Private Folder Read Me Before Upgrading
Private Folders Private folder is a Option In windows XP family (this is NOT SUPPORTED in VISTA) Before upgrading to Vista DO the following steps Backup you Computer (RECOMENDED STEP) Backup up your data files Copy out any files that lives in private folder and save them to a external device Test that you can open those files form location other than private folder Remove Private folders (if you are not dual booting system) Install Vista Copy back data that you saved in step 2c You should have all you data with no issues
November 29th, 2006 2:43pm

The Vista installation program didnt mention anything about not beeing compatible with "my private folder". The Vista upgrade advisor didnt give any warning about this either... I upgraded my WinXP SP2 to Vista Ultimate RTM. Now Im unable to open any documents in "my private folder". How to recover (decrypt) the content of "my private folder"? Wintel
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December 13th, 2006 9:41am

at the present time I am unaware of any tools the will restore that Data I will check with MS, However The read me in the Installer of all Beta and Release software STATES vackup you computer / and or data before adding service pack or system upgrades.
December 13th, 2006 2:35pm

I fell into this same trap and lived to tell about it!Vista installation moved My Private Folder to :c:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings\UserNameHere\My Private Folderwhere they were safe but ENCRYPTED on an INDIVIDUAL basis.What I did was:1) run the MSPF10ENU.msi to install My Private Folder on Vista, be very sureto make the password the same as the old installation!2) Drop down into Safe Mode via Vista's version of MSCONFIG3) copy the old files into the new My Private Folder4) Set MSCONFIG to normal boot5) Launch My Private Folder, input password and enjoy!I hope this helps!- Loa Veve
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December 27th, 2006 10:58am

This May work but Private Folders are UNSUPPORTEDn in VISTA
December 27th, 2006 3:38pm

I have a different issue, but regarding Private Folders on Windows XP. I saw your post and was wondering if you could help. I have a computer where the motherboard died and I replaced the entire computer. The hard drive was still intact and once the new computer was up and running I put the old hard drive in as an additional drive. That is when I noticed that I could not get into the Private Profile. Do you know how to access a private folder on another drive??? Thanks. DW
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September 6th, 2007 8:59pm

I too have this same issue following the need to rebuild my PC, I've trawled the Internet to no avail and read of so many people losing critical files because they have been unable to retrieve them. Microsoft knew early on there were issues and as well as pulling the plug, ideally they should have released a resolution to accessing the data left behind in a private folder and that could have been the end of it. Instead people are left in search of a way around getting back Gb's of important files and folders that are really irreplaceable. If anyone has found a way of successfully retrieving these files by means of a third-party tool perhaps could you PLEASE post this here!
November 2nd, 2007 12:56pm

Hi there. I am Rafi from Malaysia. My scenario is like this. I have a PC that has a faulty motherboard. I have replace it with a new motherboard and purchase a new SATA HDD. I installed a fresh set of Windows XP with Service Pack 2 into the new SATA HDD. After successfully installed Windows XP, I plug in the old HDD (IDE). The motherboard has 2SATA and 2 IDE slot.I boot upWindows XP and it recognized the old HDD. When I try to view the privateuser folder, the message "Access is denied" appears. Onthe other hand, I have a Linux PC running Ubuntu 7.04. I plug out the old HDD from the Windows PC and plug it in the Linux PC. From themenu, I select Placesand then Computer. My old HDD from theWindows PC is detected. I view theold HDD. Asyou know the private user folder is stored under C:\Document and Settings\<userid>\.... When I click the Local Settings (i.e. a hidden folder under Windows XP),Imanage to access the entire folder up to its sub-subfolder (at this point of time I am smiling). I connect the Linux PC intoWindows Workgroup and manage to find myDell Notebook that is running under Windows XP. I create a new folderin my notebook and shared it. After that, from the Linux PC, Igo toPlaces and then choose Network. I am able to see my Dell notebook. When I double click theicon, I managed to viewthe sharedfolder I've just created from my Dell notebook. And then, the moment of truth. From the Linux PC, I copy the entire My Document from the privatefolderto the shared folderinside my Dell notebook. U know what..It starts to copy. When I go back to my notebook and view the folder, theentireMyDocument is there (at this moment I amlaughing). Basically, by using Linux based PC, you can view the entire private and hidden folder inWindows XP. Go ahead and try. Hope the best.
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November 20th, 2007 11:52am

