[wannabe1]

We need to do a little drilling for those files. They're on there, just in an unlikely place.

In the E drive, there should be a folder named "Documents and Settings". Within that folder should be your daughter's user name folder. Within that folder will be another folder named "Desktop"...you should find her files there. If not, we'll do a search for them.

[Advertisements]

"In the E drive, there should be a folder named "Documents and Settings". Within that folder should be your daughter's user name folder. Within that folder will be another folder named "Desktop"...you should find her files there. If not, we'll do a search for them."

all of this is true, however, the folder with her name on it says it has 0 bytes when you hold the cursor over it...when i try to open it, i get an error message that access is denied. her b/f also has a folder and his is 65.8 MB and it holds folders for Cookies, Favorites, Jesse's Doc's and Desktop....would like to save his data too...but it's my daughter's things that are more important at this time.

so, how do we search for them?

susan
ps....i'm eating my dinner and it's 12:30AM, i forgot to eat since yesterday when i got on this computer with you...mind on something else other than food, which in my case, is a good thing :-)

[Susan9700]

"In the E drive, there should be a folder named "Documents and Settings". Within that folder should be your daughter's user name folder. Within that folder will be another folder named "Desktop"...you should find her files there. If not, we'll do a search for them."

all of this is true, however, the folder with her name on it says it has 0 bytes when you hold the cursor over it...when i try to open it, i get an error message that access is denied. her b/f also has a folder and his is 65.8 MB and it holds folders for Cookies, Favorites, Jesse's Doc's and Desktop....would like to save his data too...but it's my daughter's things that are more important at this time.

so, how do we search for them?

susan
ps....i'm eating my dinner and it's 12:30AM, i forgot to eat since yesterday when i got on this computer with you...mind on something else other than food, which in my case, is a good thing :-)

[wannabe1]

Let's take ownership of the folder and see if things change. See this Microsoft Article on how to do this.

To do a file search, we'll need the name of at least one of the files she saved on the desktop.

[wannabe1]

Also check the "Recent" folder...you may find links to the files there that will give us the target address.

[Susan9700]

a file, such as a word document? or a folder name? i'll try calling her again, in the meantime.

thank you so much.

susan

[wannabe1]

The name of a document or the name of a photo...and the filetype (.jpg, .png, .bmp, etc..) would be helpful.

[Susan9700]

it's late for her, she has early morning classes and she's crying and they shut off the cellphone on me (i called 3 times and that would have annoyed her tremdously and since no reaction, hence phone is off)

i would assume that at least one of her word documents would have the word "photo" in it...since she's a phtography major and fashion minor...there's another word "fashion" or maybe "class" for the classes she takes...

now what do i do with this more than likely non-information...

susan

[Susan9700]

it's late for her, she has early morning classes and she's crying and they shut off the cellphone on me (i called 3 times and that would have annoyed her tremdously and since no reaction, hence phone is off)

i would assume that at least one of her word documents would have the word "photo" in it...since she's a phtography major and fashion minor...there's another word "fashion" or maybe "class" for the classes she takes...

now what do i do with this more than likely non-information...

susan

ah ha...i just started reading the microsoft article, how to take ownership...could one of the reasons i can't access her file is because she has a password, and jesse does not?

[wannabe1]

Yes...that's a distinct possibility.

Let's give this a shot and call it a night. Your daughter's data is likely still on the machine and recoverable...we just have to find the files. When you save something on the desktop, what you see on the desktop is simply a link to the file...which is tucked away on the HDD.

Click Start then Search. In the left pane above the mutt are search options. Click the link for "Pictures, music, or videos", then select the "Pictures and Photos" checkbox, and click the link beneath to "Use advanced search options". In the first text box, type .jpg, then select the E: drive from the "Look in" dropdown menu.

Click the arrows to the right of "More advanced options" and select the top three boxes...click Search

The search results will show in the right pane. When you see a likely file turn up there, right click on it and choose "Open folder containing". There's a good chance many of her files will be in the folder that opens.

Searching for documents works the same way, only set the options to search for documents instead of images.

Edited by wannabe1, 07 December 2006 - 12:16 AM.

[Susan9700]

ok, wannbe1, i agree...i think we should call this a night...a long and very useful and very knowlegdeable (sp?) night.

befoe i go to bed, i will do the search, as you recommended and see what happens, because i know she will call me first thing before her 7:30 am class (free phone at college) or from work (also free phones) lol. so i'd like to have some good news for her.

before you go for good, can you tell me how to shut down and save the laptop driver in the box thingy <- now that's one of those knowledgeable things i was talking about! should i follow same advice as my steal of the day or week...which was, close it out on the task bar, then disconnect, so i can shut down my computer and let it sleep tonight as well?

and last but not least, thank you so very very much for putting up with me and my dumb questions (altho i did find the hard drive on my own!) and all your valueable time and knowledge.

goodnight,
susan <- me yawning, not laughing!

[wannabe1]

There should be a small icon in the system tray (by the clock) with a little green arrow...when you mouse over it, it will say "Safely Remove Hardware"...double click on that.

In the window that opens, click on the "Stop" button. In the next dialog box, select the E: drive and click "Ok". Give it a moment to stop (it will tell you) and disconnect the cable from the usb port.

Let me know how the search goes.

You are very welcome for the help...you've done very well with this...finding that HDD and all.

BTW...the only dumb questions are the ones that don't get asked. Questions are the keys that open the door to knowledge.

[Susan9700]

awe, thank you very much, appreciate your kind words.

absolutely no results for sydney(my daugher) or dede(her nickname), but anything you want on her b/f jesse....i think that administrative or owner's password might be the problem...during the search you can see the files it is searching and it zips/skips right over sydney's, yet lingers on jesse's and all others. right? wrong? good guess?

i'll catch up with you in the morning for my 'how to pull apart a computer guts" classes!

once again, thank you.

susan

[wannabe1]

Let's let something run on this...you can do this in the morning.

With the Drive connected via usb. On your desktop, open My Computer and choose right click on the E: drive...choose "Properties". In the Properties" window, click on the "Tools" tab...then click on the "Check Now" button. This will check the drive for errors...not a bad way to kill a little time.

[Susan9700]

hi wannbe1,

i'm back!

the error checking didn't work out, however, i stayed up quite late and did find a lot of files by searching with different words...but i still have not found any Word docs.

should i try searching *.doc? think that would pull anything up?

susan

[wannabe1]

Great news! By all means....yes. Use .doc, .txt, and .rtf