Recovering files from Windows install

I am in the process of fixing an eMachies comupter for a friend. The PSU fried itself, which in turn took out the motherboard, and I replaced both parts. There are files on the hard drive that he wants intact, and this is where I need some assistance. I plugged the hard drive into my main computer, hoping that I could just straight copy the files over. Unfortunately, the files are located in the My Documents folder under his user profile, and I cant access them from my computer. I attempted to boot the old Windows partition with the new hardware, but it failed as I expected it would. Is there a way to either..

1: Run some utility to access his user account, move the files to some other partition, or even burn the files to a CD/DVD?

2: Intall the new drivers over the old drivers, even though the drive wont boot by itself?

Knoppix Live CD!!!!!

for the user directory?

what version of windows? that will help us in getting you to the my documents directory, as it is saved in a differing spot depending on Win 9x or 2k/XP.

Assuming the OS is XP... is it the Home or Pro version? As long as you're logged on as Administrator, or an account which has administrative priveleges, regardless of whether the files and folders are on the root volume or a different drive / partition... you can access the data, but you first need to take ownership. Next make sure "Use simple file sharing" is unchecked, under "My Computer" | Tools | Folder Options | "View" tab | Advanced settings.

Right-click the folder you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties. Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears). Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab. In the Name list, click your user name, Administrator if you're logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, click to select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box...and click OK. The following message will appear:

"You do not have permission to read the contents of directory. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control? All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes." Click Yes, click OK...and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

If the OS is XP Home, you'll need to boot to Safe Mode and logon as Administrator, or use the cacls.exe tool (located in C:\WINDOWS\system32) from an admin account in normal mode in order to make changes to the NTFS file permissions. To enter Safe Mode, hold down the F8 key just before Windows starts to load (just before your PC finishes POST'ing).

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421