Can't open any files from previous Vista install

I recently did a clean install of Vista over an existing install. Before
this, I copied all of the files in my \Users folder to a 2nd hard drive. Now
I can't open any of these files. Taking ownership of the files did nothing.
What's the problem?

Thanks

- Bob

"Bob Anderson" <BobAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B1F9CA09-3CF0-4A7E-B51A-A2047F5027B6@microsoft.com...
>I recently did a clean install of Vista over an existing install. Before
> this, I copied all of the files in my \Users folder to a 2nd hard drive.
> Now
> I can't open any of these files. Taking ownership of the files did
> nothing.
> What's the problem?
>
> Thanks
>
> - Bob


Once you take ownership you then have to give yourself full control of the
files. If you've already done this what is the exact error you get when you
try to open a file? What program are you using to open the file?

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca

Try this:
http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesp...ard-drive.aspx

The problem is slightly different, but the solution is basically the same.

---
Your question may already be answered in Windows Vista Security:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047...otectyourwi-20


"Kerry Brown" wrote:

> "Bob Anderson" <BobAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B1F9CA09-3CF0-4A7E-B51A-A2047F5027B6@microsoft.com...
> >I recently did a clean install of Vista over an existing install. Before
> > this, I copied all of the files in my \Users folder to a 2nd hard drive.
> > Now
> > I can't open any of these files. Taking ownership of the files did
> > nothing.
> > What's the problem?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > - Bob
>
>
> Once you take ownership you then have to give yourself full control of the
> files. If you've already done this what is the exact error you get when you
> try to open a file? What program are you using to open the file?
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>
>
>

I get different error messages depending on the file type. When I right-click
a file, then click 'Advanced...' I see that 'Encrypt contents to secure data'
is checked. When I uncheck this, then Ok my way out of the dialog boxes, I
get 'You will need to provide administrator permission to change these
attributes.' When I click 'Continue' I get 'An error occurred applying
attributes to the file: <filename>
Access is denied."

Not sure what to do at this point...



"Kerry Brown" wrote:

> "Bob Anderson" <BobAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B1F9CA09-3CF0-4A7E-B51A-A2047F5027B6@microsoft.com...
> >I recently did a clean install of Vista over an existing install. Before
> > this, I copied all of the files in my \Users folder to a 2nd hard drive.
> > Now
> > I can't open any of these files. Taking ownership of the files did
> > nothing.
> > What's the problem?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > - Bob
>
>
> Once you take ownership you then have to give yourself full control of the
> files. If you've already done this what is the exact error you get when you
> try to open a file? What program are you using to open the file?
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>
>
>

It depends on the file type.

..jpg = "Photo gallery can't open this picture because you do not have
permission to access the file location."

..txt = "Access is denied." (notepad)

..xls = "Excel cannot access '<filename>'. The document may be read-only or
encrypted."

When I right-click any of these files, then click 'Advanced...' I see that
'Encrypt contents to secure data' is checked. Also, all of the files are
listed with green text in folders/Explorer...





"Kerry Brown" wrote:

> "Bob Anderson" <BobAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B1F9CA09-3CF0-4A7E-B51A-A2047F5027B6@microsoft.com...
> >I recently did a clean install of Vista over an existing install. Before
> > this, I copied all of the files in my \Users folder to a 2nd hard drive.
> > Now
> > I can't open any of these files. Taking ownership of the files did
> > nothing.
> > What's the problem?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > - Bob
>
>
> Once you take ownership you then have to give yourself full control of the
> files. If you've already done this what is the exact error you get when you
> try to open a file? What program are you using to open the file?
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>
>
>

"Bob Anderson" <BobAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news8271310-EE2D-48D9-819D-61DFC014F51D@microsoft.com...
>I get different error messages depending on the file type. When I
>right-click
> a file, then click 'Advanced...' I see that 'Encrypt contents to secure
> data'
> is checked. When I uncheck this, then Ok my way out of the dialog boxes, I
> get 'You will need to provide administrator permission to change these
> attributes.' When I click 'Continue' I get 'An error occurred applying
> attributes to the file: <filename>
> Access is denied."
>
> Not sure what to do at this point...
>


If you encrypted the files with EFS and didn't keep a copy of the encryption
certificate or create a recovery certificate you have lost the files. There
is no recovery.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/win....aspx?=&qu=efs

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca

2 Comments:

1. I didn't knowingly encrypt the files. All I did was copy them from one
drive to another.

2. If the OS did this then it's BS to not notify/warn of this state. I now
have ~200 photos that are lost forever.

Not yelling at you, just venting. Thanks for your help.

"Kerry Brown" wrote:

> "Bob Anderson" <BobAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news8271310-EE2D-48D9-819D-61DFC014F51D@microsoft.com...
> >I get different error messages depending on the file type. When I
> >right-click
> > a file, then click 'Advanced...' I see that 'Encrypt contents to secure
> > data'
> > is checked. When I uncheck this, then Ok my way out of the dialog boxes, I
> > get 'You will need to provide administrator permission to change these
> > attributes.' When I click 'Continue' I get 'An error occurred applying
> > attributes to the file: <filename>
> > Access is denied."
> >
> > Not sure what to do at this point...
> >
>
>
> If you encrypted the files with EFS and didn't keep a copy of the encryption
> certificate or create a recovery certificate you have lost the files. There
> is no recovery.
>
> http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/win....aspx?=&qu=efs
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>
>
>

"Bob Anderson" <BobAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:43DE4667-6816-4F19-B5E5-4AA6BF53FD65@microsoft.com...
>2 Comments:
>
> 1. I didn't knowingly encrypt the files. All I did was copy them from one
> drive to another.
>
> 2. If the OS did this then it's BS to not notify/warn of this state. I now
> have ~200 photos that are lost forever.
>
> Not yelling at you, just venting. Thanks for your help.
>


If you didn't encrypt the files knowingly let's try to reproduce the steps
you took and see how it happened. Do you have a dual boot setup? In the
properties of the folder that the files are stored in is encryption enabled?
Did the second drive come from another computer?

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca