Question : Problem: Cant read data from a hard disk "access denied"

Dear all,

My laptop crashed (battery died of old age) and doesnt boot but i think the hard disk survived. I have taken out the hdd and placed it into a usb enclosure. I cant boot from it (but thats not the main problem)
The main problem is that i can see all the data on the disk and can access everything but the documents and settings/username, get a message access denied. Why is it so?
Iam running win xp pro

Thank you
Gena

Answer : Problem: Cant read data from a hard disk "access denied"

take ownership of the tree structure as the 'old' machine permissions are not understood by the new one.

from explorer, if xp pro, tools/folderoptions/view and uncheck 'use simple file sharing'

then go to the top level of the old docs & settings and do rclick sharing&security. there u'll see the 'advanced' button. click it and u'll find the 'owner' tab.

use owner tab to 'add' u'r current account and/or u'r current administrator. check the 'replace on subcontainers' checkbox and OK u'r way out.