Problem:

Can not access data on a Hard Drive which came from another (now discarded) PC. The HD won't boot by itself (has XP Pro installed which I think is corrupted ).

I have the HD mounted as a 2nd HD in a new (XP Pro) computer. The HD is visible as D: and I can see all the directories, but not individual files. When I try and open a directory to view/copy files it comes up with "Access is denied", and will not let me see individual files.

My thoughts are that the files would be accessible if I was able to boot from the HD in question and log in to my account (I am the previous user of the HD). But attempts to repair XP Pro on that disc have failed. Plus I am afraid to install a new XP Pro on that disc in case I wipe out all the old data.

The new PC has the same user and administrator details (inc. password) but still I can't access individual files on D:

Is this a security/permissions/log in problem, or is it something else?

Any ideas?

Thanks. Graham

When you say the 2nd hard drive won't boot, are there any error messages etc. Also have you set this 2nd hard drive as a slave by changing the pin position on the back of the HD?

Sounds like something's gone pear-shaped. I think the hard drive could have been damaged/corrupted. The fact that you can see directories but not files is worrying.

Howdy:

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default...308421&sd=tech

Murray

Thanks Murray and LTheobald for your prompt responses. Incredibly, Murray's link to taking ownership of a folder worked. LTheobald, I probably should have mentioned earlier that it was a SATA drive.

I still can't boot from it but I'm not woried about that anymore because I can see and access files of folders that I take ownership of :D I thought it wasn't going to work... because the first part of the process merely makes the Security tab visible on Properties for each folder... and then there are a couple of messages telling you that it won't work because you don't have permission (or similar). But you just ignore those and click O.K and POW! :p

For anyone else that has this problem ie: You have mounted an earlier drive which has files protected by accounts that you can no longer log in to because you can't boot from that drives O/S, then the link above will save you.

Thank you! Graham

Glad I was able to help!

Murray

Just for future reference, the problem was how the bios/controller auto detects the drive boot configuration and structure, that is why it woked as a secondary drive

Hey

I am having kind of similler prob.,
My C: drive crashed I can no longer reinstall windows or even format the C: drive and I get a meaasage telling me to replace hard disk and back up data now what I did was I used Win XP home eddition CD to boot and log into Repair mode to try and save my data from drive D: I can see the folders in the drive D: but I can't open folders to see files using [ cd foldername] I get a message saying access is denied. I can't use what the article above says because I have no operating system running I am bootig from CD only how do I get to the files so I can copy them to external disk :confused:

Is D a second physical drive or a partition of the main drive? If it's a physical drive, then I would replace the primary, reinstall your OS and then you may be able to access the folders on the secondary drive by logging in as Admin.

If it's a partition, then you will need to login as Admin to access those folders.

Firstly I'd check the bios just to make sure the drive is recognised. If there is a message there like "not recognised" "wrong parameters" "no match" "can not detect" "not on list" etc. then your drive is 99% of the time physically duff. YOU may in rare cases be able to get data off, or send it off for recovery.

The big question dos or ntfs?

Dos is easy! Download a dos boot disk - do a search on Google - one old site was? bovis?? Remove all hd drives and install the new drive as master and format it. Once this is done install the old drive as a master on the second channel (in place of the cd) or make it a slave - your choice, but the first one is better. Please note that on some rare cases that the drive can drag down both channels. You can now copy or xcopy from one drive to another.

Ntfs: either you have to obtain a special NTFS reader prog (http://www.winternals.com/products/r...02.asp?pid=erd) or "hiren's boot cd 6" (http://www.morgud.com/reviews/softwa...-Rescue-CD.asp). You must not use emule etc. to download these, as that would be piracy, and being good IT people we do not condone that.

Once you have a boot disk or cd to boot from, do the above dos steps again.. think hiren might be a windows environment though.

Check warranty of your drive. Also most manufacturers have FREE drive diags for their drive.


**** ** http://www.jsifaq.com/subA/tip0000/rh0012.htm - have a read too!!
"This Windows startup disk can access a drive that has the Windows NT file system (NTFS) or File allocation table (FAT) file system installed. Theprocedures in this article can be useful to work around the following startup problems:

• Corrupted startup sector.
• Corrupted master startup record (MBR).
• Virus infections.
• Missing or corrupted NTLDR or Ntdetect.com.
• Incorrect Ntstartupdd.sys driver. ...................."

PS. Tip of the year - use some form of drive cooling!! Cheap fan ones work.
PPS. You have not recently installed an external usb2 card and now these faults are occurring? Or any other hardware?
PPPS. http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/index.html - a bit over priced and annoying, but works
PPPPS. www.grc.com for spinrite

I have a similar problem to Khaleel. I have a laptop and the drive is "corrupted and cannot be repaired". I am able to use a CD that came with the machine and boot the machine and read the hard drive. I am even able to copy a file from the c:\windows directory to a usb drive so I feel like there's some hope to save my files. The problem is that when I try to enter the directory where the files are that I actually want, (I can see the files using the dir command) I get the Access is Denied message.

I'm pretty sure I'm logged in as the administrator because I've tried all my typical passwords and they don't work. The only thing that works is hitting enter when asked for the admin password. I'm sure the default password is blank (according to the manual) and I don't remember changing that. So I think I'm logged in properly but I still don't have access.

Any suggestions? I followed the link that shark shared, but I was hoping not to have to spend serious money to copy my files off to a working drive.

I recently transferred a lot of information from my laptop to my external hardrive. My laptop has since had Service Pack 2 installed. I now get an Access Denied Message and the folder size is apparently now 0KB.

It doesn't allow me to click on the folder is there any way I can access the information.

Rav