Stuck in a loop!

[Labi]

Ken

Have followed your instructions and... voila, a new partition - Asus G: created!!

Is it now a straightforward process to transfer all E: drive data over...?

 

How can I verify the integrity of the HD before reusing it ?

 

Thanks again, Labi.

[KenB]

Hi Labi

 

The simplest way is to do the following:

 

Find E: and right click on it - then click on "Copy"

 

Next open up the new Asus G: by double clicking on it.

Right click on the blank space and select "Paste"

 

This will copy the files and folders from E: to G:

It may be a lengthy process.

 

Let me know how you get on.

 

We can check out the hard-drive after you have a copy of E:

[Labi]

Hi Ken

Sorry, another problem I'm afraid. Each time I attempt to copy E: over to Asus G:

- depending on where the cursor is in relation to Asus G:.... either the "paste"

command is grey - and therefore unavailable or, if the cursor is moved directly

over the "Asus G:" text instead of the blank space to the right, paste is available but - once selected,

Windows stops working temporarily and then returns PC to desktop screensaver page.

 

Remembering the message each time I try to open drive E:......

"E:\ is not accessible - access is denied". I wonder if this is at the root of the problem...?

Is it possible to copy using the CMD system instead - without having to manually

select each time?

Labi.

[KenB]

E:\ is not accessible - access is denied

This could be a "Permissions" problem [ I know we have looked at this before ]

Right-click on E: then, select Properties. Go to the Security tab.

Click on each of the "Users" in turn.

Below will be shown the "Permissions" for each user.

To give one of the users more - click on "Edit"

If you make any changes hit Apply > OK

 

===================

Is it possible to copy using the CMD system instead - without having to manually select each time?

Hopefully :)

Go to command prompt [ use Administrator option ]

 

Type in:

robocopy e:\ g:\ /e /b /copyall /purge /dcopy:dat ...................[ note the spacing]

 

This should copy all files and folders from E: to G:

 

================

 

I have just found some .jpg files on my system that, like some of yours, start with a $.

Some of these I could open [ large file size ] and some [ file size 1K ] were corrupt.

This may help when you come to try opening the saved files.

[Labi]

Ken

Tried to change "permissions" but found it too tricky and have now given up!

 

After trying the Command, I got an error message - see pic below in case it's

of help. I think I spaced it correctly...?

Labi.

[KenB]

Hi Labi

 

I tried the robocopy command and it worked on my machine.

 

Looking at your photo the problem lies with the dcopy:dat

I have just tried this leaving this off and it still works for me.

 

So - try the following:

robocopy e:\ g:\ /e /b /copyall /purge

 

Hopefully this should work for you.

[Labi]

Ken

A quick update.

Since delving into "permissions", now I find I can access drive E: for the first time!

Please see the attached pic. Should I copy specific files selectively, eliminating

the Windows folders from the list, for example...? I still can't copy E: to G: as directed, though....

[KenB]

Now that is progress.

 

Ignore my last post for the time being.

[KenB]

Your files /photos etc will be under "Users"

Click on this then your name.

You should see "Documents" - "Pictures" etc.

 

Can you access these and view any files ?

[Labi]

Ken

Progress indeed! Amazingly, drive E: has retained my files and pictures etc.

Stored in "Users" under my name, uncorrupted photos, documents, PDF's

all seem to be intact!! Thankfully, these are not mixed up with the numerous images

& icons that were evident earlier through the scanning programmes.

 

I still can't get the entire drive E: to copy over to Asus G: - and wonder if Asus G:

needs to be formatted, first...?

I also tried highlighting the list of folders in E: and then selected "copy" but Asus G:

was not on the list of available places to send to, although Data F: did appear!?

 

Apart from rescuing individual folders containing personal 'stuff', can I/should I

try to keep all the other folders/files that appear in the main list on E: drive

....programme files etc..? I would hate to have to reinstall those programmes if

it can be avoided.

 

Thanks VM ! - Labi.

[KenB]

Have followed your instructions and... voila, a new partition - Asus G: created!!

If you did as I suggested your G: partition should be formatted NTFS.

