# Solved: Can't access Documents & Settings Folder



## bonniew88 (Dec 1, 2009)

I'm new to windows 7 and having a hard time navigating the file structure. When I try to open documents and settings, access is denied. Under libraries-documents there is a folder named My Videos.....access is denied to that one as well. How do I get access. I'm the only user and an administrator. Why can't I see what's in these folders?  Thanks.


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## Phantom010 (Mar 9, 2009)

Try *disabling the UAC*.

*How to take ownership of files and folders in Windows 7*

Or, *Unlocker*.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

In Windows Vista and 7 Documents and Settings and other "legacy folders" are Junction points, included only so that older applications can find the equivalent Vista/7 folders.

As an example XP's C:\Documents and Settings is now C:\Users, but a whole lot of applications are going to be looking for Documents and Settings.


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## bonniew88 (Dec 1, 2009)

Thank you Phantom.....it worked like a charm. No more of those annoying 'can't access' messages.


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## Phantom010 (Mar 9, 2009)

You're welcome!


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## bonniew88 (Dec 1, 2009)

I spoke too soon. I thought I had taken ownership of my folders but when I tried to open My Videos, I was locked out. I did the ownership sequence again and I am the owner of the file but still no access. So I disabled UAC and got access only to find an empty folder. All of my mpgs and avi files are missing. 
Can these files be restored? Are they hidden? I'm heartsick.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Are you saying that in the Videos library one of the locations is "My Videos" (C:\Users\<account>\Videos) and you can't get into it?

Or are you still fiddling with the "My Videos" Junction point in the Documents library?


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## bonniew88 (Dec 1, 2009)

My old pc had a small hard drive so I stored all my videos on a very large external drive. My new pc has a TB hard drive so I decided to move them to My Documents so Carbonite and Roll Back would be able to replace them in case a calamity should occur. Last night, I moved all the files to Users/Bonnie/My Documents/My Videos. I then did a quick reformat of the external drive and backed up Users/Bonnie/My Documents to the external drive as another safety measure. Later, when I checked, the screen showed a message that it was unable to copy My Videos. I tried to open the My Videos folder in Users/Bonnie/My Documents and it was locked again. I unlocked it and found it empty. I ran a search for all mpg and avi files and they're not shown. I'm hoping that Windows 7 has them in a hidden folder somewhere. The alternative is that I messed up big time. Thank you for trying to assist me.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

This is now marked "Solved." Is it? I hope so, 'cause unless your search wasn't looking everywhere about the only hope is that a data recovery program such as Recuva will find at least some on the external drive.

I really don't know what happens when you "unlock" those Junction points and try to use them as regular folders. The "proper" place for videos in Windows 7 (for account "Bonnie") is C:\Users\Bonnie\Videos.


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## bonniew88 (Dec 1, 2009)

That's my problem....I was treating windows 7 like windows xp. I copied the contents of XPs My Videos to Windows 7 My Videos and they got lost along the way. Thank you for responding.


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## bonniew88 (Dec 1, 2009)

Thank you for suggesting Recuva.....I went to the website and got shifted to File Scavenger which rang a bell - I bought that program a year ago and forgot about it. It was able to recover many of my lost files. I feel so much better now.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Glad you were able to get most of your data back. 

I hope this doesn't sound too much like lecturing .... You should be more of a skeptic, like me. *Don't* *move *important files. *Copy *them. Then *test *(samples, not every file) to make sure the copies are OK. Then *delete *the originals. A little extra work most times, but saves a lot of grief when something goes haywire.  And also, try to never get in the position of having only one copy of important data, even for just a moment. Make two copies your minimum, and strive for at least three copies.


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## bonniew88 (Dec 1, 2009)

I appreciate the advice. I was using three external drives to store my music and videos but since carbonite and roll back don't backup external drives, I decided to move the files to my pc's hard drive so they'd be protected. I thought I had it right but I got lost in windows 7's file system. Little by little, I'm learning my way around. An ounce (or two) of prevention is my motto from here on. I'm so grateful for this forum. Thank you.


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