounts except
mine. (the drive will not boot though)
I have tried the Windows procedure on How to take ownership of a
folder (link below) and it does not work. I have dissabled simple
file sharing and when I try and take ownership of the My Documents
folders under my profile it says access denied. It does not even ask
me for a password.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

Does anyone have any ideas on how I could get access to the files?
I
do know the password. Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming these files were simply made private on a
password-protected user account and not encrypted with EFS. If you
actually encrypted the files (only available in XP Pro), that's another
story.

If so, the easiest way to get the files is by booting with a rescue cd
like Knoppix or a Bart's PE. I prefer Knoppix because Linux will not
recognize Windows permissions and so you can get the files easily.
Here's information on getting and using Knoppix:

You will need a computer with two cd drives, one of which is a cd/dvd-rw
OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to hold your data OR an
external usb/firewire hard drive formatted FAT32 (not NTFS). To get
Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast Internet connection and
third-party burning software. Download the Knoppix .iso and create your
bootable cd. Then boot with it and it will be able to see the Windows
files. If you are using the usb thumb drive or the external hard drive,
right-click on its icon (on the Desktop) to get its properties and
uncheck the box that says "Read Only". Then click on it to open it.
Note that the default mouse action in the window manager used by
Knoppix (KDE) is a single click to open instead of the traditional MS
Windows' double-click. Otherwise, use the K3b burning program to burn
the files to cd/dvd-r's.

http://www.knoppix.net
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ - Bart's PE Builder

Malke
 
Malke,
Thank you. I will try this. The files were just protected by a
Windows XP log on password. So maybe this will work.

Jack
 
Jack said:
Malke,
Thank you. I will try this. The files were just protected by a
Windows XP log on password. So maybe this will work.
Click to expand...

Well, I do it that way all the time for clients so I know it works. ;-)
Post back if you have any problems. The problems most Windows users
have with retrieving data this way with Knoppix are usually caused
because they forget to right-click on the icon for the target drive
*first* and uncheck read-only. If you mount the drive/partition by
left-clicking it first, it will be read-only and you won't be able to
copy the files.

Malke
 
I tried Knopix and no luck. It could not mount the drive. So my son
brought over his Apple Power book, we hooked up the drive through a USB
adaptor and son of a gun, the Mac read the drive and we copied all the
files I needed over.
What a concept. A Mac that can read a Windows drive that Windows could
not read................................. I think there is something
wrong here!
 
Jack said:
I tried Knopix and no luck. It could not mount the drive. So my son
brought over his Apple Power book, we hooked up the drive through a
USB adaptor and son of a gun, the Mac read the drive and we copied all
the files I needed over.
What a concept. A Mac that can read a Windows drive that Windows could
not read................................. I think there is something
wrong here!
Click to expand...

Nope, nothing wrong or strange. The foreign operating system doesn't
obey the Windows operating system conventions and, if the drive and
partition are healthy, can often access data a Windows machine won't.
It isn't really a Mac vs. Windows issue. It's a foreign operating
system/rescue system issue. Some foreign operating systems "get" the
drivers on the target machine and some don't. That's why techs like me
have a whole library of rescue software and rescue systems.

In any case, I'm glad you got your stuff back.

Malke
 
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