[SOLVED] Accessing old HDD in new build?

[JollyJedd]

Hey Guys,

Unfortunately the motherboard on my old PC fried so i had to get a new one along with a new CPU as my old ones were gen 4. My old HDD couldn't be found so i did a fresh windows install on an SSD and then plugged my old hard drive in and its come up, im pretty sure all the files are there as theres like 700gb of data used up. What do i need to do to access my old files? things like old notepad documents etc that i need and old photos. I have looked at the documents on the harddrive and i can't see any of them so assuming they're hiding behind something.

Cheers guys.

 

[SamirD]

You shouldn't have to do anything special as long as the partitions are being read correctly. Really odd that you can't find these unless they're hidden.

 

[JollyJedd]

You shouldn't have to do anything special as long as the partitions are being read correctly. Really odd that you can't find these unless they're hidden.

Managed to find a lot of stuff, it was in 'Users' and then under my name which it wouldn't let me access yesterday but lets me access today, thanks for the help mate.

 

[USAFRet]

Can i do anything if i try to click a file and it says 'You dont currently have permission to access this file'? it says press continue to permanently access it but then does nothing. Im assuming the files im looking for are in the 'User' file under my name.

That falls under "TakeOwnership".

Those folders carry the permissions of the previous user in the old OS. Yes, even if your current user name is the same as before, it is a different NTFS user.

How to Add “Take Ownership” to the Right-Click Menu in Windows Explorer

Taking ownership of files or folders in Windows is not simple. Both the GUI and command line take too many steps. Why not add a simple context menu command that lets you take ownership of any file or folder?

www.howtogeek.com

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3841-add-take-ownership-context-menu-windows-10-a.html

 

[SamirD]

Those folders carry the permissions of the previous user in the old OS. Yes, even if your current user name is the same as before, it is a different NTFS user.

These features can be a pita when you're trying to recover files. I just boot up linux and copy them from there--no stupid stupidity getting in the way then. It's another reason why I try to keep files volumes on fat32--just simpler.

 

[USAFRet]

These features can be a pita when you're trying to recover files. I just boot up linux and copy them from there--no stupid stupidity getting in the way then. It's another reason why I try to keep files volumes on fat32--just simpler.

That's why I generally don't use the built in Libraries.
Folders outside that structure do not have these issues.

 

[SamirD]

That's why I generally don't use the built in Libraries.
Folders outside that structure do not have these issues.

Ah, I see. That explains why I haven't really had this issue with any of our older ntfs drives. Thank you for posting!

 

[USAFRet]

Ah, I see. That explains why I haven't really had this issue with any of our older ntfs drives. Thank you for posting!

One of the reasons for my multiple drives (seen below).
Each has its own purpose. CAD/Photo/Games/etc....each on a different physical drive.

The only downside is if this were a multiuser system, with several user accounts.
If you wanted to keep the data walled off from the others...that's what the Libraries and their permissions are for.

 

[SamirD]

One of the reasons for my multiple drives (seen below).
Each has its own purpose. CAD/Photo/Games/etc....each on a different physical drive.

The only downside is if this were a multiuser system, with several user accounts.
If you wanted to keep the data walled off from the others...that's what the Libraries and their permissions are for.

Generally any user needs access to anything and there's only 2 users now as my parents both passed away in the last 2 years. So our 'flat' setup works well for that.