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Help NTFS how to....


DumDum

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Hi!

I changed my computer, installed a clean copy of XP on the new HD and put the old HD on this new computer.

The old HD was NTFS, I can see every thing except prtected folders with password. I have the same username and password on the new installation of XP, but it keeps saying access denied to those folders :) ...

I ther any way of accessing them???

Thanks!

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Sorry gamehead200 but as far as I know you can not downconvert from NTFS to FAT32. From FAT to NTFS is ok but it won't work the other way.

@DumDum :

Login as Admin or a user with admin privilegs and open the Explorer. Do a right klick on the folder you want to access and choose properties and on the properties dialogue choose security. Klick the button at the right side ... in the german release it's called "Erweitert" - I think it should be "advanced" in the english release(Don't know how the button in your release is called). In the following dialogue you can take the ownership of the folders and subfolders.

The reason for your trouble is that you made a new install. The users you created on the fresh system have the same name and pass, but the system gave them a different SID (Security ID) so that they are not the same than before...

Koala6

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put it back in the old machine and remove passwords from acounts. on that machine login as administrator account (press CTRL ALT DEL on login screen and hold them for a bit) and try what koala suggested on your old pc instead.

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@GeForce-5 : Don't know if PQ Magic8 lets you do that, sorry.

@DumDum : Hey Guy... move your head up ! When you are a little experienced in NTFS you will do nothing without it. But... I can't understand why it didn't work on your machine. I've tried it here at home and it worked fine. As Administrator you can take the ownership of any files on your system / hd !

Koala6

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Encrypted File System (using NTFS in Windows XP)

One of the best things about Windows XP is the latest version of the NTFS file system. NTFS historically has been superior to the FAT16 and FAT32 file systems that Win9x and WinME used.

One reason why NTFS is better than FAT32 is because NTFS has a strong focus on security which when coupled with WinXP can lock down the contents of your disk. FAT systems didn’t have any security on them.

This article explains the Encrypted File System (EFS) feature of the NTFS system on WindowsXP (a mouthful or what!).

EFS allows you to seamlessly encrypt your data. You save and access this data as you normally would, when it’s written to the disk it’s actually encrypted. Data is encrypted on the fly as you save it. To make use of this feature you have to use WindowsXP and a disk formatted using the NTFS file system.

To make use of EFS you have to make use of “users” on WindowsXP. Each user that uses WindowsXP should have their own user account and it should be password protected. When a user encrypts their data, it is accessible only from their account. Other users have no access to this data as it is encrypted. It’s important to emphases that when Person A is logged in then person A has access to their encrypted data just like they have access to any other file on their system. Therefore when you are away from your system it is vitally important you “lock” your workstation else anyone has access to your data. This is why you should password your account which stops others from logging in and accessing your data. EFS is useless without a password protected account.

xpefs.1.jpgxpefs.2.jpg

System files cannot be encrypted. To encrypt other files (or directories) right click on the icon, select properties, click Advance (see image) and select “Encrypt Contents”. Depending on your settings encrypted files and folders have a different colored text.

That's the easy part

A trap that many fall into is when they re-format their system and re-install WindowsXP whilst having encrypted data on another disk and they didn't back up their "keys". In fact they didn't even know they existed. Suddenly they realize they do not have access to their encrypted data. What do you do? The answer is delete the data as you cannot recover it (unless your administrator makes use of an Recover Agent or there is a hidden back door --spooky--).

Before you format (and has a general backup habit) you should always backup your certificate with your public/private key! Confused? It's simple and is explained in the Windows Help File though it's not mentioned during the encrypting process. XP assigned each user with a self-signed certificate along with a pair of public and private keys. These are required to use EFS. Other users don't have access to your keys thus cannot access your encrypted files. When you format and re-install windows then a new certificate is assigned to your account (which won't work with previously encrypted files). That's why it is vitally important to back up your keys.

It's a simple task to backup your keys. To back up:

Click Start, then click Run and type "mmc"

Microsoft Management Console opens up. Click File, then click "Add/Remove Snap-in..."

Under the "Standalone" tab click ADD

Select Certificates, then click add, then close, then OK.

Double-click Certificates - Current User, double-click Personal, and then double-click Certificates.

Click the certificate that displays the words File Recovery in the Intended Purposes column. Right-click the certificate, point to All Tasks, and then click Export.

Follow the instructions in the Certificate Export Wizard to export the certificate and associated private key to a .pfx file format. Make sure you export your private keys with them, you will be asked to password protect your keys (to verify when importing later on). Save this to a secure floppy disk

Now when you format or if your keys get damaged all you have to do is double click on the exported key, follow the wizard and you should have access to your files.

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Dum Dum, you didn't say if you were running home or pro-the fix is a little different for each. I ran into this problem too when I re-installed (which by the way, is what brought me to this board)

I found the fix, and everything is fine now.

Search the KB#Q308421

Hope that helps you out.

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HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

IN THIS TASK

SUMMARY

How to Take Ownership of a Folder

How to Take Ownership of a File

REFERENCES

SUMMARY

This article describes how to take ownership of a file or folder to which you have been denied access.

If you require access to a file or folder to which you do not have access (permission), you must take ownership of that file or folder, where you replace the security permissions to allow yourself access.

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How to Take Ownership of a Folder

NOTE: You must be logged on to the computer using an account that has administrative privileges. If you are running Windows XP Home Edition, in order to have access to the Security tab, you must first start in Safe Mode and log on with an account that has Administrative rights.

If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must disable Simple File Sharing. By default, Windows XP Professional uses Simple File sharing when not joined to a domain. For additional information about how to do this, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q307874 HOW TO: Disable Simplified Sharing and Password-Protect a Shared Folder in Windows XP

To take ownership of a folder:

Right-click the folder you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.

Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).

Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.

In the Name list, click your user name, Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, click to select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.

Click OK. The following message appears, where folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of:

You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?

All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.

Click Yes.

Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

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How to Take Ownership of a File

NOTE: You must be logged on to the computer using an account that has administrative privileges.

To take ownership of a file, follow these steps:

Right-click the file you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.

Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).

Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.

In the Name list click Administrator, or click the Administrators group, and then click OK.

The Administrator or Administrators group now owns the file. To change the permissions on the files and folders under this folder, continue to step 5.

Click Add.

In the Enter the object names to select (examples) list, type the user or group account to which you want to give access to the file. For example, Administrator.

Click OK.

In the Group or user names list, click the account that you want (for example, Administrator), and then click to select the check boxes of the permissions that you want to assign that user. For example, Full Control [Allow]. When you are finished assigning permissions, click OK.

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Thanks to all of you for your help!!!!

But I will describe how I solved the problem:

I installed Linux(Mandrake 9) on another partition, startup linux and open the NTFS partition on a windown...Guess what...

YES!!! I was able to recover all the files without any password or anything else...like if it was a FAT filesystem with no security at all!!!!

Can U belive this??? NTFS security??? bulls***... that's scary isn't it...

Any comments????

DumDum

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