How to get around a windows password when dealing with the file system.
June 2, 2006 11:31 AM   Subscribe

How can I copy files over from a second hard drive when the Documents and Settings subfolder is off-limits because of a Windows password?

So I have a laptop hard drive with data I'm trying to salvage for someone. I hooked it up to my machine (using a 2.5" - 3.5" HDD adapter) as a secondary master. So far so good. I can view the files on it, and I can copy most of them. The problem is, trying to copy certain folders gives me the "check to make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use" error - specifically some of the Windows subfolders and her subfolder in "Documents and Settings," the one with all the stuff she wants to salvage. I think the reason for this may be that she has a windows (XP) password, and it locks up those folders if I'm not logged in as her. I tried booting her drive as a primary so I could log in as her but it failed all kinds of ways.

Is there a way to get around the locking up of those folders due to her windows log-in? Is there a way to find out exactly why I'm getting that error in case there's a different reason?
posted by TunnelArmr to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)
 
Try copying the file from the DOS command line - Open the command prompt (Start->Run...-> and type CMD),
type CD to change directory and COPY to copy.
Give that a go.
posted by Dub at 11:49 AM on June 2, 2006


I think this can be solved by claiming ownership of her drive. Navigate to the drive in My Computer and go to Properties.

Go to the Security tab and click the Advanced Button. Click the Owner tab. Choose your current log-in from the list that is titled "Change owner to" and click OK. It should now go through the drive's contents and set your profile as the owner. You should now have complete access to the drive.

Hope this helps!
posted by utsutsu at 12:21 PM on June 2, 2006


dos might work ... if the hard drive is fat32, you can download a live cd for linux and mount the hard drives to copy one to the other ... ntfs is trickier but someone's got a program for that

or if you've got a floppy drive, tom's root and boot disk can work wonders ... you have to know linux to use it, though

the thing is that linux doesn't recognize windows password protected files as being protected, so it can go ahead and copy them
posted by pyramid termite at 12:32 PM on June 2, 2006


Similar to pyramid termite's suggestion, get a Knoppix cd -- it boots in linux, and you'll be able to do anything you want to that drive, without worrying about messing up your windows install.
posted by inigo2 at 1:26 PM on June 2, 2006


Yeah, you want to override permissions on the other drive. utsutu nailed it. I've done that several times and it works fine (I haven't decided if I like or hate that Windows using a UUID to make accounts entirely unique, even if the username and password match... its an interesting concept, but in practice becomes a pain in the ass).
posted by devilsbrigade at 1:33 PM on June 2, 2006


Response by poster: Thanks for the help guys, I'll try out utsutsu's suggestion as soon as I get home!
posted by TunnelArmr at 1:49 PM on June 2, 2006


(Long shot, but...) Also, make sure she didn't encrypt the folder or else you're SOL (as far as I know).
posted by MikeKD at 4:32 PM on June 2, 2006


If you're on XP Home edition, you might have to install this to get the security tab. (I think that works - I haven't had to do this for quite some time).
posted by easyasy3k at 10:47 PM on June 2, 2006


I like this patch to enable the Security tab for XP home; it doesn't install any new Windows components - it makes a modified copy of rshx32.dll (only one byte changed) and re-registers that in place of the original. It can also undo the patch by registering the original DLL again.

XP Home already has all the security-tab UI stuff in it, which is why this works at all. Normally it's only accessible in Safe mode; the patch messes with the test for whether Windows is in Safe mode when a file or folder property sheet is opened.
posted by flabdablet at 7:23 AM on June 3, 2006


By the way, I recently posted a pretty good step-by-step for dealing with a related issue here.
posted by flabdablet at 7:46 AM on June 3, 2006


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