HD usb connection to laptop

Hello everyone. I've bought an adapter that conects my previous laptop's HD via usb to my new laptop. My new laptop detects the HD without a problem.

THE problem is though that when I open my old HD on my new computer, I can only get into the windows folder and program files folder; it doesn't allow me to get into my "my documents" folder, and that's where my important information finds itself. Since my old HD is mine, I obviously know the password, but it doesn't even give me an option to use it.

I've tried booting my new laptop up using my old HD as primary HD, but that does't work either (it keeps on booting up with the new HD that comes built in it).

I have no idea whatsoever how to take care of this problem. Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.

You can access the My Documents folder for a specific user by going directly to it.

C:\Documents and Settings\Yourusername\My Documents

Do you mean clicking my documents takes you to the new documents folder, or that it doesn't allow you to get into the old documents folder because it 'belongs to another user'?

Even though you may have the same user name, there is a key associated with each user and that key will be different which is why you can't access the files.
You need to log on as administrator. You can then take ownership of the folders, or simply change the permissions on the folders to allow the other "you" to have access.

All I'm trying to say is that I'm trying to connect my HD externally to my new laptop, but I can't get into the "my documents" folder beacause it says "access denied". I need to find a solution for this.

Thanks.

I mean I can't get into the "my documents" folder from the HD I'm connecting externally.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kaydeecaine

All I'm trying to say is that I'm trying to connect my HD externally to my new laptop, but I can't get into the "my documents" folder beacause it says "access denied". I need to find a solution for this.

Thanks.

I mean I can't get into the "my documents" folder from the HD I'm connecting externally.

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Do what Lynx said.

I don't understand what you guys mean. When I connect the old laptop HD externally via USB connection, it opens up the way a flash memory drive would open up, the only problem is that I cannot get into the "my documents" folder within that HD (wich would be my previous "my documents" folder from my old laptop). There's got to be a way to get around it though...

Keep in mind that there's no way to boot up my new laptop using my old HD (as I mentioned when posting)

When you created a user on your original system, a hidden key was associated with that user. File and folder ownerships are linked to the hidden key, not the user name. If you aren't on a windows domain you've only got local sharing so the folder may simply be marked as private, but the result is the same.

If you build a new system and create a new user, even though the user name is the same the hidden key is different. Now, when you move the disk to the new system, the hidden key doesn't match. Consequently the system knows you aren't the original user so it doesn't let you have access.

The way round that is to sign on as Administrator, or a user who has administrator rights. Administrators have complete access to all files and folders, so by using that type of account you can change the owner of the files to be the new user (if you are on a windows domain), mark the folder as no longer being private, or simply move the files to a folder which isn't "owned" by the old user.

Could also run a bootable live CD version of linux to gain access to the files.