Windows Interesting problem

Discussion in 'Tech Support' started by Awoken, 16 Dec 2012.

  1. Awoken

    Awoken Gazing at the stars

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    My father in law was running out of space on his c partition so rather than bother me ( I've been snowed at work) he took it to a friend's IT guy. The friend's IT guy told him the same thing I did: the partitions were set and couldn't be moved without doing a reinstall (I'd tried).
    Later, my father in law contacted me in a panic saying nothing was working and he's right.
    Nothing will run on his user account, it just says, "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file"
    I plan to do a fresh install on a bigger Hard Disk but first I need to retrieve his emails, contacts and settings from outlook 2003 (he works from home and all of his professional contacts are on there along with important emails).
    The problem is I can't access outlook 2003 because nothing on his user account will work. I can navigate through the file structure, copy and paste but:
    - Cmd will not work
    - regedit could not be run
    - I wrote a regfix script which I copied across from another computer but I get the same error
    - I tried repairing windows but there was no change in his user account
    -I googled it and tried various solutions but I was always cut off by the error "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file" when I tried to run anything. This applies to all partitions and even to files on a usb key.
    The only thing I managed to do was access safe mode, where everything works, and make a new admin account. when I open outlook 2003 in the new account it asks me to setup an account so no access is possible that way yet.
    Do you guys have any suggestions of how to retrieve his outlook info or fix his user account?
     
    Last edited: 16 Dec 2012
  2. Tichinde

    Tichinde Minimodder

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    I'm not an Outlook kind of guy, but I would assume that all his emails and contacts would be on his email providers server.

    I'd follow through on your previous thought of using a new windows user, and configuring Outlook to use his email account (Just make sure it's worked and everything he is expecting is there before you blat his PC :) )

    Failing that, check for .OST and .PAB files using the following, and see if you can import them into a clean profile?
    http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/outlook-help/outlook-file-locations-HP003082210.aspx.
     
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  3. Awoken

    Awoken Gazing at the stars

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    Thanks for this! I'm going to get a new primary drive setup and a fresh windows install with his old programs. Once that is done I'll try to retrieve and restore his outlook 2003 settings, emails and accounts. Thanks for the advice about the file types to look for, I'll have a good read through that article.
     
  4. tuk

    tuk Don't Tase Me, Bro!

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    If you can logon to this new account and everything works, then use this account to take ownership of the faulty account...so you can access/export his files.
     
  5. Awoken

    Awoken Gazing at the stars

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    I tried but he never wrote down his settings. Outlook sets itself up from the start when opened on a new account.
     
  6. tuk

    tuk Don't Tase Me, Bro!

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    When you say "Admin account" ..don't you mean a windows account?
     
  7. Awoken

    Awoken Gazing at the stars

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    It's a windows account with admin privileges.
     
  8. aramil

    aramil One does not simply upgrade Forums

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  9. tuk

    tuk Don't Tase Me, Bro!

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  10. Awoken

    Awoken Gazing at the stars

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    Bingo, it looks like it has worked and I now have access to all of his old email and contacts. Thanks to Tichinde, tuk and aramil for the help and advice!
     

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