[Susan9700]

wow are you telling that I got something right, something that caused you to use the words "great news"? or are you just slap happy, like me? i am sooooo tired, can barely keep my eyes open, my butt's killing me from sitting here for days on end, lack of sleep, i could go on and on.....but i won't give up until i find all files!!!!

the searching is taking a long time, longer than usual. so i just wanted you to know that.

get this, last nite's searching, searched for 'sydney' got nothing, searched for 'syd' (which is part of sydney), got a ton of stuff, her photos, her music, fav web sites, etc....go figure, what's that all about? i do a search on my computer for 'part' and i get 10,000 items with the letters 'part', sydney nothing, syd tons! oiy vay!

i'm beginning to think that because only her name/files are password protected is the reason i can't access her file....do we have a microsoft article on that one? not saying the eyes can actually read it, but i'll attempt.

her b/f's (jesse) does not have a password and i found all of his data, the only reason i found her music and pictures is because it was under 'shared documents' since they both use the same camera and listen to same music.

i'll be here, doing my searching, so far nothing on *.doc....just Word Templates and she has a lot of documents, i did get some specific names like you asked and i can't access them either...denied (password thing again?)

thanks.

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You're doing great...look at all you've learned in the last few days...

You might try recovering the files from the Safe Mode Administrator account...again using the search function. Password protected files can be tricky, but they can usually be recovered. If for some reason we don't end up finding them using your machine, we'll see if we can do enough of a repair to get her machine running and get them that way...using her password. There's a possibility of damaging some files doing it that way. but I guess getting most of them back would be a blessing at this point.

I've got to work for a while longer this afternoon, but will be back on a little later.

[wannabe1]

You're doing great...look at all you've learned in the last few days...

You might try recovering the files from the Safe Mode Administrator account...again using the search function. Password protected files can be tricky, but they can usually be recovered. If for some reason we don't end up finding them using your machine, we'll see if we can do enough of a repair to get her machine running and get them that way...using her password. There's a possibility of damaging some files doing it that way. but I guess getting most of them back would be a blessing at this point.

I've got to work for a while longer this afternoon, but will be back on a little later.

[Susan9700]

oh gosh, i didn't know you were helping me from work, now i feel bad

i have plenty to do to keep me busy, i think i'm going to start putting some of the photo files on disks (there are hundreds of them, so that should keep me busy for a while.

thanks again.

[wannabe1]

No need to feel bad. I work away from the computer, so I can't help much while I'm working. I'll often pop in at lunch to check on things...

Get what files you can saved to cd.

When you are ready to start searching again, I'd like to see if you can find a file for me on the E: drive. Do a files and folders search for boot.ini If you find it, right click on it and choose "Open". A notepad window should open. Copy the contents of that window and paste it to a reply here for me.

[Susan9700]

hi wannbe1,

i'm sorry, i felt like i was getting sick and bam, i'm sick, i think i have the flu...got up from computer yesterday, took 2 benadryls and woke up at 3:32am!!! i feel awful.

files i copied, where those that are in the shared documents folder (not password protected), such as pictures and music...but i only got 2 cds done before i got sick/passed out!

while poking around her drive, i found lots of old temp internet files, found one for Toshiba, so i clicked on it and got a # and called them. somehow managed to get in a free technical call. explained all, he said because my daughter set up her nane (folder Dede) with a password, it's password protected and i can't get at it, however, i could take it to a Toshiba service center and they may have a way of getting at it. that's why when i try to open her file, i get that error message "denied access, blah, blah".

now, i just did the boot.ini search. there's a boot.ini.backup, located in E:\WINDOWS\pss, 1KB, BACKUP File, 3/25/2005....it's in blue font (the same blue as an internet link). there are lots of files that come up blue, but most come up black...what does that mean?

it's icon it one of those unknow files type that looks like a "page with red and dark blue dots on it". i could not open it by double click, got window that says "windows cannot open this file. windows need to know what program created it. windows can go online to look it up automatically or you can manually select from a list of programs on your computer." when i choose go online to look up, was brought here to Microsof site: http://shell.windows...sp?Ext=backupto where it says it does not recognized the file application.

then i right mouse clicked and before the OPEN command, there is "Open Containing Folder" and it opened. there were 3 files in the folder called 'pss' with same icon called boot.ini.backup BACKUP FILE, 1KB, systems.ini.backup, BACKUP FILE, 1KB, and win.ini.backup, BACKUP FILE, 1KB...none of which will open.

have you figured out how to open the "dede" file with the password on it?

again, sorry for leaving you hanging, but i feel like crap...i should be here for an hour or so (late, i need rest) if you're around, otherwise hopefully i'll feel better tomorrow and we can get this thing done.

susan

[wannabe1]

Try opening the boot.ini in notepad. Right click the file, point to "Open With...", and choose "Notepad".

Taking ownership of the file didn't allow you to move it? Or is it you just can't open it?

Get some rest and finish copying files. I'll look into getting your daughter's files back...if Toshiba can do it, we should be able to, as well.

Hope you get feeling better...

[Susan9700]

the 'open with' command is not an option. not on the list.

[wannabe1]

Ok....let's go find it.

From My Computer, righ click on the E: drive icon and choose "Explore".

In the Explorer window, click "Tools" on the toolbar and click "Folder Options".

In the Folder Options window, click on the "View" tab. In the box, tick the button next to "Show hidden files and folders". Click "Apply" then "Ok". See if you can spot the boot.ini file, right click it (if you find it), point to "Open With..." (it should be an option with the correct file), and choose "Notepad".

Paste the contents here for me.

[Susan9700]

what folder would the boot.ini file be in? i have access to alot of folders.

[wannabe1]

It should be in the folder you are in...E:

[wannabe1]

Been playing with files a bit and found a way to get the backup to open.

Go back to the boot.ini.backup file you found, right click on it, and choose "Copy". Then open your My Documents folder...paste the file there. Right click the file in My Documents and choose "Rename". Type boot.ini in the name box and click a clear area to set the change. Right click the file once again and click "Open With... In the resulting window, choose "Notepad" and click "Ok".

Copy/ Paste that information here....

[Susan9700]

also, i had already set the search to advance settings to find hidden files and folders.

here's what i'm thinking, tell me if i'm wrong...

just for the heck of it, i went searchig around my computer, i, too, am the administrator and have a password. you can't get on the computer without my permission because that's where [/b]ALL THE FILES ARE HELD, UNDER MY NAME[b].

now, my daughter is also the administrator of her computer, her name also password protected, so no matter how many scans we do, it just still skips right over that "dede" foler because it's password protected and that's where all her files are, including this boot.ini. it won't allow us to access that file at all.

i'm thinking if there's a way to get into that file, then we'll find what we are looking for.

now that i'm done typing, the same results came up for another 'boot.ini' search.

now what?

plz tell me if i'm wrong in my thinking too.

[Susan9700]

"It should be in the folder you are in...E:" E is not a folder, it's a whole new drive with lots of folders in it.


"Go back to the boot.ini.backup file you found, right click on it, and choose "Copy". Then open your My Documents folder...paste the file there. Right click the file in My Documents and choose "Rename". Type boot.ini in the name box and click a clear area to set the change. Right click the file once again and click "Open With... In the resulting window, choose "Notepad" and click "Ok"."...one step ahead of you, tried this already, it didn't work.

[Susan9700]

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect



pardon, the post that said nothing...remember i'm working sick here!

[Susan9700]

is that the info you wanted from the boot.ini file? (which by the way, looks like the info i saw when in BIOS)

shall i wait or is this something that is going to take some time or research....should i go to bed and meet up with you tomorrow?

thanks again.

susan