Lost docs

  • Thread starter Thread starter John L
  • Start date Start date
J

John L

It looks like all the files I marked as "shared" while
attempting a direct cable connect transfer of files to
new computer were somehow lost. During the attempt, the
guest computer indicated connection, but the host files
could not be seen on the guest. Found that I didn't
have "File and Printer Sharing" or "Client for Microsoft
Windows" on the host and tried to add via XP installation
disc, but they were grayed out in the setup window. In
the process, something happened whereby I then couldn't
log on to XP on host computer - no users at welcome
screen - but did Safe Mode and set up new administrator,
etc. When I logged on again, I couldn't find any of the
files or folders in My Documents. Followed instructions
from M. Solomon on this newsgroup and found the files and
folders listed in "Recent Files" in Explorer, but all
listings are shortcuts that do not connect. Message says
they have been changed or moved and can't be found. It
appears that all the files and folders I marked as shared
for the direct cabel connect transfer are affected. Can
anybody tell me how I can retreive the affected items>
Thanks,
John L
 
If you only copied the files using this procedure, then they should still be
on the original computer, so you might want to check there.

In order to find the files and folders, you would need to look in My
Documents under the user in which they existed under Documents and Settings.
In other words, Documents and Setting\User Name\My Documents. Also, once
you find them, even an administrator account might not be able to gain
access without taking ownership of those files. Take ownership as follows:
This sounds like a file ownership issue related to NTFS. Note, file
ownership and permissions supersede administrator rights. How you resolve
it depends upon which version of XP you are running.



XP-Home



Unfortunately, XP Home using NTFS is essentially hard wired for "Simple File
Sharing" at system level.

However, you can set XP Home permissions in Safe Mode. Reboot, and start
hitting F8, a menu should eventually appear and one of the
options is Safe Mode. Select it. Note, it will ask for the administrator's
password. This is not your administrator account, rather it is the
machine's administrator account for which users are asked to create a
password during setup.

If you created no such password, when requested, leave blank and press
enter.

Open Explorer, go to Tools and Folder Options, on the view tab, scroll to
the bottom of the list, if it shows "Enable Simple File Sharing" deselect it
and click apply and ok. If it shows nothing or won't let you make a change,
move on to the next step.

Navigate to the files, right click, select properties, go to the Security
tab, click advanced, go to the Owner tab and select the user that was logged
on when you were refused permission to access the files. Click apply and
ok. Close the properties box, reopen it, click add and type in the name of
the user you just enabled. If you wish to set ownership for everything in
the folder, at the bottom of the Owner tab is the following selection:
"Replace owner on subcontainers and objects," select it as well.

Once complete, you should be able to do what you wish with these files when
you log back on as that user.



XP-Pro



If you have XP Pro, temporarily change the limited account to
administrative. First, go to Windows Explorer, go to Tools, select Folder
Options, go to the View tab and be sure "Use Simple File Sharing" is not
selected. If it is, deselect it and click apply and ok.



If you wish everything in a specific folder to be accessible to a user,
right click the folder, select properties, go to the Security tab, click
Advanced, go to the Owner tab,
select the user you wish to have access, at the bottom of the box, you
should see a check box for "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects,"
place a check in the box and click apply and ok.

The user should now be able to perform necessary functions on files in the
folder even as a limited account. If not, make it an admin account again,
right click the folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab and be
sure the user is listed in the user list. If not, click add and type the
user name in the appropriate box, be sure the user has all the necessary
permissions checked in the permission list below the user list, click apply
and ok.

That should do it and allow whatever access you desire for that folder even
in a limited account.



I assume you do realize this is a lesson in why you should always be well
backed up.
 
Logged on in safe mode. Tried to do following: <<Navigate
to the files, right click, select properties, go to the
Security tab, click advanced, go to the Owner tab and
select the user that was logged on when you were refused
permission to access the files. Click apply and
ok. Close the properties box, reopen it, click add and
type in the name of the user you just enabled. If you
wish to set ownership for everything in the folder, at
the bottom of the Owner tab is the following selection:
"Replace owner on subcontainers and objects," select it
as well.>> But don't find any Security Tab. Maybe I'm
just being obtuse, but when you say "Navigate to the
files" I presume you mean any files I find in "My
Documents"? Only file I find there doesn't have
securities tab in properties. It is labled "Desktop
COnfiguratin Settings" and when I open it, its a Notepad
doc and the first line is "[DeleteOnCopy]".
Am I beyond help in retreiving my lost files?
 
