Recover inaccessible My Documents

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Osiris

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Recover inaccessible My Documents

XP won't let me open my old My Documents directory.


I recently reinstalled Windows XP on my computer. When I started up for the first time after this it asked me to enter my name and it made me a new user account and thus a new My Documents. The problem I have is that while my old My Documents folder is still there I cannot open it. A window pops up telling me access is denied. I would greatly appreciate it if you could shed some light on my dilemma.
Ben Mulliner

The problem is that you’re trying to access your old documents from your new user account, and XP’s security measures are preventing you from doing so. There are ways and means around this – but to do so involves restarting your PC. Tap [F8] to load the Windows boot menu, then select Safe mode and press [Return].

When you come to log on to XP, choose the Administrator account – it should be at the top. This will give you maximum level access. Now open the C:\Documents and Settings folder and you should see your inaccessible user profile. Right-click it and choose Properties and then switch to the Security tab. You’ll see a warning dialog appear – remove it, then click the Advanced button and switch to the Owners tab.

Click the Administrator entry in the Name box and tick the box marked ‘Replace owner on sub-containers and objects’. Click OK followed by Yes and you should now have access to those files and folders while logged on as the Administrator. Create a folder on the root directory of your drive and move the files from their original location into here, making the files accessible to all. Now restart Windows again and log on as your own user profile. You should now have access to the files in question.
 
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