Secondary HD/My Documents ?

Post by **haas mark** » 2006-09-20 02:06am

Okay, so, I'm having problems with a secondary hard drive at the moment. Basically, what has happened is that I've put a hard drive from another computer that was formerly a master drive, and set it to slave in a second computer. I think this wouldn't normally be an issue, except that I need to access the My Documents folder in the second hard drive.

Right now, I'm not able to access the My Documents folder; it gives me an error that simply says "Access is denied" and that the folder is inaccessible. Is there any way that I can access the secondary drive's My Documents folder while running the computer on the first hard drive? Or, if not, then is it possible for me to move the secondary HD to a master and completely ignore the other drive for a bit, and move around the files I need to access, so that I can access later after moving to slave again?

...Did that even make sense?

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-20 02:09am

Have you tried rightclicking the startmenu shortcut to 'my documents' and changing the location there? For instance, my 'mydocs' is on a remote HDD, so my 'mydocs' is actually a shortcut to z:\media\mydocs.

Post by **haas mark** » 2006-09-20 02:24am

It doesn't work, it gives me a "write-protected" error. Also, when accessing the properties for the folder, it gives info as nothing there (0 bytes, etc.).

atg · Post by **atg** » 2006-09-20 02:44am

I'm assuming that you're trying to access "(drive letter):\Documents and Settings\(UserName)\Documents".

Make sure that you are logged in with admin priviledges then try. Was that second drive running Windows XP or 2000? If so then it sounds like the folder/files have been encrypted (or "Made Private"). Not sure how you get around that though.

is it possible for me to move the secondary HD to a master and completely ignore the other drive for a bit, and move around the files I need to access, so that I can access later after moving to slave again?

Yes and no. It will sometimes work, but depending how different the motherboard from the original machine is to the new one, windows will likely crap itself over incorrect drivers. You may be able to start up in safe mode to do what you need to though.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-09-20 02:45am

What has probablöy happened is that you made the files private in the other computer if the account was admin one, Windows XP is funny that way, when you make the folders private, it sets some kind of flag that stays in effect even if you transfer the hard drive or do something else. I haven't found out how to reverse that yet.

What you could do is boot the computer with Knoppix or some other Linux variant that can boot from removable media and then compy the contents of the My Documents folder to some other folder. The copy should be accessible. At least that's how I recovered my emails once when I had a dual boot install go wrong. Linux booted, Windows didn't and a Windows install from another HD couldn't get access. But the Linux wasn't hampered that way so I got them back.

Edi

Post by **haas mark** » 2006-09-20 02:47am

atg wrote:I'm assuming that you're trying to access "(drive letter):\Documents and Settings\(UserName)\Documents".

Correct.

Make sure that you are logged in with admin priviledges then try. Was that second drive running Windows XP or 2000? If so then it sounds like the folder/files have been encrypted (or "Made Private"). Not sure how you get around that though.

There's only one account on this comp right now, so it has admin privs. The other one was running XP Home, same as this computer's HD, actually.

is it possible for me to move the secondary HD to a master and completely ignore the other drive for a bit, and move around the files I need to access, so that I can access later after moving to slave again?
Yes and no. It will sometimes work, but depending how different the motherboard from the original machine is to the new one, windows will likely crap itself over incorrect drivers. You may be able to start up in safe mode to do what you need to though.

Okay, well, the old one was Compaq, this one's eMachines.

Post by **haas mark** » 2006-09-20 02:48am

Edi wrote:What has probablöy happened is that you made the files private in the other computer if the account was admin one, Windows XP is funny that way, when you make the folders private, it sets some kind of flag that stays in effect even if you transfer the hard drive or do something else. I haven't found out how to reverse that yet.

What you could do is boot the computer with Knoppix or some other Linux variant that can boot from removable media and then compy the contents of the My Documents folder to some other folder. The copy should be accessible. At least that's how I recovered my emails once when I had a dual boot install go wrong. Linux booted, Windows didn't and a Windows install from another HD couldn't get access. But the Linux wasn't hampered that way so I got them back.

Edi

Now, you lost me. I don't have access to that kind of thing. Both HDs have XP on them. And the secondary drive is set for a slave, not as a dual-boot. And that's something I wouldn't try to do myself, because I don't know how to.

atg · Post by **atg** » 2006-09-20 02:57am

They seem to be having the same issue hereand have some solutions.

Post by **haas mark** » 2006-09-20 03:03am

Thanks... when my friend is able to help me out with this, I'll try that out.

...Well, that is, if either of us can figure out how to do that.

Crazy_Vasey · Post by **Crazy_Vasey** » 2006-09-20 04:58am

haas mark wrote:Now, you lost me. I don't have access to that kind of thing. Both HDs have XP on them. And the secondary drive is set for a slave, not as a dual-boot. And that's something I wouldn't try to do myself, because I don't know how to.

Knoppix is a Linux distribution that boots from the CD and doesn't need to be installed (you can install it but for this there's no need). The new version of Ubuntu has live disc functionality too on the install disc. Download one of those, boot from the CD, and then you'll have access to your files. Don't think the NTFS driver supports writing to files though, so you'll have to copy them to a USB disc or something as an intermediary most likely.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-09-20 08:26am

Alright, boot to safe mode, log in as the Administrator account. Get to the folder in question, right-click it, and go to Properties. Click the 'Security' tab at the top, then click on Advanced. Click the Owner tab at the top. Select the user you want to access the folder from, then at the bottom check 'Replace owner on subdirectories and objects,' then hit apply. Wait while the thingy scrolls. Voila, you're done.

Can ya tell I've done this a lot?