When I re-installed Windows after a "cannot load PBR" message on bootup, I could not access my old "My Documents." I discovered that this was due to an encryption "security" feature from Microsoft. I went into safe mode to change the properties so that I could access it again, but was told that the folder was corrup and so cannot be accessed. Can I still access it? I didn't write anything to the drive when I installed—"My Documents" was on the second hard drive and I installed Windows on the first. I had backed up what I need, so can I delete it? In Windows Explorer it tells me either "Access is denied" or "folder is corrupt." I think I can put it onto a separate partition and then wipe the partition, but that would probably be time consuming. Is there an easy way to do this without formatting the hard drive, on which I have many programs already installed? Revolutionary Systems—changing the world of computers forever Coming soon!

Restore your files / documents from the backups you made to cdr / dvd before you re-installed windows... Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity...

FYI, that bad PBR error can usually be resolved by running chkdsk from within the Recovery Console. Just for future reference. "I discovered that this was due to an encryption "security" feature from Microsoft." How did you discover this, and what type of encryption "security" feature? Did you use EFS on the files? You may be able to get access to your documents again simply by taking ownership. Steps here: http://support.microsoft.com/kB/308421 Life's more painless for the brainless.

How do I delete the current folder from the drive after I restore it? It says either "Access is denied" or "Corrupted folder"? From CNET Forums, I found that Windows, by default, "encrypts" files in the "My Documents" folder with some kind of identification number unique to an account and will never be repeated. And since I lost all account files when my OS went, I cannot access these. I was trying to take ownership of these files when I received the message the the folder was corrupt. In Windows Explorer, the file size is zero, yet in the root folder it doesn't display any change, and since the folder was about 100 GBs, I'd notice a big difference. Revolutionary Systems—changing the world of computers forever Coming soon!

"And since I lost all account files when my OS went, I cannot access these. " That's why you need to take ownership. Open a command window and cd to the drive letter that contains the folders/files. Run a dir command. What does that show? Life's more painless for the brainless.

This is an image of a dir command on the drive with the dead files: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=ked... Hope it helps! Revolutionary Systems—changing the world of computers forever Coming soon!