how to access protected data?

April 19, 2005 2:33 PM

HELP! A laptop died, the drive is fine, I put it in a usb enclosure I have so that I could access the data. The problem is, I can navigate the drive up to the directory I need. At that point I get told I don't have permission. I'm logged in to an XP Pro SP2 box as an admin. The files I need are in the My Documents directory of the administrator account installed on the disk. How do I access them?
posted by Grod to computers & internet (9 comments total)

Boot with a Knoppix CD, use Samba to access that usb drive, and copy the stuff you need off? When I've done this, it has never bothered about Windows XP permissions.
posted by QIbHom at 2:37 PM on April 19, 2005

IIRC all you need to do (assuming you're using XP Pro) is right-click the folder in question, click the Security tab, and give yourself full permissions. On XP Home you can only do this in Safe Mode. After you give yourself the permissions for the folder, you can just waltz right in.
posted by mullingitover at 2:46 PM on April 19, 2005

P.S. you'll need admin rights to do this.
posted by mullingitover at 2:47 PM on April 19, 2005

It's a good thing Windows XP's security, isn't.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:47 PM on April 19, 2005

Bear in mind that when giving yourself permissions, you may need to first Take Ownership of the folder in the Advanced section of the security tab.
posted by j.edwards at 4:03 PM on April 19, 2005

j.edwards is right: you need to take ownership first, and then things will be good.

Unless this is an encrypted folder, in which case you are most likely out of luck.
posted by sbutler at 4:34 PM on April 19, 2005

If it were encrypted (not likely) you could export the key somehow, but I'd guess it would be a lot easier to buy a 2.5" to 3.5" IDE adapter and boot your desktop machine from the laptop drive.
posted by odinsdream at 4:51 PM on April 19, 2005

I'm guessing you have simple file sharing on.

Turn off Simple File Sharing:
Double-click My Computer.
Select Tools > Folder Options > View.
Scroll down to the bottom of the window and deselect the "Use simple file sharing (Recommended)" setting.

Then

1. Right-click the affected project folders and choose the Sharing and Security option.
2. Click the Security tab.
3. Choose "Add."
4. Under "Enter Object Names" type the name of the current user (you cannot add multiple users at once, but you can go back and add other users later.) Press Ok.
5. Back in the Security tab, select "Full Control" under the Add column.
posted by filmgeek at 6:12 PM on April 19, 2005

If I set myself as owner, will it screw everything up when I put it back in the laptop?
posted by Grod at 9:51 PM on April 19, 2005