How do I recover files from XP home?

My friend had XP Home installed and this morning, he got an error saying a file was corrupt or missing and it needed his Windows CD, so he decided to just get Pro. He installed it over Home so he could keep his files. Now, the only profile is a default Administrator one, but he can see the folders of his old profiles in Documents and Settings (strangely, his profile folder only showed up as a couple hundred MB). His HDD still has about the same amount of space taken up, so the files should be on his HDD somewhere, but he can't access the profile folders because of security. Is there a way he can get back his old files?

Is he logging on as the administrator? If not then he needs to.

TUK101 said:

Is he logging on as the administrator? If not then he needs to.

Click to expand...

Yes he is

He has to go into Tools-Folder Option-View and disable "use simple filesharing"
Then right click on the folder he isn't allowed to enter, properties - securityand give his new administrator "full control" on the folder and all of the folders children

Sit tight. I've had the same thing happen to me twice. I have the Msoft knowledge base article saved on my home PC. I will post the link as soon as I get home.

might take a look at the "take ownership" option under advanced security settings, then set yourself to ahve full control over the file and force inheritence on all child objects.

Here you go:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=810881

Thanks for waiting. Let us know if this works.