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Can't read old files on Windows XP


triinu
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I repaired the error "...system32/system file missing or corrupt..." following these instructions : http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...Ben-us%3B307545 .

Now I think it reinstalled Windows (to some extent at least) and access to my old files is denied. The old files shouldn't be missing because when I go to My Computer, it shows that the memory is still occupied. (I really hope there is a way to gain access to those files again, but I guess I'm also prepared to deal with the loss if i can't get them back, so, any kind of information on the matter is appreciated...).

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You can try to access your files using different OS.

Linux is a good choice. The following link contains an ISO which you can run from USB flash drive

http://iso.linuxquestions.org/download/22/1819/http/www.ibiblio.org/dsl-4.4.10.iso

If you have no experiences with booting linux tell us.

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You might have lost the permissions to access those folders/files. Right click on them, Properties, Security and make sure your user is present in the list and that it has full access.

Let me know how it works. Cheers.

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you actually followed that guide?

i have years of experience with computers and this guide looks scary...

can you see your old files with explorer (=by going to My Computer)?

It IS scary. And I'm going to try to do it again, because I might have done or entered something wrong...

And going to My Computer through explorer didn't work, but thanks anyway :).

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You might have lost the permissions to access those folders/files. Right click on them, Properties, Security and make sure your user is present in the list and that it has full access.

Let me know how it works. Cheers.

That kind of is the problem, I can't change anything related to that folder. But I'm going to try to do the repair thing again (from the Windows website). Maybe I did something wrong...

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If the folders are inheriting their security descriptors, then you can't change anything. But you can go into the Advanced section of the Security page and uncheck the "Allow inheritable ...". Choose "Copy" when prompted and return to the Security page. Now you should be able to change things. If that solves the problem, then you should alter the security starting from the root of the drive hosting those files.

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Okay, I had to start the computer in safe mode. There I can access the old files and change their owner, but still can't access the files in normal mode. I'm just going to move the files onto another computer while I'm in safe mode, I guess. And after that I'll completely clean up the computer. Maybe then this problem won't happen again... Thank you all for replying though :flowers:

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