Cannot access external HDD on other PC after protecting it in Win7

Shivers420 · 11 Jul 2014

I have a freecom external HDD that I use with user level-access protection on a win7 home premium64bit PC that just died completely. I have tried to connect it to both on XP Pro and new Win8.1 laptops but get "F:\ is not accessible access is denied" errors in both. Am I stuffed or is there hope (contents are an extensive music collection and family photos)? I hoped the protection was held within my Win 7 settings but it seems to be on the drive itself?

Anshad Edavana · 11 Jul 2014

Hi

You need to change permission settings or make yourself as the owner of the root folder. Please follow the below steps.

1. Download "Add_Take_Ownership.reg" from https://www.sevenforums.com/attachmen..._ownership.reg

2.Double click on the Reg file and confirm "Yes" to import the setting to Registry. This will add a new item "Take Ownership" in right click context menu.

3. Right click on the drive letter of partition in question and select "Take Ownership".

A CMD window will popup and run the command to set the current user as the owner of all folders, files and sub folders. Wait for it ti finish ( may take sometime depending on the amount of data ). Once it finished, try accessing your files.

4. Remove the context menu item by running https://www.sevenforums.com/attachmen..._ownership.reg

I would recommend reading Take Ownership Shortcut

Shivers420 · 12 Jul 2014

Thank you Anshad, unfortunately this hasn't worked but I was trying to connect with an XP laptop if that makes any difference. Should I expect it to work from the replacement Win7 PC I am getting next week?

Anshad Edavana · 12 Jul 2014

Hi

The reg tweaks are particularity designed for Win7. It may also work for XP but it is not safe to apply a reg tweak which is not tested as compatible. I would recommend manually taking the ownership which will definitely work. Please watch the below video guide.

Take ownership of a folder in Windows XP - YouTube