Cannot access files no matter what!

[bleach8piano]

Hey guys,
So here's the scenario: I had XP installed before. Skipped Vista completely. And then I did a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate. For some reason, it created a windows.old folder. Now, other than taking up a lot of space, this folder didn't cause any problems and I deleted it. 3 days after running Windows 7 smoothly, and reinstalling programs, I noticed the Documents and Settings folder. Now, I know all about how its redirected to "Users" in W7 and I double checked. Basically, my Users/user folder has all my W7 stuff and the Documents and Settings folder has all my files from my Windows XP install. It's taking up around 12 GB of space and I can't open or delete ANY of the files because I keep getting an "Access is denied" message. I've taken ownership, gotten full rights for admin, everything. Nothing seems to work. Someone please help! =(
P.S. There's also some files in there that I kinda need and its tempting to save them but i can't even copy paste. If someone knows a way to SAVE these files and use them, it would be doubly awesome.

 

[logicearth]

No, Document and Settings is not from Windows XP. It is nothing but a junction and always will be. The Document and Settings from Windows XP was place in Windows.old.

 

[MacGyvr]

If you have a windows.old folder, that's not a clean install.

 

[logicearth]

If you have a windows.old folder, that's not a clean install.

Actually it is a clean install. It doesn't do an in-place-upgrade. It doesn't format the drive instead it moves everything from the old system (except files/folders not considered system files [C:\Store for example won't be moved]) in Windows.old. But yes it is a clean install.

 

[bleach8piano]

Oh ok so if it IS just a junction point, how come all my XP files are in there instead of what's actually supposed to be there. If I'm not mistaken, the folder should be filled with hidden files? or at least the Windows 7 stuff. And thanks for confirming that it was a clean install after all. I was afraid something went wrong because of the windows.old folder being created. But yeah, if anyone knows a way to figure this out, please reply. Thanks in advance!

 

[logicearth]

There are no files in there....

 

[bleach8piano]

Yeah thats how it's normally supposed to be. But for me, I see Desktop, Favorites, UserData, WINDOWS, and a bunch of other folders. And when digging deeper, I find out that all these files and settings, every single one of them, are what I had on my computer BEFORE installing Windows 7. They're all from my XP Desktop, My Documents etc. Even just deleting these completely right now would be a great solution because of the pointless space it's taking up.