Recovering data after OS re-install

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

In news:C44F937A-D1D2-4B13-A273-08C6C92CA9FD@microsoft.com,
Ulysses <Ulysses@discussions.microsoft.com> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

> I recently upgraded to XP Pro from the home edition without realising
> it only works on one computer. The grace period ran out and so i
> tried to reinstall my OEM home edition over XP Pro on the same
> partition. I was not able to backup my data before i did this. The
> question i have is am i able to access all my files even though it
> appears to have erased them all. My C drive has the same amount of
> gig used as before so i assume my stuff would have to be somewhere.
> Everything under the C drive appears to be there however everything
> from the 'my documents' folder can't be found (the important stuff)
> So where is it? Under 'documents and settings' my old username is
> still there but i get an 'access denied' message when trying to
> access it and it also says when i hover the mouse over it that the
> folder is empty. so basically seeing as the gigabytes used is the
> same as before the re-install i assume it must be somewhere? is this
> correct? And if so where?

Take ownership of the file in the documents and settings that you're
interested in:

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] 21&sd=tech

Galen
--
Signature changed for a moment of silence.
Rest well Alex and we'll see you on the other side.