HELP!

[Dah-Henny]

I posted this in the pub, but it's not getting too many looks, so I post here as well.

Lightning ran in on my phone line 2 days ago, toasted my phones and my PC. My Dell had a solid yellow light on, and the only way to make it go off is to unplug the pc. Well, I have a handful of files that are very important to me (2010 tax returns!), and am trying to extract them.
I've taken the HDD and hooked it up to another PC as a second slave drive, fine, I can see the contents, and have access to ALL files except for my documents folder. ACCESS DENIED. I'm not even sure my docs survived the jolt, cause the folder shows zero contents.

Any of you gurus have insight on this issue?

 

[harshness]

You're going to need to change the permissions using CACLS or XCACLS. The working computer doesn't have an account associated with the old drive so you need to modify who the contents are associated with.

You could also try using Explorer to "widen" the permissions to access the files but that's a one-at-a-time process.

 

[Dah-Henny]

Thanks harshness. Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but how do I go about changing permissions thru cacls?

 

[mike123abc]

There should be an option to take ownership of the directory under the permissions area of the folder properties.

 

[Dah-Henny]

No option to take ownership. I'm trying to find a "shooting solution" using cmd CACLS.

 

[diogen]

...I can see the contents, and have access to ALL files except for my documents folder. ACCESS DENIED.

That's by design.
Windows respects another Windows install permissions set on My Documents, even on external drives...
And it will show 0kB size. If you can see the content of other folders, this one is most likely intact as well.

The simplest way to extract the data is mount the drive on a Linux box (it doesn't give a hoot about Windows permissions).

If this can't be done, right click the folder, Properties->Security->Advanced->Owner->Edit (on Windows 7).
Change the ownership and check the box "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects". That should give you access.

Diogen.

EDIT:
1. If the Dell PC is not too old (or of the Precision workstation class), it might have only a dead power supply.
They are getting better at protecting the internals from a PS failure.
2. What Win OS are you using? On the "fried" Dell and now? If Win7, make sure you open the "right" My Documents.
3. You don't login to a AD server, do you?

 

[TheForce]

dahenny- Another option is to get a software package called File Scavenger. It will cost you but it is good for things like hard drives that lose index file and other sector info. File scavenger has saved me many times. It will reconstruct the folder structure too if you need that. The trick is when the drive is discovered defunct, don't try anything with it like add files or delete files as this can mess up its ability to do a flawless recovery. File scavenger doesn't care about permissions and all you need is for the drive to be recognized as electrically present. Doesn't even need to have a drive letter and may be unformatted. The data is still there and File scavenger will rebuild it all. Last I saw you can download a free sample app and test your drive. Let it run and if after a few hours you see the files showing up, you'll need to buy the license to finish and transfer those reconstructed files to another hard drive.

MY boldest reconstruction was a 1Tb drive with 50 TV shows and all associated video and graphics. File scavenger took several days to rebuild it all and the rebuild was 100% perfect. So, depending on your drive size you may want to set this up with a separate computer and just let it work until done. I have an old PC I use for stuff like this.

 

[Dah-Henny]

Thanks Don. I may well do that. The HDD is a 40 gig from a 2002 Dell 8200 running XP pro.

 

[Dah-Henny]

Thanks so much for the replies. I was able to change ownership of the files in SAFE MODE, and now my files are mine again, praise the Lord and pass the tators!