[makgitle]

Hi everyone.
I've installed a new windows xp professional on a new hardrive as my old hardrive couldn't stratup windows(XP Pro) anymore.So my old hardrive still has all my documents under my old user name which has password and the password was not removed from my old user account as my old hardrive can't startup windows anymore.Curently my PC is running with two hardrives-the new one together with the old one but I can't acces my old documents from my old hardrive.What must I do? Please help me,I'm desperate.

[Scleros]

i can't acces my old documents from my old hardrive.What must i do?

If both drives are installed correctly and functional (old drive wouldn't startup?), the default location for your documents would be in folder [Old Drive Letter]:\Documents and Settings\[Old Username]\[Old Username]'s Documents. If you used a new username with the new XP installation, you may need to login as an administrator and take ownership of that folder and contents and then adjust NTFS permissions as necessary to give your new user account access.

[JBeaucaire]

The old drive, is it showing in MY COMPUTER as drive D: ?

When you explore it, can you not locate the files? Or is the drive completely unreadable for some reason?

[aung2bo]

Did you do your old harddisk as secondary or slave drive ? If not, do it.

And log in with your administrator account.

Regards,
ABB

[makgitle]

Taking ownership process, does it mean I have to take ownership of each folders and files individually and manually?

[Scleros]

Taking ownership process, does it mean i have to take ownership of each folders and files individually and manually?

No, you can simply take ownership of a top level folder of your document tree and/or adjust permissions to give access to new user account, and then use the 'Replace permissions on all child objects' option located under the Advanced button on the Security tab to replicate the permissions to all subfolders and files. This is also the easiest way to completely mess up default permissions if you choose the wrong folder or permissions to begin with. If you're unfamiliar with setting permissions, please read up or get someone knowledgeable to assist you.

Also, it is unclear whether you have a permissions issue or a faulty drive issue. What does "can't access" mean? Please don't go blindly fiddling with permissions unless you're certain that's the problem.