[diamondave73]

i saved all data to an external hd and i have reinstalled vista and the files and stings etc are now on my local disk but i cannot access them, i am worried sick that i have lost everything, please help!!!!

[diamondave73]

*settings not stings

[DaveA]

What error message are you getting when try to access them?

[Rich-M]

It's an ownership issue since you probably used a password on the original files so you need to take ownership of them most likely.
I never used this but is sounds interesting and easy:
http://www.winmatrix.com/forums/inde...howtopic=13157

[diamondave73]

everything seems to be on the local disk but i don't know how to open the files they all say empty?

[Rich-M]

Use what I gave you, that is why I put it there. Because the permissions are for another OS, they say empty.
If you don't want to try what I offerred you, the other way to get the files off would be toboot to a Linux Live-cd, mount the drive and copy and paste the fioles that way as Linux is not bound by Windows permissions...