 

drive E: has retained my files and pictures etc.

Stored in "Users" under my name, uncorrupted photos, documents, PDF's

all seem to be intact!!

Brilliant !!

Now you need to back them up to the G: partition.

 

To Test G:

Click on G: it may say "This folder is empty"

Right click in the space > New> Folder

Call it Photos or whatever you like.

 

If you can do this then G: is formatted.

 

Now try this:

Go to E: - Users etc and right click on "Pictures" [ or wherever you found the images - you want the main folder not individual images ]

Then click on "Copy"

Go to G: partition and click on this to open.

Click on "Photos" file to open.

Right click in the free space > select Paste.

Your photos should be copied over.

 

You can do the same with documents - pdfs etc.

You can create a new folder on G: for each as we did with the "Photos" folder.

 

=================

Apart from rescuing individual folders containing personal 'stuff', can I/should I

try to keep all the other folders/files that appear in the main list on E: drive

....programme files etc..?

No - only copy your personal stuff.

Programme files etc are no use to you as you will not be able to reinstall them from G:.

When a piece of software is installed there are fragments of it all over the hard drive - the installation is not held in just one place.

If you do have to re-install the operating system I am afraid that you will lose any installed software.

Edited April 30, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Ken

Nothing I have tried so far will allow me to copy E: or any folder within

- to G: or to the new "photos" folder, I've created.

I have tried going in to 'Properties' on drive E: to allow 'sharing'. Not quite sure if I've done it properly

or if it's even related.....but still no joy.

 

Maybe something else to do with "Permissions", not allowing data to transfer

out of drive E: .....(?)

 

As I said earlier: pics & docs can be viewed, individually. But entire folders such as 'Users'

or sub-folders like 'My Pictures', won't copy to Asus G:

 

So frustrating to be this close to recovering and saving files to Win 7 PC !!

 

Labi.

[KenB]

Hi Labi,

 

Go back to "My Pictures" and right click on it.

Then click Properties > Security.

Click on your name ........Do you have "Full Control"?

If not - Edit > click on your name again and give yourself "Full Control"

 

================

 

Also try ....

Click on My Pictures so that you can view the images.

Click on one to highlight - now hold SHIFT down and keep it held down

Move the screen curser to another photo a few away from the first and click on this.

All of the images in between should be highlighted.

Now hold down CTRL and press C

Go back to the "photos" folder on G: and open the new folder.

Press CTRL + V

The photos you copied should paste into the new folder.

 

=================

 

Please don't make changes without being prompted you may do more harm than good. :)

Please check back to this thread regularly after you reply - I will stay online so that we can get our responses quicker.

[KenB]

You can also try this:

 

Go to command prompt [ Administrator ] again.

Type in the following:

 

robocopy "E:\users\your name\my pictures" "G:\My Pictures" /b /e

 

The "" are needed.

where I have "your name" obviously put in your name as it is shown in the path.

This should copy the contents of My Pictures to G: creating a new folder caller My Pictures in the process.

Edited May 1, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Thanks Ken

- for all your suggestions. Tried the last on your list above: getting the message "The system cannot find the file specified".

 

It looks to me like I'm a 'tick-box' away from being "allowed"

to gain full control over the contents of "Users" folder, which

contains about 41GB of my pics/docs/PDF's. Just can't seem to add myself to the 'Permissions'. (Ditto in respect of 'my pictures' folder, too).

Please see the pics and - if possible - advise re steps & correct syntax to authorise full control. The pics appear in

sequential order. Labi.

[KenB]

Hi Labi,

I can't see from your pics if you have full control or not - sorry. [ I assume that you don't ]

 

getting the message "The system cannot find the file specified".

I did make a late change - I had C: and changed this to E:\users etc - did you use E: ?

 

Go back to "E: > Users > Vincent > My Pictures" and right click on it.

Then click Properties > Security. Click on your name to highlight it.

Mine [ below ] shows that I have Full Control.

 

If you don't - click on Edit

From here you should be able to put a check in the empty boxes - Then Apply > OK

It will do no harm to make sure that Administrators, System and Users have full control too.

