Question : Problem: How to access folders on 2nd XP hard drive with Administrator/User passwords

I have a question: I need to access files under a certain user name on a hard drive from a 2nd computer which I put into my main computer as a slave drive. Both hard drives are running XP professional. The 2nd hard drive is somewhat corrupted and NOT BOOTABLE so I slaved it to the primary hard drive in my main computer and I can read all the files on the entire hard drive EXCEPT the files from the passworded old user and those are the ones I really need. These are the folders in the directory C:\Documents and Settings\Tania (her name). She has a password on her old user account which I have but adding it to the new drive does not help, still cannot access files. Under the Tania folder are the usual \Desktop, \My Documents\, etc folders which have the files I need to access. Does anyone know how I can access them? They are the only files on the hard drive which I cannot access.

Please help. They are baby pictures which are irreplaceable.

Oh and I ran online viruscan (Trend Micro) and Ad-Aware / Hijack on both drives to make sure it wasn't a virus or spyware causing the problem.

Answer : Problem: How to access folders on 2nd XP hard drive with Administrator/User passwords

Hi,

you could also try using a different OS that ignores NTFS permissions, two optiosn spring to mind -

EBCD (emergency boot cd), its a bootable cd with lots of tools on there are various file tools on there, the CD is easy to make from an ISO file.  here is a link - http://ebcd.pcministry.com/

Alternatively -
Windows PE (windows on a bootable CD) is a good disk for things like this, it will just bypass all permissions and give you access to the files on all local hardrives, you can then just copy the files across to your good hard drive.

you can find Bart's Windows PE disk here - www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
you can also find a full set off instructiosn for Barts PE disk onthis site - http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=5362  
(i have no connection with them, i just happened upon it whilst googling).

good luck with the photos,

simon