Accessing private/protected usr files w/out login?

[FuZioN2k3]

Ok, recently I was having problems with my comp, it was freezing up and acting wierd. Then in the process of rebooting it told me windows wouldnt start because C:/Windows/System32/config/system is missing or corrupt. So I wanted to format that drive, BUT I had files on there that I wanted to backup. I installed windows on a seperate harddrive, put the messed up harddrive with the files I wanted to backup on as a slave. I went to access the files I had in the my documents folder which was under my username and when i created that username i checked the "keep my files private" options, so they couldnt be accessed by anyone not logged on into windows under that name. When i tried to open the user folder it won't let me. So basically I am locked out of windows because its corrupt, and i'm locked out of the files that i need to get off that drive to fix windows.

Is there any way around this?

[Takeshi]

This is frequently encountered but easily fixed (assuming it's not EFS you've used):

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;810881

Your original problem and harder to fix:

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;307545

Edited June 18, 2005 by Takeshi