Password protected folders in windows xp

scoey · 20-09-2003 12:14PM #1

Hi, yesterday my windows xp installation messed up and wouldn't start. So I did what I usually do , reinstall windows. Only this time I didn't wipe the hard drive like I usually do, I simply installed windows again over the old version. Now when I go to C:\Documents and Settings I see that the folder with the files from my old profile is still there, which is great , apart from one problem. I had my profile password protected so when I try to open the folder it says "access is denied". Is there any way for me to open this folder as there are a lot of files there that I want. I still know the password for that profile, there just isn't anywhere (that I know of) to put it in now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

IronMan · 20-09-2003 12:36PM

Ya I had the same issue. You have to boot up in safe mode and grant yourself admin rights for the folder, when accessed just copy the files and paste to a new location.

Here is how I did it
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&Product=winxp

Hope it helps.

Capt'n Midnight · 20-09-2003 12:40PM

An administrator should be able to take ownership of the files.

If you were using encrypted NTFS then you'll probably never get the files again, since my understanding is that the PW is in part based on the random SID generated when NT/2K/XP is installed. I regard that feature in the same way I treat doublespace/drivespace, nice but I'll wait until they get it debugged first...

scoey · 20-09-2003 01:04PM

Yep, that worked great, thanks a lot:D

CivilServant · 20-09-2003 02:46PM

If you encrypt files using NTFS, you need to save the unencryption key otherwise you're f00ked. Encryption works excellent for extremely sensitives files (pron) but make sure you keep the key in a safe place (ie not on the same computer) and you'll be fine.

Password protected folders in windows xp

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