Well, maybe it's the operator....

I put a new hard drive in my computer today and now I can't get to my files in the "my documents folder"!

Here is what I did; I put in a new drive since my old drive (40gb) was nearly full, and since the old install of windows XP was getting a little slow and buggy. So, I put in the new drive, set it as the primary or master drive, set my cd-rom as the boot device, put in my windows XP pro cd, booted from it and ran windows setup and used it to partition and format the new drive then installed a clean copy of XP pro. All is well, it boots and runs fine, new software installs went smooth, works great.

So, here is the problem; when I go to my old "my documents" folder on the old hard drive and try to copy the files, I get an error message saying "access denied", I am sure this has to be caused by the fact the old files were in a "private" folder and were under administrator control. All other files on the old drive are readable. The question is how do I take ownership of these files. I knew how to do this in windows NT but I don't see how it is possible in XP.

The obvious, but painful solution is to open the computer and set the old drive as the primary (master) again and boot from the old copy of XP and move the files while using the old copy of XP. I'd rather not do this, does anyone know of another way?

Start digging around in your 'Help' program. . . ? ? ?

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So, here is the problem; when I go to my old "my documents" folder on the old hard drive and try to copy the files, I get an error message saying "access denied", I am sure this has to be caused by the fact the old files were in a "private" folder and were under administrator control. All other files on the old drive are readable. The question is how do I take ownership of these files. I knew how to do this in windows NT but I don't see how it is possible in XP.

The obvious, but painful solution is to open the computer and set the old drive as the primary (master) again and boot from the old copy of XP and move the files while using the old copy of XP. I'd rather not do this, does anyone know of another way?

You're right, I think. You can't get into your old folder because you don't have administrator rights because you're now booting up from a different install of XP. So, your solution is the right one, you need to boot from the old drive and then move your files. It doesn't seem all that painful, compared to losing the files.

Set your old drive up as the boot drive. You should be able to do this by altering the boot sequence in the CMOS. Boot your system and create a temporary directory off the root. Copy the contents of "My documents" to the new directory. You'll have to log in as either "administrator" or use your old account name and password. Reset the CMOS to the new boot sequence and reboot. :smoke:

Or, boot from floppy or anything else with command.com on it and navigate to My Docs. Then copy to temp dir on old or new hd.

Murray

I'd try to boot in Safe Mode as Administrator and copy 'em that way. Admins have total access to all files in Safe Mode... at least they do on MY pc! :D
Tom

Why not boot up on the old drive and change your "My Documents" folder so it's not Private and has no restrictions on access. Then reboot from the new drive and you should be able to see all our data files on the old drive.

Take less time and do it this way:

**Make sure you're logged in as admin**
1. Open the "Folder Options" control pannel and click the View Tab
2. Scroll to the bottom and UNCHECK "use simple file sharing." Click ok to close the window. Note that you may have to restart to see the effects.
3. open my computer, right click your old drive, and select PROPERTIES
4. click the security tab, then the advanced button on the lower right.
5. click the OWNER tab, then click "Administrators." Make sure the checkbox next to "Replace Owners on subcontainers and Objects" is CHECKED, and click OK. Confirm a message asking if you are certain. It may take some time to reset the owner permissions.
6. after that is complete you should be taken back to the security menu. Give yourself full permissions and check the box on "replace permissions on child objects"

Wait some more and your done!

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! A combination of what OvenMaster and jpdylon suggeted worked perfectly. I started in safe mode logged in as administrator, I replaced all the permissions and took ownership of the affected folder and then was able to copy it to my new documents folder. This was exactly what I was looking for since I knew there was a way to do it but I gave up doing admin work when windows NT was the best thing around so I just didn't know how to do it in XP.

Mostly, I am glad I didn't have to pull the PC out of it's hiding place and swap the jumpers on the drives. I have a 1950's era school teacher's desk and it is about 3 feet deep from the front edge and the computer is in the footwell at the back and against a wall, It takes some pretty serious contortions to hook it up.

By the way, I got this hard drive (160gb Western dig.) at the local best buy and they were clearing them out for $59.00! I guess 160gb is too small compared to the 250's on the market now. :sigh: So, if you need some serious storage cheap, better hurry.