Can't access XP documents from Windows 7

Bare Foot Kid · Jan 16, 2009

Hello Xax.

Not to be argumentative, but it can't be a bug in Windows 7, as it seems that it is localized to your setup (or it could be brought about by your particular setup), as others can access their XP from 7. What needs to be done is to understand what has caused this anomaly. Hopefully others will weigh in with further suggestions.

I would like to see you get it resolved.

Later

Ted

garbanzo · Jan 16, 2009

i can ring in as another user with no problems accessing my xp docs from within 7.

not sure if this will help at all, but my system is as follows:

in xp, my xp partition is C: and my win7 partition is O:
in 7 it's reversed, my xp partition is O: and my win7 partition is C:
i have different account names in xp and win7
i use a 3rd party file manager. i don't think i've ever tried getting to xp files using explorer in win7, but i can try when i get home in a few hours, see how things go...

davehc · Jan 16, 2009

Oh no. That is not what I mean. I don't think Widows is clever enough, on installation, to be cheeky, or pertinent enough to grab all your files and transfer. them. A you know, you cannot access "documents and Settings" in 7 or Vista. What I intended was that, when you try to access the folder from 7, it (accidentally) misunderstands the command and pops up with the user files in 7. Hope I make that clear, I can only just grasp what I am saying myself!

Bare Foot Kid · Jan 16, 2009

Hello Dave.

Yes, I understand you and you make a valid point. Windows 7 is getting confused, so to speak, as to where to look as there so many different places to access in a multi boot.

Later :shock: Ted

Xax · Jan 16, 2009

It does seem unlikely that it's a bug, since I seem to be the only person experiencing it.

It seems to me that there are only so many alternate explanations, however, and I've run through all the ones I (and others here) can think of.

To clarify a bit, I can access my XP drive/partition under Win7, and they are all as they should be, it's just that under Win7, XP's "x:\documents and settings" is showing the files in the Win7 "c:\users" folder instead (despite the path clearly saying "x:\documents and settings").

Just for the sake of completeness, here are how my drives look in both XP and Win7.

Under WinXP:
WinXP partition = c:
Win7 partition = h:

Under Win7
WinXP partition = x:
Win7 partition = c:

It's not the most logical system, but I understand it, so hey.

Xax · Jan 23, 2009

Unable to access all pictures from XP's "My Pictures" folder

I discussed previously that I was unable to access my XP installation's "My Documents" folder in Windows 7. I never did find a solution to that problem, so I booted into XP and moved everything in "My Documents" to c:\mydocs.

I can access c:\mydocs in Windows 7, however only about 3GB of the 25GB of pictures in the "My Pictures" folder are showing. I've gone through the permissions to make sure my account has full authority over the folder, I've taken owership of the folder, and made sure that the ownership of the file is set to Administrators. Still, only those 3GB of pictures are showing.

If I boot back into XP, all 25GB of pictures are there.

2 more things:

In setting some of the security/permissions/ownership settings in both XP and Windows 7, some files report a generic "access denied" error, telling me to make sure the files aren't in use (they're not).

The properties of "My Pictures" indicates that some files are hidden. If I uncheck the hidden box and apply, it seems to apply to the folder and the files in it. But if I re-open the properties, the "hidden" box is again checked.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Xax · Jan 23, 2009

I'm really not sure why my above post was merged into this thread, as it's a completely different issue. I would appreciate it if it was returned to its own thread.

Romulinx2 · Jan 23, 2009

Xax said:
I discussed previously that I was unable to access my XP installation's "My Documents" folder in Windows 7. I never did find a solution to that problem, so I booted into XP and moved everything in "My Documents" to c:\mydocs.

I can access c:\mydocs in Windows 7, however only about 3GB of the 25GB of pictures in the "My Pictures" folder are showing. I've gone through the permissions to make sure my account has full authority over the folder, I've taken owership of the folder, and made sure that the ownership of the file is set to Administrators. Still, only those 3GB of pictures are showing.

If I boot back into XP, all 25GB of pictures are there.

2 more things:

In setting some of the security/permissions/ownership settings in both XP and Windows 7, some files report a generic "access denied" error, telling me to make sure the files aren't in use (they're not).