If the file you describe is the only file you found, then the files you are
seeking are not in that location. You should search the entire drive, not
just My Documents as those files, if the move was successful could be
anywhere on the drive. If you have more than one partition, search them all
from the root. In other words, search C and all other drives, they should
be listed in the dropdown search box.

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

John L said:
Logged on in safe mode. Tried to do following: <<Navigate
to the files, right click, select properties, go to the
Security tab, click advanced, go to the Owner tab and
select the user that was logged on when you were refused
permission to access the files. Click apply and
ok. Close the properties box, reopen it, click add and
type in the name of the user you just enabled. If you
wish to set ownership for everything in the folder, at
the bottom of the Owner tab is the following selection:
"Replace owner on subcontainers and objects," select it
as well.>> But don't find any Security Tab. Maybe I'm
just being obtuse, but when you say "Navigate to the
files" I presume you mean any files I find in "My
Documents"? Only file I find there doesn't have
securities tab in properties. It is labled "Desktop
COnfiguratin Settings" and when I open it, its a Notepad
doc and the first line is "[DeleteOnCopy]".
Am I beyond help in retreiving my lost files?
-----Original Message-----
If you only copied the files using this procedure, then they should still be
on the original computer, so you might want to check there.

In order to find the files and folders, you would need to look in My
Documents under the user in which they existed under Documents and Settings.
In other words, Documents and Setting\User Name\My Documents. Also, once
you find them, even an administrator account might not be able to gain
access without taking ownership of those files. Take ownership as follows:
This sounds like a file ownership issue related to NTFS. Note, file
ownership and permissions supersede administrator rights. How you resolve
it depends upon which version of XP you are running.



XP-Home



Unfortunately, XP Home using NTFS is essentially hard wired for "Simple File
Sharing" at system level.

However, you can set XP Home permissions in Safe Mode. Reboot, and start
hitting F8, a menu should eventually appear and one of the
options is Safe Mode. Select it. Note, it will ask for the administrator's
password. This is not your administrator account, rather it is the
machine's administrator account for which users are asked to create a
password during setup.

If you created no such password, when requested, leave blank and press
enter.

Open Explorer, go to Tools and Folder Options, on the view tab, scroll to
the bottom of the list, if it shows "Enable Simple File Sharing" deselect it
and click apply and ok. If it shows nothing or won't let you make a change,
move on to the next step.

Navigate to the files, right click, select properties, go to the Security
tab, click advanced, go to the Owner tab and select the user that was logged
on when you were refused permission to access the files. Click apply and
ok. Close the properties box, reopen it, click add and type in the name of
the user you just enabled. If you wish to set ownership for everything in
the folder, at the bottom of the Owner tab is the following selection:
"Replace owner on subcontainers and objects," select it as well.

Once complete, you should be able to do what you wish with these files when
you log back on as that user.



XP-Pro



If you have XP Pro, temporarily change the limited account to
administrative. First, go to Windows Explorer, go to Tools, select Folder
Options, go to the View tab and be sure "Use Simple File Sharing" is not
selected. If it is, deselect it and click apply and ok.



If you wish everything in a specific folder to be accessible to a user,
right click the folder, select properties, go to the Security tab, click
Advanced, go to the Owner tab,
select the user you wish to have access, at the bottom of the box, you
should see a check box for "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects,"
place a check in the box and click apply and ok.

The user should now be able to perform necessary functions on files in the
folder even as a limited account. If not, make it an admin account again,
right click the folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab and be
sure the user is listed in the user list. If not, click add and type the
user name in the appropriate box, be sure the user has all the necessary
permissions checked in the permission list below the user list, click apply
and ok.

That should do it and allow whatever access you desire for that folder even
in a limited account.



I assume you do realize this is a lesson in why you should always be well
backed up.


--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/




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