My old desktop basicly f**ked up and the HDD was apparently ruined. the computer now works again with a new HDD but the old one is still inside so it now has 2 HDDs. there are some important files on the other hard drive in the user files but they are password protected so i cannot access them as they do not appear in control panel. is there a way to hack the password protected user files without control panel, eg. using cmd. ive been thinking of trying to change the bios so it searches for the operating system in the old HDD which still has it installed but i was wondering if it crashed again would it corrupt the old and new hard drives??? any help i am grateful for.
you need to take ownership of the older drive. these should help http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421 http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=208631&messageID=2152940
you're not messing with the security settings of the computer, just the old hard drive. its a simple procedure that allows the new version of windows to access the data on the old HD and take control of it in order to access the files. it doesn't mess with any security settings on your computer.
no problem. be sure to bookmark the link, its one of those procedures that you don't need very often but whenever you do its good to have.
how else would you go about getting on an old hdd if the comp wont boot with the hdd attached? i installed a new hdd and everything is working now but if the old hdd is attached, the comp wont boot...any ideas on how to get in there and get files off that hdd?
you've got both drives on same data cable & both jumpered as master most likely so won't boot at all. put old drive on secondary ide port & pc will boot off new hd. this is presuming the old hd is not dead or shorted preventing system from booting.
