[razrslash]

Alright, I guess the first place to start is at the beginning.

I'm not the most PC-saavy person, but at the same time I'm not PC illiterate either. The problem started whenever my motherboard decided to crap out on me and I had to purchase a new one. This would be the first time I had to purchase a motherboard seperately, so I knew nothing about them. A close friend said that since I was getting a new motherboard, I would have to reformat my harddrive and lose all my information, or get another harddrive to set as the master. (Another friend told me I wouldnt have to reformat just for a motherboard, but I decided to get another hard drive just in case).

Of course I hadnt backed up my files for about a year, so reformatting was out of the question. I got another hard drive and made it my master while having my old one with all the information on it the slave.

Needless to say I dont have any of my original programs, but I do have all my files back: With the exception of my most prized possession, my music folder. Now I thought it was originally a good idea to keep all my music in one place, the folder that Windows automatically gave you entitled My Music.

Well, I can open my Master Drives My Music Folder, which does me no good since nothing is there. Whenever I try to open my Slave Drives 'My Music' folder, it says access is denied. Not only that, but during inspection of the folder it says theres no files within.

First question is, did I lose all of my music? The second is, does a motherboard change require a reformatting of a hard drive, and if not can I just switch the drives and have My Music folder back, in addition to all of my old programs and setups?

I appreciate any and all help. While it is nice to have my computer back, it just isn't the same without all my tunes.

[Elvandil]

You can get your music back by giving yourself ownership of the folders.

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP

The folder may say 0 bytes, but they will show up there, anyway.

XP only needs to be reinstalled if the new board has a different chipset. In that case, a repair installation is usually all that is needed and you keep all your programs and settings.

[stantley]

To get access to the My Music folder you need to take ownership of that folder http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

You should be able to access all the files on the old drive, but you'll have to reinstall all of the programs. Hopefully you either saved some of the install programs or have them on CD. Programs that you got from the internet can be downloaded again and installed.