Member Avatar for Phaelax

Friend's Dell Dimension 4600 (piece of over-priced junk) what to sh*t and so now I'm trying to fix it. The recovery discs that Dell provides only work within Windows. (defeats the purpose if you ask me) On bootup, it gives me an error about accessing the System folder, on safe mode as well. I'm trying to back up her files before I kick the thing clean. I hooked up the hdd and couldn't access her name. (her documents and settings junk). I'm currently attempting to take ownership of the folder, but I keep getting this error on a lot of files. Also, accessing the drive is very slow. So far, I've recovered 2 of her files, but the rest are being a pain. I'm sure the files are just fine and this is merely a stupid MS software issue. Any suggestions on how I can recover the other files?

Click for picture of error:

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Priority: protect the data before you try fixes that write to the drive. described a non-booting XP disk and permission problems; is right that a repair install can restore system files, but do that only after extracting everything you need or cloning the disk.

If the goal is file recovery, these steps work reliably and are safe for most users:

  • Attach the drive to another machine (use a USB-SATA/IDE adapter or install as a secondary drive). Copy files from a different OS so you avoid the broken install trying to enforce ACLs.
  • If Windows still blocks you, boot a Linux live USB (Ubuntu/SystemRescue). Linux will let you read NTFS files without Windows ownership rules (note: EFS-encrypted files still need the original keys).
  • If the drive is slow, noisy, or has bad sectors, make a read-only clone first with ddrescue and work from the image. Do not run chkdsk or any repair that writes to the source until a clone exists.

Example ddrescue usage (clone only; replace device/path names to match your system):

ddrescue -f -n /dev/sdb /mnt/backup/xp_disk.img /mnt/backup/drive.log

If you prefer doing the copy on a Windows host, take ownership and grant full rights from an elevated command prompt on the host (modern Windows):

takeown /f "D:\Documents and Settings\Username" /r /d y
icacls "D:\Documents and Settings\Username" /grant Administrators:F /t

About the boot error: when XP complains about a missing/corrupt "SYSTEM" it usually means the SYSTEM registry hive is damaged. A repair install or restoring the hive from C:\Windows\Repair (or a shadow copy) can fix that — but again, only after the data is safely backed up.

Tools to consider: ddrescue, SystemRescue or Ubuntu live media, TestDisk/PhotoRec for file carving, and CrystalDiskInfo/smartctl for SMART checks. If the data is critical and the disk shows hardware failure, professional recovery is the safest route.

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Member Avatar for MartyMcFly

One mans security is another man's pain in the .....

Unless by an extremely dogdy method you wont be able to access any folder that by default restricts null sesions. for example profiles can only be access via system admin or the profile holder.

What about repairing the current version long enough to get access to those folders. Have you tried Windows Repair, Recovery or Last known good config?

Member Avatar for Phaelax

I cannot get into XP at all, not even safe mode. It says the file is either missing or corrupt: c:\Windows\System32\something\System

Doesn't give me a specific file, just a folder.

Member Avatar for MartyMcFly

If you used the original XP disk and boot from that. It should give you the opportunity to repair the drive.

That would replace the system32 folder, and should sort any problems with missing files.

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