# Access "My Documents" folder from Administrator account **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977 "2009-11-18T00:22:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/1 "2009-11-18T00:22:30Z")
I have a friends computer that has been taken over by a bunch of viruses and Trojans. I can not log into her user account anymore. I am trying to back up what she wants to keep before I wipe the hard drive and reload. I was able to log into the hidden Administrator account, and have backed up everything except her “My Documents” folder. The problem is: When I try to access the “My Documents” folder I keep getting the error “Access Denied”. Her account has a password (which I know), so I’m sure Windows set something up in the permissions. I just don’t know how to change them so I can get in. She’s running Windows XP Media Center Edition Any help would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/2 "2009-11-18T00:28:08Z")
[Take ownership](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421) of the folder first. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/3 "2009-11-18T00:36:23Z")
**yoyodyne** very helpful link, however, there is one problem. According to the link, you have to boot into safe mode to be able to change the permissions, however her computer is so screwed up that it won’t boot into safe mode. When I try I get a BSOD. I’ve tried safe mode, where it won’t boot, and her account has a million popups that I can’t get passed (I tried, and it has disabled the ability to Ctl-Alt-Del). Is there any way that I can get into the My Documents folder? Maybe a command line command? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/4 "2009-11-18T00:56:48Z")
Have you tried it without Safe Mode? ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/5 "2009-11-18T01:00:30Z")
**Reply** , yes, with a regular boot up, the security tab is not there. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/6 "2009-11-18T01:26:06Z")
After some Googling, there’s supposed to be a command-line version called “takeown” that ought to work for XP. It used to be included in the Windows 2000 Resource Kit, but not anymore for some reason. I found it on a third-party site, but **DOWNLOAD/USE AT YOUR OWN RISK** … [http://www.dynawell.com/download/reskit/microsoft/win2000/takeown.zip](http://www.dynawell.com/download/reskit/microsoft/win2000/takeown.zip) ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/7 "2009-11-18T02:22:13Z")
> [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > **yoyodyne** very helpful link, however, there is one problem. According to the link, you have to boot into safe mode to be able to change the permissions, however her computer is so screwed up that it won’t boot into safe mode. When I try I get a BSOD. > > I’ve tried safe mode, where it won’t boot, and her account has a million popups that I can’t get passed (I tried, and it has disabled the ability to Ctl-Alt-Del). Is there any way that I can get into the My Documents folder? Maybe a command line command? Best way to get into a system like this is with a PE disk like bart PE, Active@boot, or the like. This way you can read the file system and copy to an external drive or another partition. It pretty much ignores XP password security. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/8 "2009-11-18T03:35:56Z")
I think this will work: Navigate to c:\program files\internet explorer Right click in iexplore.exe and select run as Enter her account’s credentials, user name and password In the address bar for the resulting IE window, go to c:\documents and settings. Windows will switch IE to a regular explorer window, except it has her credentials loaded instead of yours. Navigate to her My Docs and see if you can access it now. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/9 "2009-11-18T04:06:38Z")
If the above options don’t work, try creating a new user account with the same password as her old user account. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/access-my-documents-folder-from-administrator-account/517977/10 "2009-11-18T04:10:58Z")
Thanks for all the help guys! I got in touch with my brother who knows more then I do with OS’s, he got me to the files by booting into Linux. I got the files I needed. Thank you all for your help. If a mod would like to close, you may.