Your group/user names are different from mine.

 

 

Do the same for "Vincent" ....... E:\users\Vincent ....... right click on Vincent > Properties > Security

 

=============================

Did you try CTRL +C etc on selected pics ?

Edited May 1, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Ken

Yes, I followed the Command to the letter: see pic below.

 

Control + C/Control + V: like the copy command, this also causes windows to crash each time??

 

A quick online check suggests the "copy/paste" function can sometimes fail. I've tried a couple of fixes

but no joy. Because Windows crashes every time I try to copy/paste, I'm beginning to think this may be

the problem rather than "Permissions" in the Properties box where it seems that in E: drive at least, all boxes are ticked.

 

Online fixes include altering the Registry settings and TBH this looks a little daunting - maybe because of the

occasional assumptions made about the users' expertise level!

Some of the fixes I haven't tried include - uninstalling IE (?)/returning Windows to an earlier setting (?)/uninstalling

the keyboard driver (?) - and, re-jigging the Registry (?)

 

Don't know if any of these pics help at all.....??

Labi.

[Labi]

Ken

A quick update: the folder in drive E: "My pictures" will not allow me to edit the control boxes. This may be why

(even after substituting "photos" for "my Pictures" in the Command you suggested using)

- I couldn't get the folder to copy or transfer.

I would need to go deeper into advanced settings (I think?) to override it and I'm not too sure about

messing around there.

 

As I mentioned before, drive E: Properties window, does have all the Users showing full control etc.

It seems, however,that some/all of the folders inside- are not under my control!

 

Labi.

[KenB]

Hi Labi,

 

even after substituting "photos" for "my Pictures"

My Pictures is the folder in the path E:\users\vincent\my pictures - I assume that it is My Pictures ?

If it is simply "Pictures" then use this.

 

EDIT - I have just checked your post #132 and it looks like it should be just pictures - sorry for the confusion.

Give this a try FIRST before moving to the suggestions below.

 

This really does sound like a privileges problem.

I know we have done this before - but please check this out for me....

 

We need to make sure that you have ownership of E: partition.

Take a look here:

How To Take Ownership of Files or Folders or an Entire Hard Drive

 

Scroll down until you find:

So to do this we must change the ownership of the drive to yourself. Plug in or connect your drive and then locate it via My Computer. Right click on the drive and select Properties which will show the following window:

 

Let me know how you get on.

 

==================

 

Also - is there another Admin user of this Win7 pc ?

Could you log on as him/her and try moving your pics to G: ?

 

==================

Also check G: partition and see if you have ownership of that.

 

==================

 

Try locating a picture in E: > right click and select "Copy"

Now go to the Desktop on C: and right click on an empty space > select Paste.

Does the picture copy to the Desktop?

Edited May 2, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Hi Ken

Robocopy Command still gives the message "The system cannot find the file specified".

 

My conclusion (not to be relied on!) is that Control/Privileges may be at the root of this problem.

Although drive E: (and G:) appear to be under my control, the folders "Users" "vincent" & "My Pictures"

are not! At the moment, when I open 'Properties' in each of those, I cannot simply 'Edit' and get

the tick boxes to cooperate, so will have to look closely at the linked instructions (thank you!) to try to sort out this

hitch and get some consistency with the Permissions.

 

Tried copying one pic to the desktop: Windows immediately crashed when I 'pasted'!! This must surely

be either a malfunction in the Copy/Paste command....or the files are not authorised for copying, somehow

causing the breakdown. Would you agree with this conclusion...?

Will now persevere with the 'Privileges' and advise idc.

Thanks again, Labi.

[Labi]

Ken

Have looked at the link instructions. Finding it less than crystal clear, quite honestly.

(Pics there go from G: to H: without explanation?)

 

Please see a sequence of pics which I hope will shed some light on possible inconsistencies

between drive E: and drive C: on Win7 PC, where, obviously, I'm trying to copy to.

The last pic shows the warning message when I add ticks to all the boxes in Properties window

for C: drive. Should I go ahead and confirm the changes at this point? Maybe then drive C:

will be 'authorised' to receive the folders from drive E: ?? Does this make sense....?

