1. Shut down the computer.
2. Turn the power on, and when the blue HP or Compaq screen appears, press F8 to display the Windows Advanced Options Menu.
3.Use the arrow keys to move up to Safe Mode, and press Enter.
4.Press Enter on Microsoft Windows Whistler Personal or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
5.Click Administrator and enter your password or press Enter.
6.A window will appear to prompt for a confirmation to keep operating in Safe Mode.
7.Click Yes .
8.Click Start and My Computer. Then double-click the main hard drive (C
and Documents and Settings.
9.Right-click the folder name of the user account and click Properties. (This will be a folder that shows up when you are normally logged into Windows. Under My Documents however, Windows shows it as empty and does not allow you at access it.)
10.Click Security .
11.Click Advanced. On the Owner tab (third tab over) click the checkbox to select the Replace owner on the subcontainers and objects option.
12. Click Apply.
13.Click Yes to the security message.
14.Click OK.
15.Click OK again. (You should start to see the files that you are trying to access being transferred)
Restart your computer and access the folder in the normal mode. You should be able to access all the lost documents on your desktop - including pictures, music, movies, documents, internet favorites etc.
This should enable you to get your lost documents back. You may still need to reinstall some lost programmes. Moving your files back to your new desktop may be problematic - however, you should now have recovered all the lost information.