BleepingComputer.com: Can't access files on USB hard drive that came from Vista

Hello everybody. My vista laptop went down and won't boot, it said it was doing a startup recovery but sat there for several hours with the wait bar instead of fixing the startup error. I took out the HDD and hooked it up to a SATA to usb cable. My Windows XP Professional computer recognizes the drive when i plug it in via the usb cable and I can access most of the files on it without a problem. But when I click on Document And Settings, the only folder I care about, I get the message "I:\Document and Settings is not accessible. Access is denied". Please help with anything you can think of. Thank you.

What I have tried:
I read that I should right click on the folder, go to the security tab, and set some settings. There is no security tab on this folder, but there is on every other folder.

This post has been edited by Kronathan: 28 August 2009 - 11:34 AM

You need to take ownership of the folders/files...in order to access them, move them, etc...when you have moved the boot drive from System A to System B as a secondary drive.

It's a builtin safeguard for the install on System A.

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

FWIW: There is also a way to add the Security Tab to XP Home, although you don't really need to in this instance. It comes in handy, IMO.

How Do I See the Security tab in XP Home (Doug Knox) - http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_home_sectab.htm

How To See the Security Tab in XP Home - http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/windo...-Tab-in-XP-Home

Louis

Right click on drive - "explore" or "search"
Problem solved.



I hope!!!