Windows.old innaccessible

ITNoob

New Member
Messages
5
Hi I'm working on a friends computer who got a virus.

I reinstalled windows on the same HD and it created a file called windows.old which I understand contains the files he needs.

There is about 200gB of the data in there that I can't seem to access. I've used an elevated command prompt to take ownership of the folder but its still not working. Any ideas?

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Hello ITNoob, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Double check to make sure that you changed the owner of the Windows.old folder and it's content to the user name of the account. Next, double check to make sure that you set permissions of the folder to "Allow" the user account "Full control". Afterwards, see if that user is able to access the folder.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...le-folder-drive-registry-key-windows-8-a.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...low-deny-access-users-groups-windows-8-a.html

If you like, the "Take Ownership" context menu below can help you do this faster.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2814-take-ownership-add-context-menu-windows-8-a.html

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hi!Thanks for the reply! I took ownership through an elevated command prompt and have ensured I have the required access. Perhaps I don't really understand the problem.The original OS got a virus so I reinstalled the OS on the same HD. I can see documents and settings in windows.old but when I click it says, "refers to a location that is unavailable. " and a message about how it might have been moved etc. The HD says there is 200gB data there but I can't get access to it!Thanks again for any help guys. Pulling my hair out on this one.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
It may be corrupted from the virus.

You might see if using the free Recuva program may allow you to recover files from it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks Brink ! It does appear that this might be the case. I will try and DL recuva and see if that will get the job done.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Hi again,I'm running a deepscan of recuva as we speak. Looks like this will take a while. However, I did do a preliminary quick scan and it found 500,000 files none of which it could recover? Is that weird?Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Hopefully a deep scan may give you better results, but it doesn't appear that they are going to be recoverable.

Do you have a backup or system image that contained the files that you could recover from instead?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Unfotunately I don't have a backup. It's actually a favor I'm trying to do for a colleague. His kids must have gotten a virus and he had some important files on here.Recuva is at %34 deep scan 2million files found! Nothing is showing up as recoverable yet. Fingers crossed!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Once that finishes, and you've recovered anything you can, try running chkdsk \r from a Elevated Command Prompt. Reply Y when asked if you want to do this at the next boot then reboot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
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