Question How do i unlock an External Hard drive that used to be in a PC.

[Marc Riku]

I used to use my PC but have to disassemble it because i was moving to a new apartment. Because of that, i got myself an external HDD reader, where you basically plug in your HDD, and you could open the files in your laptop for example.

It's all going fine and dandy until it told me that i need permission to open the folder, where if i were to click it, it would just load indefinitely.

My theory is that this was caused by me putting password to access my PC, and now my HDD is still protected by the said password. I know my password of course, but there is no option to input my password, only to open it using the administrator setting of my laptop, which has a different password altogether with my PC. (And maybe different admin? I'm not very knowledgeable with PC stuff)

So while i could access some of the files, i cannot access the files that are in my HDD Users folder, which is where almost of my data are. And since i cant really built my PC back right now, does anyone know how to access the said HDD in my laptop? Do i need to download some application or is there a way to access it.

If there are any questions, i could perhaps clarify.

 

[USAFRet]

The files/folders in the /Users/ folder are tied to the original User account that existed in the old system.

You need to Take Ownership of that data.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3841-add-take-ownership-context-menu-windows-10-a.html

Taking ownership of files and folders on Windows 10

On Windows 10, if you don't have sufficient permissions, you can't take control of certain files and folders, and on this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to take ownership of system files or files and folders for another account where the user is no longer around.

www.windowscentral.com

 

[Marc Riku]

The files/folders in the /Users/ folder are tied to the original User account that existed in the old system.

You need to Take Ownership of that data.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3841-add-take-ownership-context-menu-windows-10-a.html

Taking ownership of files and folders on Windows 10

On Windows 10, if you don't have sufficient permissions, you can't take control of certain files and folders, and on this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to take ownership of system files or files and folders for another account where the user is no longer around.

www.windowscentral.com

So i tried what the website told me to do and tried to take ownership. Now the cmd program seems to be giving me ownership one by one for every single data? Is that what it's supposed to do and am i doing the right thing? If it is, should i just wait till it gives me the permission for all the datas? Because i have hundred of gigabytes of data in my HDD, and it might take a while.

 

[USAFRet]

I've not found a solution to do it en masse.
Yes, it might be a pain.

 

[Marc Riku]

I've not found a solution to do it en masse.
Yes, it might be a pain.

I have around 860 GB of data in my HDD, how long do you think it would take? And after it is done, i should be able to open the folder normally right?

 

[USAFRet]

No idea how long that might take, because I've not had to do it at that level.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

It's not the size of the data, it's the number of individual files that dictates how long as each one has to be tagged with the new permissions. With that much data there's likely 100's of thousands of individual files. It could conceivably take several hours. Especially if the drive is connected via USB.

 

[kerberos_20]

i know about mass permission takeover (since windows XP era), which still works in win10
but dunno if its allowed to post here? few days ago i posted it when somebody wanted wipe old windows from drive, and people were telling him to backup data and format drive as the only solution ....well mine post got deleted so dunno

 

[popatim]

You may have a PM explaining why it was deleted. Check your Toms mail (envelope icon, top right of the window).

 

[Marc Riku]

No idea how long that might take, because I've not had to do it at that level.

So i have leave it for a whole day now, and for some reason there is this file that has been opening for so long called Appdata/Local/SysHashTable

There's just a lot of random gibberish and it has been giving me permission of this since yesterday. Do you know what this is? Is this perhaps a virus or a malware? My little brother is also using the PC back before i moved out, so is this perhaps related?

 

[Marc Riku]

It's not the size of the data, it's the number of individual files that dictates how long as each one has to be tagged with the new permissions. With that much data there's likely 100's of thousands of individual files. It could conceivably take several hours. Especially if the drive is connected via USB.

It's still giving me permission of a data called Syshashtable since yesterday though. Is this perhaps some weird virus or are there just that many files?

 

[Marc Riku]

i know about mass permission takeover (since windows XP era), which still works in win10
but dunno if its allowed to post here? few days ago i posted it when somebody wanted wipe old windows from drive, and people were telling him to backup data and format drive as the only solution ....well mine post got deleted so dunno

If there really is a way, that would be really helpful if you could help! It's taking a whole day already, i leave my laptop on overnight and it is still not finished.

 

[kerberos_20]

ill send u pm

 

[Marc Riku]

ill send u pm

Thanks man, i'll be waiting for your PM.

 

[Ralston18]

Powershell perhaps.

Takeown /?

 

[kerberos_20]

Powershell perhaps.

Takeown /?

thats too slow

 

[fzabkar]

If the folder is given full access, then does this override any individual file restrictions, or do the files need to be processed as well?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Permissions on individual files trump folder permissions so no, simply setting full access on the folder does not override the individual file permissions.

 

[fzabkar]

ISTM that the tenforums registry modification executes the Takeown command to change ownership of each file in the specified directory and all its subdirectories. It then follows this with an Icacls command to add full access rights for the Administrator. Both commands recurse through the subdirectories. Wouldn't it be quicker to use a single Icacls command to grant full access rights to the current user?

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/icacls

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/takeown

If the files were granted administrator permissions in system #1, would the administrator in system #2 inherit those same permissions, or are the two administrators seen as distinct entities?

 

[kerberos_20]

if u like powershell, u can go with this
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Set-Owner-ff4db177