I will explain the situation first: my primary drive failed, so I replaced
it. I have formatted and installed XP OS and drivers so I can use my
computer. Now, I wish to recover all of my user-data still present on the
original drive (which used to be my OS hard drive). Right now, I have my new
OS hard drive as my bootable drive and the "old hard drive" as my secondary.
When I open my user file, f:/documents and settings/jazzman, on the old hard
drive, I see 0 bytes and the file says "access is denied".
How do I gain access to this folder to retrieve the 120GB of information
directly so I don't have to spend days backing to DVD then transferring?
Thanks.

"Matt" <Matt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:855D62DC-377A-4496-B98F-A04F552C4EC1@microsoft.com...
>I will explain the situation first: my primary drive failed, so I replaced
> it. I have formatted and installed XP OS and drivers so I can use my
> computer. Now, I wish to recover all of my user-data still present on the
> original drive (which used to be my OS hard drive). Right now, I have my
> new
> OS hard drive as my bootable drive and the "old hard drive" as my
> secondary.
> When I open my user file, f:/documents and settings/jazzman, on the old
> hard
> drive, I see 0 bytes and the file says "access is denied".
> How do I gain access to this folder to retrieve the 120GB of information
> directly so I don't have to spend days backing to DVD then transferring?
> Thanks.

You need to seize ownership of the folders on the old disk.
Click Start / Help, then look for "ownership" to see how
it's done.

In news:855D62DC-377A-4496-B98F-A04F552C4EC1@microsoft.com,
Matt <Matt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> I will explain the situation first: my primary drive failed,
> so I replaced
> it. I have formatted and installed XP OS and drivers so I
> can use my
> computer. Now, I wish to recover all of my user-data still
> present on the
> original drive (which used to be my OS hard drive). Right
> now, I have my new
> OS hard drive as my bootable drive and the "old hard drive"
> as my secondary.
> When I open my user file, f:/documents and settings/jazzman,
> on the old hard
> drive, I see 0 bytes and the file says "access is denied".
> How do I gain access to this folder to retrieve the 120GB of
> information
> directly so I don't have to spend days backing to DVD then
> transferring?
> Thanks.

You need to disable Simple File Sharing and take ownership of
the files. Take a look at these articles for more info:

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

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

Note: If you are running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, you
must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an
account that has Administrative rights to have access to the
Security tab. To start in Safe Mode, reboot your computer and
start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything displayed
on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup
Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow keys on your
keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter.

Good luck

Nepatsfan