Can I "undo" my Vista install?

I seem to remember that when I upgraded to XP there was an option to revert
back to my previous OS if I messed up.

Also, my prefious OS installations always preservid my data so I guess I've
gotten a little complacent. I backed up some really important stuff but
there's lots that I still need, and I can't get to it. It's probably in the
administrator account that I'm locked out of. I was administrator in my XP
installation and without password access, but now I have a blank slate in my
named user account and Vista will not allow me to access the admin account.

Am I simply SOL?

No SOL.

No Uninstall. For many reasons, some good and some bad.

If you did an upgrade, then I guess your missing info is in your Admin
account. You can fetch it by surfing to it.
c:\users

I don't recommend enabling the Admin account because System Admin accounts
are generally a security hole.

CharlesE

"Lee Beck" <> wrote in message
news:20CFE52E-AFB2-4A0A-B7B3-...
>I seem to remember that when I upgraded to XP there was an option to revert
> back to my previous OS if I messed up.
>
> Also, my prefious OS installations always preservid my data so I guess
> I've
> gotten a little complacent. I backed up some really important stuff but
> there's lots that I still need, and I can't get to it. It's probably in
> the
> administrator account that I'm locked out of. I was administrator in my
> XP
> installation and without password access, but now I have a blank slate in
> my
> named user account and Vista will not allow me to access the admin
> account.
>
> Am I simply SOL?

Lee

See the following article for information on recovering the files. The files
may be in a folder that was created during the Vista install.

Folders on partitions used to install Windows Vista may be moved or may be
renamed to end with .OLD:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927839

--


Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

"Lee Beck" <> wrote in message
news:20CFE52E-AFB2-4A0A-B7B3-...
>I seem to remember that when I upgraded to XP there was an option to revert
> back to my previous OS if I messed up.
>
> Also, my prefious OS installations always preservid my data so I guess
> I've
> gotten a little complacent. I backed up some really important stuff but
> there's lots that I still need, and I can't get to it. It's probably in
> the
> administrator account that I'm locked out of. I was administrator in my
> XP
> installation and without password access, but now I have a blank slate in
> my
> named user account and Vista will not allow me to access the admin
> account.
>
> Am I simply SOL?

Charles,

Thanks so much. Yes - my "missing" files were in my administrator folder
that I was able to access. I'm in the process of transferring that entire
folder (12GB) to another drive.

Lee

"Charles" wrote:

> No SOL.
>
> No Uninstall. For many reasons, some good and some bad.
>
> If you did an upgrade, then I guess your missing info is in your Admin
> account. You can fetch it by surfing to it.
> c:\users
>
> I don't recommend enabling the Admin account because System Admin accounts
> are generally a security hole.
>
> CharlesE
>
> "Lee Beck" <> wrote in message
> news:20CFE52E-AFB2-4A0A-B7B3-...
> >I seem to remember that when I upgraded to XP there was an option to revert
> > back to my previous OS if I messed up.
> >
> > Also, my prefious OS installations always preservid my data so I guess
> > I've
> > gotten a little complacent. I backed up some really important stuff but
> > there's lots that I still need, and I can't get to it. It's probably in
> > the
> > administrator account that I'm locked out of. I was administrator in my
> > XP
> > installation and without password access, but now I have a blank slate in
> > my
> > named user account and Vista will not allow me to access the admin
> > account.
> >
> > Am I simply SOL?
>
>
>

Couldn't fine the .old folders, but I've been able to access my administrator
files and folders so everything's okay now. Thanks

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

> Lee
>
> See the following article for information on recovering the files. The files
> may be in a folder that was created during the Vista install.
>
> Folders on partitions used to install Windows Vista may be moved or may be
> renamed to end with .OLD:
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927839
>
> --
>
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
> "Lee Beck" <> wrote in message
> news:20CFE52E-AFB2-4A0A-B7B3-...
> >I seem to remember that when I upgraded to XP there was an option to revert
> > back to my previous OS if I messed up.
> >
> > Also, my prefious OS installations always preservid my data so I guess
> > I've
> > gotten a little complacent. I backed up some really important stuff but
> > there's lots that I still need, and I can't get to it. It's probably in
> > the
> > administrator account that I'm locked out of. I was administrator in my
> > XP
> > installation and without password access, but now I have a blank slate in
> > my
> > named user account and Vista will not allow me to access the admin
> > account.
> >
> > Am I simply SOL?
>