lost photos after windows 10 upgrade

Question

After upgrading from windows 7 to windows 10 I have lost hundreds of photos. Some photos have carried over ok but still hundreds missing. I found the windows.old folder and in it there are a few other folders. one being my pictures. when I try open it though it says access denied. is there any work around to retrieve these photos? these pictures are precious . thanks

Answer 1

When a Windows Upgrade happens all the older files in system folders are moved to a folder named Windows.Old. This movement is done by System account or Trusted Installer.

If you are getting an access denied error, you will have to take ownership of that folder:

1. Right click on Windows.Old folder
2. Go to Properties -> Security -> Advanced. 3 There is a node named Owner and a Change button next to it. Click it.
3. Enter your current user name and press OK.
4. Close all windows of the folder properties and then try accessing the pictures again.