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password protected files on crashed drive

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pyrocelli

MIS
Jul 14, 2006
3
US
I had a computer that crashed. Didnt want to lose info on hard drive so I bought a new computer and installed the old hard drive as a slave. Both computers were running XP pro. Was able to salvage most of the info on the old hard drive. However, the "My Documents" and "My pictures" on my daughters login were password protected and I cannot access them now. Is there any way to get into those folders? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
When you say the "My Documents" and "My pictures" were password protected Do you mean they had NTFS security permissions configured or do you mean a 3rd party product was used to set a password?

If NTFS permissions were set:

Click Tools | Folder Options | View
Remove check from Simple File Sharing
Right click "My Documents" & click properties
Click Security tab
Click Advanced
Click Owner tab
Select the local administrator as the new owner

You can now reset permissions on the folders.


 
In XP you can password protect folders in a user profile. The user must have a password, obviously, and XP will prompt to create on if not.

Right-click the folder that you want to make private and choose "Properties" (or Alt+Double-click). Go to the "Sharing" tab and check the "Make this folder private" box.

In order for this option to work in Microsoft Windows XP you must meet the below requirements.

. The hard disk drive must be formatted in NTFS and not FAT32.

. The folder you're attempting to encrypt must be in your own personal folder. For example, if your name is bob, you must be encrypting a folder that is or that is contained within the below folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\Bob\

. You cannot encrypt any folders outside of this folder.

The files are encrypted. Changing the ownership of the folders will not help you. Consider the files lost.


____________________________
Users Helping Users
 
How serviceable is the original computer? Any chance of returning the drive to it and fixing it?

Is the old XP still on the original drive? Can you make it bootable from the new machine?

How to Use System Files to Create a Boot Disk to Guard Against Being Unable to Start Windows XP (Q314079)

Q305595 - HOW TO: Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition in Windows XP
 
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