RE: Problem re-installing XP

This is actually a fairly common problem with reinstalls. So much so that I
typed this up and saved it (can't take credit for the idea tho) for a user on
another forum:

First we have to enable access to the files and take ownership of them. You
must be using an account with Administrator privileges for this step:

"To resolve this issue, you must turn off Simple File Sharing, and then take
ownership of the folder:
1. Turn off Simple File Sharing:
a. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
b. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
c. Under Advanced Settings, click to clear the Use simple file sharing
(Recommended) check box, and then click OK.
2. Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click
Properties.
3. Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message, if one
appears.
4. Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
5. In the Name list, click your user name, Administrator if you are logged
in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group.

If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, click to
select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
6. Click OK.

You may receive the following error message, where Folder is the name of the
folder that you want to take ownership of:
You do not have permission to read the contents of directory Folder. Do you
want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full
Control? All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.
7. Click Yes.
8. Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you
want for the folder and the folder contents."

The above steps will give you the ability to view and manipulate the files
in the old user profiles.

- Next, we have to copy the data from the old profile to the new one. Here's
the steps for it:

"Create a New User Profile in Windows XP Professional
1. Log on as the Administrator or as a user with administrator credentials.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Click User Accounts.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Advanced.
5. In the left pane, click the Users folder.
6. On the Action menu, click New User.
7. Enter the appropriate user information, and then click Create.


Create a New User Profile in Windows XP Home Edition
1. Log on as the Administrator or as a user with administrator credentials.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Click User Accounts.
4. Under Pick a task, click Create a new account.
5. Type a name for the user information, and then click Next.
6. Click an account type, and then click Create Account.


Copy Files to the New User Profile
1. Log on as a user other than the user whose profile you are copying files
to or from.
2. In Windows Explorer, click Tools, click Folder Options, click the View
tab, click Show hidden files and folders, click to clear the Hide protected
operating system files check box, and then click OK.
3. Locate the C:\Documents and Settings\Old_Username folder, where C is the
drive on which Windows XP is installed, and Old_Username is the name of the
profile you want to copy user data from.
4. Press and hold down the CTRL key while you click each file and subfolder
in this folder, except the following files:
• Ntuser.dat
• Ntuser.dat.log
• Ntuser.ini
5. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
6. Locate the C:\Documents and Settings\New_Username folder, where C is the
drive on which Windows XP is installed, and New_Username is the name of the
user profile that you created in the "Create a New User Profile" section.
7. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
8. Log off the computer, and then log on as the new user.

Note You must import your e-mail messages and addresses to the new user
profile before you delete the old profile.
For additional information, click the following article number to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
313055 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313055/) OLEXP: Mail Folders,
Address Book, and E-mail Messages Are Missing After You Upgrade to Microsoft
Windows XP

- The steps that we'll have to do are outlined in these 3 Knowledge Base
articles:

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;810881

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

- Finally, it's been my experience that taking ownership of files can be a
bit "flakey" at times, and you may even have to individually grant the
permissions to each sub-folder in the old user profile. Please let me know
how these instructions have worked for you.


"Jon Green" wrote:

> but please help.
> After a week of increasing glitches and hangs my computer internet LAN link
> failed then the computer locked up in the Zone Alarm start phase of set up.
> I could not get it to start in 'safe' mode so I decided to try to start it
> off the XP CD ROM..Ok so I probably made the problem worse by doing this.
>
> That worked and the computer is up but I cannot open my old files - access
> denied. This is a BIG problem as my security & WLAN encryption codes are in
> those files so no internet, no XP registration, no firewall. Also I cannot
> start some programs e.g. Office. I would be happy to completely re-install
> if I could get to my files to copy back up for the last months work.
>
> Now I may have used a different 'computer name' this time. SO how can I
> open those files saved under a different computer name? or can I re-name the
> computer now?
>
> Grateful for any advice
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Whats with the file clutter in Windows XP Pro?
    ... > Administrator, ... > cluttered file system by deleting all but my folder (i.e., ... Windows XP is and will remain a MultiUser OS. ... One is "Default User" - This is used whenever a new account is created. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.customize)
  • Re: XP Home edition - Administrator permissions
    ... Windows is too superficial!. ... administrator already and the folders are owned by me, ... including one as as administrator and renamed the People account as ... the People folder in Documents & Settings even though the username ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Urgent- plz ! Local Policy problem
    ... From what I've seen...many of the policies ... yourself out of it...In Windows Explorer, ... If you can't see the GroupPolicy folder in System32, ... This will prevent the Administrator account from seeing ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: Administrator folder not accessible
    ... any other folder there is no security tab. ... It was my daughter's laptop and she forgot windows ... in using Administrator for the user name and blank password. ... Support accounts and one of those is HP's. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Recovering My documents
    ... and log in as the administrator. ... I have installed windows again installing to a ... >some important documents in the My documents folder on ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)