Win 2K to Win XP Security Problem (XP Pro SR1)

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Hi Folks,

I have a problem that I hope is simple to solve. I have just upgraded on of my pc’s and the process has involved replacing Mobo, CPU, GFX card etc. One thing I wanted to keep was all my old data on my old hard drive…

Simple!… I thought.

Before killing the old machine I carefully sorted and found all my data and stuck it in my My Documents folder (this was a Win 2K machine so we are talking C:/Documents & Settings/AccountName/My Documents) and then built the new machine with a new drive. Once the new machine was all set, I stuck the old HD in and went at it with Windows Explorer to move all my old data into the new My Documents folder on my new bigger C drive.

However, it appears that there is some sort of security or permissions problem. I can access EVERY folder on my old drive EXCEPT the one I want. When I attempt to open it I get a simple No Access type error and I can go no further.

Help please, I really do need to get into that folder to get a lot of my important data out, and I can’t re-bulid the old machine as many of the parts are now in the new one!

Any ideas?

Thanks.

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I’ll start with the obvious: Can you see the Properties for the old My Documents folder? If so, what’s on the Security settings for the folder?

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Sorry, I should have said that I know a little about these matters and so the first thing I did was look at the Properties. I only have General, Sharing & Customise Tabs. I know there should be a Security tab, but it seems to be missing/hidden?

Any idea how I can get it back?

Cheers

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Log in as the “Administrator” and you should be able to move these files where you want.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Thanks, but no good i’m afraid. On my new machine I haev only 1 user setup and that is the administrator. I have checked my account settings and I am definiety administrator.

Any other thoughts?

Cheers

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What makes you think that the only account you have is yours and it is the “Administrator” account?

Unless you renamed “Administrator” to your account name then you do have more than on account. You may be in the single user mode with Admin permissions. Until you get to the Administrator account you will be fighting this.

Go to “Start| Log-off” and then then you will be in a login screen, you will need to type in Administrator and then the password you gave SetUp for this account when XP was installed. If XP was installed by your OEM, the password is most likely the enter key.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Thanks for the correction, but I am not sure I understand. I installed XP myself and was asked to choose an admin password and then later I was asked to enter my username. I only entered one user name and so XP logs on directly under this account. If I LogOff, I get the Welcome screen with only my Jon Roberts account to choose. There is no option to type in any other username.

That said, I thought that an account setup as “Computer Administrator” would be as much an administrator wether or not the username was actually “administrator”.

Sorry to keep bouncing this back to you all, but I am a little frustrated.

Cheers

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Yes, your computer is in the single user mode. To get to log in screen you will need to go to Control Panel and the User Accounts. You should see a selection about chaing the way users log in, click that link, and then clear the check mark about using the Welcome Screen.

Another way is if you have TweakUI, you can show the Administrator account in the Welcome Screen by selecting the word “Logon” and add a chek to the accounts you want shown in the “Welcome Screen” shown in the new TweakUI display.

By the way, TweakUI will list ALL accounts, and some people have been very supprized as to what accounts were there.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Hi, Jon ~

Please do this:

• Click ‘Start‘ > ‘Control Panel‘ > ‘User Accounts‘ > ‘Change the way users log on or off‘
• Uncheck the box next to ‘Use the Welcome screen‘ and click the ‘Apply‘ button at the bottom
• Click ‘Start‘ > ‘Shut Down‘ and you will then get the small ‘Shut Down Windows‘ window
• From the drop down box, select ‘Log off ‘, click ‘OK‘
• You will now have a small log on window with your user name in it. Simply type over it with ‘Administrator‘ and then enter your password you used when you set XP up. If you installed a retail version of XP Pro yourself, then this may well be the same password you use for your regular user name.[/list]

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I don’t have an answer, but I do have a similar situation… no “Security” tab. How do I get this tab to appear?

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Hi, Paul ~

Open ‘My Documents‘ or ‘Windows Explorer‘, click on ‘Tools‘ on the menubar, select ‘Folder Options…‘, click on the ‘View‘ tab and under ‘Advanced settings:‘, scroll down to ‘Use simple file sharing (Recommended)‘ which should be the last item and uncheck the box next to it, then click ‘Apply‘ and then ‘OK‘.

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Thanks, Bruce… that did it.

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Right on!

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Thanks everyone. It was Bruce’s suggestion to “Open ‘My Documents’ or ‘Windows Explorer’, click on ‘Tools’ on the menubar, select ‘Folder Options…’, click on the ‘View’ tab and under ‘Advanced settings:’, scroll down to ‘Use simple file sharing (Recommended)’ which should be the last item and uncheck the box next to it, then click ‘Apply’ and then ‘OK’.” that actually solved it for me. I tried the logging on as Administrator part on its own first and I still saw no Security tab. But then when I saw the “Simple File Sharing” bit I tried that when logged on as my usual Jon Roberts account and BINGO, there it was. I was then able to change first the Owner, and then the Permissions of the folder and files and all is now well.

Thanks again everyone.

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“see the ‘Administrator’ account”
The Administrator account will NOT be seen unless it was the LAST account used. But you can type in ‘Administrator’ and then the password for that account.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Hi, DaveA ~

You are absolutely correct, the Admin account will in fact not be seen if it was not the last used. I have edited the post to accurately reflect what should be seen.

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Here is any way to do it
Missing Administrator account
Once you have created regular user accounts, the default Administrator account vanishes from the Welcome screen, which you see when the computer starts up. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice at the Welcome screen to retrieve the standard logon dialog. You can log on as Administrator from here. To switch among accounts, just click the Log Off button on the Start menu. You’ll then see the Log Off Windows dialog box. Click the Switch User button, and you’ll be taken to the Welcome screen where you can select and log on to other accounts.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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