Where are my files?

My computer just broke down but I had a second one on hand that a friends sold to me. To my astonishment this computer is faster than my old one so it’s all good.

The only problem is that I can’t seem to access files on the old harddrive that I plugged into my computer (There was already a harddrive on the old on so mine is the second one). I can see most of them but the ones that were on my desktop are gone :astonished:

Anyone know why or how to fix this?

care to specify what OS you are using?
if using xp, just look into oldhdd:/Documents and Setting/User/Desktop and you will find them

There are a lot of problems that could be causing this. I don’t mean to be rude but “where are my files” just isn’t a clear enough picture of what the real problem is.

Did you put your old hard drive into the new computer?
did you reinstall the operating system?

If you reinstalled the operating system and you formatted your hard drive, you’re basically screwed. There are ways of getting your files back which can be very tedious, and not really worth if it you don’t care about them.

if you reinstalled the operating system but did not format, then your files will be in another operating system.

usually the path for windows is just C:\Windows, but if you have multiple installations, and depending on which OS it is it might be C:\Winnt, or if you have a different partition on your hard drive it might be D:\Windows, etc etc.

My point it, your files could be a lot of places. But I am guessing that right now they are not in the right place.

[quote=“Lo Bo To”]My computer just broke down but I had a second one on hand that a friends sold to me. To my astonishment this computer is faster than my old one so it’s all good.

The only problem is that I can’t seem to access files on the old harddrive that I plugged into my computer (There was already a harddrive on the old on so mine is the second one). I can see most of them but the ones that were on my desktop are gone :astonished: [/quote]
If the files were not on your desktop but shortcuts you can recreate them by right-clicking on the desktop, then select New - Shortcut and browse to the location of the file.
If they were files they should be stored in C:\Documents and Settings[i]username[/i]\Desktop (probably it’s not C: anymore if the other harddisk is now the 2nd one).

Sure your old desktop and your new desktop are not the same … different HDD and other OS … as said before you need to go to your old HDD and follow the instructions given … and as another stated, some of the ‘files’ on your old HDD are only links … but not all of them if you put some files on your desktop

… programs installed on your ol’ HDD will not run on the new HDD/OS, you’ll need to reinstall them …

BTW, before I conclude … it depends what HDD you put as primary and as slave … the primary will basically start the installed OS … you can start your own old OS when you put your HDD as primary … all this goes for IDE HDD, I don’t know about SATA HDD, didn’t dig into that yet

I’ll be more specific.

I put my old drive in my new computer.

I am using the operating system from the old computer (XP)

When I go into Documents and Settings and click on my user name it says “Access Denied”

[quote=“Lo Bo To”]I’ll be more specific.

I put my old drive in my new computer.

I am using the operating system from the old computer (XP)

When I go into Documents and Settings and click on my user name it says “Access Denied”[/quote]

So you’re logged in as a new user now, right? Does your new user name have admin rights?

How about logging out (Start > Shut Down > Log out CURRENTUSERNAME), then in as your old user name?

[quote=“irishstu”][quote=“Lo Bo To”]I’ll be more specific.

I put my old drive in my new computer.

I am using the operating system from the old computer (XP)

When I go into Documents and Settings and click on my user name it says “Access Denied”[/quote]

So you’re logged in as a new user now, right? Does your new user name have admin rights?

How about logging out (Start > Shut Down > Log out CURRENTUSERNAME), then in as your old user name?[/quote]

That doesn’t work because I am using the other HD’s operating system

How many HDD’s are in the computer?

read my previous post and tell me if it’s like that …

If you moved your HDD to the ‘new’ computer and left the old HDD than you better change the jumpers of the drives to master and slave … master, your own HDD … slave, the HDD from your friends computer.

Or, if you have connected to the two IDE connectores see that your HDD is on the primary IDE and your friends HDD on the secondary IDE … i.e. IDE0 and IDE1

[quote=“Lo Bo To”][quote=“irishstu”][quote=“Lo Bo To”]I’ll be more specific.

I put my old drive in my new computer.

I am using the operating system from the old computer (XP)

When I go into Documents and Settings and click on my user name it says “Access Denied”[/quote]

So you’re logged in as a new user now, right? Does your new user name have admin rights?

How about logging out (Start > Shut Down > Log out CURRENTUSERNAME), then in as your old user name?[/quote]

That doesn’t work because I am using the other HD’s operating system[/quote]

Man, you have quite an ambiguous way of writing, you know that? :stuck_out_tongue:

OK, lemme think about it…

Do you have admin rights?
Have you tried creating a new user with the same username and password as your old account, then trying to access those files?

This might help you, btw:
softwaretipsandtricks.com/fo … drive.html

[quote=“irishstu”]This might help you, btw:
softwaretipsandtricks.com/fo … drive.html[/quote]

That took care of it. I had to take ownership of the drive.

Thanks irishstu :bravo: