Member Avatar for Member #914825

My old laptop broke a while back and the hard drive was somewhat intact but just wouldn't boot. I now have a new desktop and bought a 2.5 IDE Hard Drive Enclosure so I could get all my info. However my old laptop user account was password protected, so now when I try to get into the folder it says "(Folder Path) is not accessible. Access Denied". I've looked around and found other people with the same problem, however theirs was solved by disabling simple file sharing and then taking ownership of the folder. I unfortunately cannot do this (to my knowledge) because I'm on XP Home Edition and even though it says you can reboot into safe mode and access it from there that didn't work for me either.

So I'm here asking for help. If anyone knows of a fix for this that would be great because I'm out of ideas and google is yielding few results. I have a LOT of music and crap on it and it would be awesome to get it back.

In case there aren't any ways you guys know of to fix this, I have one last idea. I have a reinstallation disc of XP Professional Service Pack 2. I was wondering if it would be possible to take that and replace my XP Home with it because then I could disable simple file sharing and thus take possession of the folder and solve my problem.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

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Dani AI

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Short explanation first: NTFS stores an owner and permissions using Security Identifiers (SIDs), not plain usernames. Moving an NTFS volume to another PC often leaves files owned by SIDs that don’t match any account on the new machine, so Windows shows “Access Denied” even when the data is physically readable. (learn.microsoft.com)

Practical, low-risk route that commonly works on XP Home: boot the host machine into Safe Mode, open the folder’s Properties → Security → Advanced → Owner and set the owner to an Administrator or your current user, checking “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects” so it applies recursively. XP Home hides the Security UI in normal mode (simple file sharing / ForceGuest behavior), but Safe Mode or changing the ForceGuest setting is how the classic security UI becomes available. If the Security tab still won’t appear, attach the disk to a different Windows machine (XP Pro, Vista, 7+) and change ownership there. (seagate.com)

If the goal is just to copy data (no permanent permission fixes), boot a Linux live USB (Ubuntu or similar) and copy files off the drive — Linux ignores Windows ACLs and is a fast way to recover music/photos without wrestling permissions. If the drive shows signs of hardware trouble, image it first instead of writing to it; imaging tools and workflows are standard practice for failing disks. (help.ubuntu.com)

For batch fixes from Windows, Microsoft’s Resource Kit tool SubInACL (or similar utilities) can reset ownership/permissions recursively so you don’t click through thousands of folders. Example patterns (adjust paths and target owner as needed):

subinacl.exe /subdirectories X:\OldProfile\* /setowner=Administrators

For failing media, create a sector image first with GNU ddrescue and work from the image rather than the original disk. Both approaches are well-documented, but use archived installers with caution (SubInACL downloads are legacy). If data is irreplaceable, image immediately and consider a professional recovery lab. (trishtech.com)

Acknowledgement: helpful ideas in the thread — ’s external-boot suggestion, ’s live-USB approach and ’s guide — are all sensible fallbacks; good that was able to take ownership and recover the files.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for khakilang

Since your hard disk is in an enclosure and plug into a USB port. You can boot up by pressing certain key to boot from external device. If it can boot up from USB than the chance of saving your file is very high. All you need to do is to access to a computer that allow you to boot from external device. Hope this help.

Member Avatar for Member #914825

I don't think that is possible because the hard drive started going bad which is why I scrapped the laptop. It quit booting because the hard drive went corrupt in spots where there was OS files so its unbootable to my knowledge.

Member Avatar for khakilang

If the hard disk is of mechanical failure than the chances of recovering is close to impossible. If it is still readable than you may want to try some recovery software.

Member Avatar for Member #914825

The hard drive is definitely still readable. I was looking through and found the folder with all my files in it. The only thing wrong with it is that it can't boot. So does anyone know if I was doing anything wrong when trying the safe mode thing? Or any other ideas?

Member Avatar for anirudh33

hi there,
From what i get do the following:
1. Get a GNU/Linux live cd (ubuntu will be fine)
2. Boot your desktop with it.
3. Connect your laptop hard drive to the system.
4. you will be able to access the files and folders on your laptop's hard drive.

In case you don't have any experience with GNU/Linux let me know, i will explain the process. Its quiet easy :).

Member Avatar for Member #914825

Thanks for trying jak0b but that didn't work :( I still can't see the option to disable simple file sharing and I tried it in normal and Safe mode.

As for the Ubuntu thing I would like to be able to access the hard drive whenever I want through Windows but if nothing else works I might have to use that as a last resort.

Member Avatar for khakilang

If the hard disk is still readable than it would be easy by just re install the Window without formatting the hard disk. Boot up the Window CD and after several screen when you come to EULA just press F8 and choose repair Window. It will delete the old Window and replace with new one without deleting any files.

Member Avatar for Member #914825

Actually I was able to get it working, however, I was not able to disable simple file sharing. Nevertheless I still took ownership of everything and got it all back so thanks jak0b.

Thanks to everyone else who helped.

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