Hi Rafi,Your suggestion seems pretty interesting but how about to those people who doesn't have Linux? I have been reading countless threads since this morning, and i still couldn't find any solution to the problem with "damaged" documents (gibberish word docs, cannot be opened pdf files, and whatnot) requiring file conversion inside the private folder. Luckily, I have not experienced (yet and hope never) losing all my valuable information inside the private folder as what the others in this thread are talking about due to vista incompatibility or reinstallation. Sorry guys. By the way, I tried copying some word files in other folders but to no avail. The other word docs in my other folders are working perfectly well. Can anyone please, please help?Appreciate it a lot.Cris
November 27th, 2007 4:46am

Hallo there!I have also lost a lot of data - parts of my diary.I have even sent this "gibberish" data, as you call it, to a professional data recovery company and they said, they could not do anything. So I really don't know, if there is a lot of hope to solve this problem.BUT IF ANYONE FINDS A SOLUTION, PLEASE INFORM US HERE!Greetings from sunny ZurichMatthias
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November 27th, 2007 3:01pm

Hi.I saw this thread from one forum, but it talks about Windows NT4/2000/XP client. I have not really tried whether this works. http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t524612.htmlHope this solves our problem.Cris
November 28th, 2007 7:30am

Hi Everyone ! I had an unmountable boot device issue with this some time ago and it wasn't till this week i got around to cradle the HD and copy the files to my new HD. I was able to copy all my financial data for the last couple of years before the loss of the HD and now I have copied via Getbackdata for NTFS most of the files in this HD including the Private folder. I have two files of everything, the normal photo.jpg and another one photo.jpg.$e_ Can anyone help me get back my files ? Is there anythingI can do or should i just give up on this ? Thanks for keeping in touch. Omar Knightmare2000@hotmail.com
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November 28th, 2007 7:51am

Does anyone have the Private Folders software si I can try to reinstall it and access these files ? Would there be any way at all to recover this data ? Any positivecomments will be greatly appreciated ! Thanks !
November 28th, 2007 12:37pm

Hi. I saw recently that softpedia still has the private folder rar file in their site. cheers!
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November 29th, 2007 3:55am

Well, i did it ! I was able to get all my files back ! I downloaded the private folders program, installed on my new pc and then did and an import of the old folders and loose documents of the ol private folder. It worked ! I am so happy, I can't believe it ! If anyone needs assistance in this let me know and ill do my best to help everyone. Take care !
November 30th, 2007 2:58am

hi there,can you kindly explain how you did it in detail? thanks in advance..cris
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November 30th, 2007 4:54am

I agree, this did indeed work!! If you have the files from your "old" private folder, save them locally. Install a fresh copy of MSPF. Once you open the MSPF, you will see the "unlock" icon in the systray. Right-Click and choose import. You do need to remember the "old" MSPF password or it won't work. I can't believe this worked!! Servbots wrote: Well, i did it ! I was able to get all my files back ! I downloaded the private folders program, installed on my new pc and then did and an import of the old folders and loose documents of the ol private folder. It worked ! I am so happy, I can't believe it ! If anyone needs assistance in this let me know and ill do my best to help everyone. Take care !
December 4th, 2007 8:59pm

omg I hope you can help me I have locked a huge folder of extrememly important information into my locked file and forgotten my password. How exatcly did you recover your info if you could help me I would be soooooooooooo happy
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March 25th, 2008 10:37am

to restore encrypted files(by "my private folder" of course) just re-instal MY PRIVATE FOLDER on the new machine or the same machine, once you are done with the process, right click the MY PRIVATE FOLDER icon on the task bar, and select options, then select import encrypted files, and a new box will pop up asking for the password of the MY PRIVATE FOLDER where this files were stored originally, and voila! you are done. Now just to be clear, the fresh instal doesn't have to mach the old password at all, but when the program ask you for the one(password) which the files were saved with, you wil have to punch it, there IS NOT A WORK AROUND, that is why MS pulled the plug on this beauty! it has not back door. Cheers.
January 14th, 2011 3:15am

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