[ashe4358]

My desk top went down, and I got a case to turn my hard drive to and external to pull off my files to my laptop. The problem is that my desktop ran on 2000, and the laptop runs on vista. the hard drive shows the files, yet the files show as empty. when i look at properties on the hard drive, it shows that i have 26,000 files, but i can not get to them. they come up as read only, when i change that it still wont let me read it. i need some help and any ideas that can help me to access those files. Or am i stuck having to fix the desktop. help please.

[Elvandil]

Reveal all hidden files. Try taking ownership of all the files on the drive.

You can add the "Take Ownership" option to your right-click menu with this:

Vista 'Take Ownership" Context Menu

[ashe4358]

I will give it a try. thanks for your help, i will tell you if it works.

[ashe4358]

i did what you said. i still can not look at the files. they are still stuck on read only. on top of that, 10,000 files are not on the hard drive. what happened to them? the process said that the ownership worked, now i can not find where they are at. i am beyond confused.

[Elvandil]

Did you also unhide hidden files in Folder Options?

[ashe4358]

on the hard drive or the lap top?

[Elvandil]

Enabling them on either will show hidden files on both.

[ashe4358]

placing a tick on the box?

[Elvandil]

Yes. Show hidden files and Apply it. If the files are still not visible, try scanning with a file recovery application.

Free recovery applications:

1) Recuva
2) PCI File Recovery
3) Restoration
4) Free Undelete (NTFS only)
5) Softperfect File Recovery
6) ADRC Data Recovery Tools
7) Undelete Plus
8) Data Recovery
9) Recover Files
10) DriveRescue
11) Ultimate Data Recovery
12) Disk Investigator

[ashe4358]

the process that you told me to said it worked. each file came up on command prompt and said sucessful. only i dont know where it went. or do i need to use the revcovery program to find them

[Elvandil]

What process did you follow? If the files were recovered, use a search to find one of them.

[ashe4358]

the original process of the "take ownership" program.

[Elvandil]

Taking ownership does not recover the files. It only helps you get access to them. You still need to find the files and move them to a new location.