Sometimes, your Windows crashes and stops functioning due to some problem such as a virus, not allowing you access to your computer; and you’re not able to even restore the computer to a previous restore point or to repair the Windows installation. In such circumstances, you may have no option but to reinstall the Windows. After reinstalling the Windows, you find that the Windows has created a new user name for you. If your My Documents folder under the old user name (before reinstallation of Windows) was not protected by making it private, then you may be able to access the documents and files even in your old My Documents folder with the new user name after the reinstallation of Windows. However, the problem arises if your old My Documents folder had been protected by making it private so that no other user could access it, then you’ll not be able to access that now with your new user name after reinstallation of the Windows. Thus, before reinstalling the Windows, if you did not get a chance to copy your important files saved in your protected My Documents folder, then all the files and documents in the old My Documents folder would not be accessible to you under the new user name after the Windows is reinstalled. This is a big setback as most people have the habit of saving their documents under the My Documents folder under the user name. Now, when the user name itself gets changed after reinstalling the Windows, you won’t be able to access your files in that old protected My Documents folder which earlier existed with a different user name. So, how to access those files in the old protected My Documents folder which now shows the “access denied” message?
Fortunately, there is a way out to help you in this difficult situation, and this procedure may work in most cases though you’ll have to try it to see whether it works for you. Here, I am presuming that at the time of reinstalling the Windows, you’ve not reformatted the hard disk since in that case there is no chance of recovering any files. Please don’t follow this procedure if you don’t have at least a reasonable level of expertise in handling security related issues on a computer; instead take help of an expert in following these steps.
So, to access the files in your old protected My Documents folder (which was made private denying access to other users) with new user name after reinstallation of Windows, proceed as under (this procedure is for Windows XP):
(1) Start the computer in Safe Mode. For doing so, when the computer starts, at the initial booting process itself, start pressing F8 key repeatedly. This will ensure that your computer will not boot in a normal manner and will rather give you an opportunity to select the mode in which to start the computer. When your computer asks you for the mode by presenting a menu, select the Safe Mode to start the computer.
(2) Now, login to the computer (in Safe Mode) with your new user name; but it must have the administrator rights to change computer settings. Otherwise, this procedure will not work.
(3) Once the computer has started with your new user name with administrator privileges, start the Windows Explorer and right-click on the My Documents folder of your old user name that existed prior to reinstallation of Windows (this folder is typically under the folder “C:\\Documents and Settings\”). A context menu will appear. Select Properties from this context menu.
(4) Properties dialog box will appear now. On this dialog box, select the Security tab; and on the next screen under the Security tab, click on Advanced button.
(5) Now, the Advanced Security Settings window will open. In this window, click on the Owner tab. On the new screen appearing under Owner tab, locate the section with the heading “Change owner to”. Under this section, you may find list of various user names. Locate your new user name in this list; it must be listed there if it has the administrator privileges. Select your new user name from this list of users. Now, if you also want to access all the sub-folders and files under your old My Documents folder, then put a check-mark in the check box at the bottom of screen which says “Replace owner on sub-containers and objects”. After this, click on the Apply button.
(6) If the Windows asks for your confirmation as to whether you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you full control, then answer Yes / OK to that.
(7) Windows will start processing your request. It may take quite some time depending upon the number of files / folders within your old My Documents folder. After some time, the ownership of the old My Documents folder will change to your new user name and the above processing will stop.
(8) Now you can close the Windows Explorer, and then shut down the computer.
(9) Start the computer again; but this time, start the computer in the Normal mode, i.e., as you normally do every day. Login to the Windows using your new user name.
(10) Now, open the Windows Explorer and go to the old My Documents folder under your old user name. You’ll notice that this folder is now accessible to you (if the above procedure has worked successfully for you, which I hope it should) and that now you don’t get any “access denied” message.
You can now copy files from your old My Documents folder or open those files. That’ it!
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Thanks a million! This thing worked like a charm. I was tired searching for tips & advise on how to restore the protected documents. However the procedure need not be done in safe mode only, I tried it in the normal mode & it worked perfectly fine.
Thanks for you comment. In fact, I have deliberately mentioned “Safe Mode” in the article since depending upon your Windows version and settings, the “Security” tab may not always be visible in the “Normal Mode” of Windows. However, it would always be visible in the “Safe Mode” if you’re logged on with a user name with administrative rights.
Thanks a TONS !! it worked for me too !!
God bless !!