Things You'll Need

Instructions

1

Your new account must have administrator privileges. To do this, go to the "Control Panel" and select "User Accounts". Select your user account. If it doesn't say "Computer administrator" under your name then you do not have administrator rights. You my have to log in under "Administrator" in order to provide you with the necessary rights. Otherwise, you can try clicking the "Change my account type" and selecting "Computer administrator". If you had to login as Administrator, you would do the exact same thing. Click the "Change Account Type" button.
2

You should be able view all hidden files and folders before you begin. In order to do this use the following instructions:

In Windows Explorer, select Tools/Folder Options from the menu at the top. Then select the "View" tab. Look for where it says "Hidden files and folders"... Make sure "Show hidden files and folders" is selected. Click the "Apply to All Folders" button. Then click the "OK" button.
3

Next, you must reboot your computer into "Safe Mode". To do this, click Start/Turn Off Computer/Restart. When your computer begins to reboot you will probably hear a beep or two. Just a few seconds later start pressing the F8 key on your keyboard. You will see a list of booting options (black screen with white print). You should see a list of options similar to these:

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Enable Boot Logging
Enable VBA Mode
Last Known Good Configuration
Directory Services Restore Mode
Debugging Mode
Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure

Start Windows Normally
Reboot
Return to OS Choices Menu

Select the option that says "Safe Mode".

Then you'll probably see a screen with "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" highlighted... just hit enter.

Then a bunch of stuff will scroll up your screen. This is normal.

When you get to the login screen, select to the new account that you created.

One of the first things you will see is a dialog box indicating that you are now running in "Safe Mode". Click the "Yes" button.

Now, the screen should say "Safe Mode" in each bottom corner of the screen. And things may appear differently, larger.
4

Using Windows Explorer, navigate to where the folders are located: My Computer/c drive/Documents and Settings. If you used the same name to create your new account the folder will have the name then dot your machine name... like Jason.Home. That's your new account most likely. The folder with just your account name is the old one. That is the one you want permissions to in order to access the information. To change the permissions, do as follows:

Right Click on the folder you want to change the permissions for and select "Properties".

Select the "Security" tab.

Click on the "Advanced" button. Click on the "Owner" tab.

Select the account name to become the owner of the folders from the list. Check the box "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects". Then click the "Apply" button.

"Current owner of this item:" should now read the new account name. Click "OK" button.

Click the "OK" button on the next window.

Reboot in normal mode. Login with your new account. You should have complete access to the old folders.