Huge Harddrive Problem

[mrlayance]

I was messing around with my computer yesturday and all of a sudden my computer would not restart. I have a western digital drive and when I boot up the name of the drive is WD$ksajdljaljdsakdj (Not Exactly, I am sure you get the idea). So I took the drive out and placed it in this computer. I did a CHKDSK and all that stuff, it works fine. EXCEPT, I can't get into the My Documents folder. Says that "Access Is Denied." I am using XP with a NTFS file system. Has anyone had this type of problem before?

Thanks

 

[Zugzwang152]

NTFS will encrypt data so that it is only recoverable by normal means by entering your Administrator password, which was set when you installed Windows 2000/XP the first time. What you need to do is go to WD's website, and download their drive testing utility, which will usually come in the form of a bootable floppy. Run that, it will detect any physical problems. And with that info, you can move on to your vendor or WD itself for an RMA.

 

[mrlayance]

What if I created a account on this system with the dame properties? For some reason the the WD testing utility will not work? Does not see the drive.

 

[AndrewNF]

Windows 2000/XP is smart enough to know that accounts with the same name aren't the same.
You can get the documents by taking "ownership" of them under an administrator account. Make sure simple file sharing is turned off, by unchecking the appropriate checkbox (Tools->folder options->view->advanced settings->use simple file sharing).
You can right-click on the My Documents folder then, choose properties. Select the Security tab, and then Advanced. Choose the Owner tab, and then change it to your current login. Click okay through everything, until you're back at the My Documents folder. Now you need to give yourself Permissions to the folder, so right click, choose properties and security, and add your username to the list, and give yourself full control.

Hopefully I didn't miss out an important step there.

 

[mrlayance]

Thank You Very MUCH!
You are a life saver!

 

[AndrewNF]

Glad to help.