The properties of "My Pictures" indicates that some files are hidden. If I uncheck the hidden box and apply, it seems to apply to the folder and the files in it. But if I re-open the properties, the "hidden" box is again checked.

Does anyone have any ideas?

You probably have, but did you try adding the folders to the Win 7 library.

Xax · Jan 23, 2009

Romulinx2 said:
You probably have, but did you try adding the folders to the Win 7 library.

Yes, but it's still just showing 3GB.

chrispy70 · Jan 23, 2009

I have the same problem! I have an XP/7 Dual boot 32 bit.

7 thinks that it is installed on the C: when it is really installed on the D:

When I pull up my XP OS it shows both the C: with XP files, and the D: with the 7 files.

Win 7 doesn't show anything having to do with XP. I find that strange because it worked fine until I reinstalled it.

Xax · Jan 23, 2009

It doesn't necessarily sound like this is the same problem (assuming you're referring to the initial problem, and not the completely separate problem that I mentioned a few posts up, which was supposed to be in a separate thread).

Does Win7 show any files from your WinXP installation, such as program files, the windows folder, etc.? Or is it just your WinXP documents that you can't locate?

Drive letters (C: and D

are just letters that the operating systems use to link to the actual drives or partitions. For example, if I boot into WinXP, C: is the partition that XP is installed on, but if I boot into Win7, C: is the partition that Win7 is installed on. That's normal behaviour.

chrispy70 · Jan 23, 2009

No, it shows no signs of XP at all. If I want a file or document from my XP installation I have to log back into XP

limneos · Jan 23, 2009

Hello Chrispy...

I think Windows 7 has hidden your XP partition, as it does most of the times, cause it saves it boot\bcd files there and it wants it hidden.

To un-hide it, while in Windows 7, open Control Panel->All control panel items-Administrative Tools-Computer Management.

Now in computer management navigate on the left to Disk Management.

The you will see your hard disk drives and partitions. You XP partition will be shown without a drive letter. Right click on it, and select "Change drive letters and paths". Press "add" and assign a drive lettet (anyone would be fine, but you would probably want the next in row, e.g. D

. Press OK and you will be able to see your XP partition .

Xax · Jan 23, 2009

Looks like limneos just beat me.

chrispy70 said:
No, it shows no signs of XP at all. If I want a file or document from my XP installation I have to log back into XP

Are you able to view the XP drive/partition at all? If not, I suspect I have the solution. I don't know why it's necessary to do it, but I've had to do it with both Windows 7 installations I've performed on my computer.

Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools. By default, Administrative Tools won't show, so you'll have to enable it via the "Task Bar and Start Menu" control panel. In Administrative Tools, click Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management. From there, you should be able to see your XP drive/partition, and you can assign a drive letter to it.

Microsoft sure loves to make things difficult.

chrispy70 · Jan 23, 2009

thanks it worked!

ComputerMaster · Jan 23, 2009

It's got to do with the desktop.ini file i believe.
Anything by the name of 'My Documents' goes to Windows 7 'My Documents'. It's kind of like a shortcut

Xax · Jan 23, 2009

ComputerMaster said:
It's got to do with the desktop.ini file i believe.
Anything by the name of 'My Documents' goes to Windows 7 'My Documents'. It's kind of like a shortcut

Interesting. But if that were the case, how come I seem to be the only one having the problem? Is there any way to edit the desktop.ini to prevent this?

ComputerMaster · Jan 23, 2009

Xax said:
Interesting. But if that were the case, how come I seem to be the only one having the problem? Is there any way to edit the desktop.ini to prevent this?

Not sure...

When you click the X:\Documents and Settings\<user>\My Documents, does the Address bar show
X:\Documents and Settings\<user>\My Documents
or
C:\Users\<user>\Documents?
if it shows C:\Users\<user>\Documents, simply go to X:\Documents and Settings\<user> then just add \My Documents in the URL bar and see what happens.

Xax · Jan 23, 2009

It actually shows the correct path (x:\documents and settings\user).

ComputerMaster · Jan 23, 2009

Xax said:
It actually shows the correct path (x:\documents and settings\user).

Wierd... I can't think of anything else other than move the files to a 'C:\<new folder name>' while in XP...

Can't access XP documents from Windows 7

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