Are the pics helpful/clear enough? First three are all of E: - two with advanced settings opened.

Next two are C: before and after tick boxes filled.

(Looks as though all Users have control over drive G: BTW...)

Labi.

[KenB]

Hi Labi

 

I have a few questions that need answers before we progress any further.

 

1. You mention

folders "Users" "vincent" & "My Pictures"

In an earlier post you confirm the folder as simply Pictures.

Which one is it?

The path is - E:\users\vincent\ ******

 

2. Are you the owner of the Win7 machine with Admin permissions?

 

3. Does the Win7 machine have any other users with Admin status ?

 

4. Is the Win7 machine a laptop?

 

5. Do you have another machine that you can plug the caddy with the problem drive into ?

 

6. I can't see from you pics re. number 4 - are the "Allow" boxes all empty for C: ?

 

7. Can you copy a picture from C: and paste it onto the Desktop of C: ?

 

DO NOT make any changes to C: please.

Edited May 3, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Ken

Sorry this is becoming more complicated than I'd thought possible!

To clarify re "My Pictures": this is the correct folder name in drive E:

The confusion was over the folder name in drive G: which is in fact called "photos" - not "pictures/my pictures".

 

Q. 2 & 3. This is where I'm unsure. Do the pics below help to answer....? My name doesn't appear but

I have used "GINANDSHERRY" as administrators - as you can see. The sequence shows

C: drive - Security window - then with Edit selected to show 'permissions': lastly, "advanced security settings"

 

Q. 4. Win 7 is a laptop.

Q. 5. No other laptop to hand atm. Daughter has one at home if necessary.

Q.6. In the permissions window pic for drive C; the boxes are unticked. Next pic

shows 'ticked' together with the message about continuing.

Q. 7. Good question: NO !! Windows still crashes when I 'paste' !!!

 

When I referred to drive C: in my earlier email, I was assuming that the G: partition

is 'subordinate' to C: drive's permission/privileges settings, as this is where OS is located. Not sure if I'm correct in this....

.or is G: drive completely independent of C: drive settings?

[KenB]

Q. 7. Good question: NO !! Windows still crashes when I 'paste' !!!

There is a problem pasting into C: and the other partitions. :(

 

Try this please:

Switch the Win7 machine off then restart.

Constantly tap F8 about once per second.

You should be taken to Advanced Startup Options

Select Safe Mode.

 

 

The screen will look odd when you boot up - this is normal.

 

Then copy a picture from C: and see if you can paste it onto the C: Desktop.

If you can

See if you can paste it into G:

 

If you can paste into G: we can try something else from here - no need to create a new account unless you want to :)

 

========================

 

Shut down and boot up normally.

 

We can also try creating a new user with Admin privileges.

How to create a new user account in Windows 7 and Windows Vista

 

The tutorial creates a standard user - you need to check the "Administrator" box.

 

Once you have done this shut down again and login as the new user.

See if you can copy a picture from C: and paste it onto the Desktop of C:

 

I will try to answer your other questions as we progress.

Edited May 3, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Ken

Sorry to say I've been unable to copy/paste either through Safe Mode or via the newly created User account.

Every time I press "Paste" Windows crashes and returns to the desktop screen.

 

Have looked closely at the Properties/Privileges for each of the three drives under consideration.

 

Drive C: has 4 x users listed: two have full control, one is limited and one has no ticks.

Drive E: shares 3 of the 4 users in C: - and all have full control.

Drive G: has all 4 of the same users. All have full control.

 

Not forgetting though, individual folders in E: are denying me full control (see my earlier post!).

 

By "Full Control" I mean the boxes are all ticked.

 

On the face of it, I ought to able to copy contents drive E: directly to partition G: - as you suggested

earlier on, given that 'full control' operates in both places. However, as things stand, this laptop

won't allow me to copy and paste - under any circumstances.

At some point I'll get access to another laptop to try and copy a picture from drive E: to the host

computer just to prove that the problem lies here on this win 7 !!

Labi.