Recover My Documents folder

[Ripahazi]

Hi,

I am trying to recover my personal files on a separate HD. This HD went bad on me a while ago and I was unable to boot from it any longer. Later on, I decided to connect it to my new computer as a slave drive. I was able to boot up into windows without any problem as long as I didn't boot from it. My OS (win xp) reads it as a separate HD and I was able to explore it and move files around easily.

However, I was unable to open the My Documents folder. If I remember correctly, "E:\Documents and Settings\USER\My Documents" didn't exist. At first I thought that maybe the files were deleted when the HD went bad. But then I remembered that I set a password on the USER account on that system.

I still remember the password. I just want to know if there was any way I could access those files without booting from that HD. Some extra details:


- I still know the password to get into the USER account.

- I don't know exactly what went wrong with the HD in the first place. Maybe virus or corruption. I am unable to boot from it and when I try to, windows tries to run (unsuccessfully) scandisk.

- Both the HD I am using now and the bad HD use windows xp.


Thank you for your help.

 

[BoomerD]

Try the manufacturer's diagnostic tools?

 

[Ripahazi]

You mean the manufacturer of the hard drive? No, I didn't think of that. I'll look into it.

 

[BoomerD]

Seagate has "Seatools," WD has "Data Lifeguard," and IIRC, Hitachi has its own software suite as well.

 

[discerning]

Follow instructions to take ownership of the folder here.

 

[Ripahazi]

Thank you for the responses. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[wsaenotsock]

Also, Some viruses can hide all your files. Make sure you are displaying hidden files in Folder Options.

edit: nevermind if your HD just went bad from hardware failure.

 

[Fardringle]

Take ownership of the User folder and all sub-folders inside of it.