Need help transfer data from old hard drive to new

My current laptop died and i need to transfer files from the old hard drive to my new laptop. I went out and got a SATA to USB cable. This worked to get most of the files, but when i try to access the desktop folder on the old hard drive, i get an "access is denied" error message. Unfortunately the desktop is where most of my important files are.

I've searched around but haven't found anything that works yet. Any tips on getting this data transferable?

TIA

 

you need to take ownership of the desktop folder on the external drive.

right click properties, go to security, make sure that the group and owner is properly set.

 

Thanks for the post. I tried doing that but i a little confused. When i right click the desktop folder (on the external drive), go to properties, i get the following tabs: general, sharing, customizing. If i click sharing tab i get the option to "share the folder with both network users and other users of the computer..." when i try to click that box and try to apply, i get a restricted access pop-up again. Maybe i'm doing it wrong?

 

If i start is safe mode i get access to the security tab. I tried changing the settings and it still won't let me access the folder. If i put my cursor over the desktop, it says there are no files in the folder. Is this because they are secured, or is it possible they are located somewhere else and that folder really is empty?

 

Secured most likely.
Take control of the parent folder, your username folder.
Turn off simple file sharing in Folder Options, that should let you have access to the advanced Security tab.

 

Figured it out. Thanks for the post. The thought of losing months worth of data was quite stressful. I'm off to buy an external hard drive and some beer