Accessing backed-up files from new installed winXP Home

[improbabilitist]

Hi,

I backed up the files from the root directory (which was just C:\) onto an external HDD, but now I can't view and access those files from the newly installed winXP (Home Edition).
I know it has something to do with the permissions, but don't know exactly what. On winXP Pro I was just able to go to folder properties and select the Permissions tab, but with Home Edition it's different.

Some one recommended me the DOS command CACLS, but with that I managed to only get access to the root folder, all of the subfolders are still locked.
When I try to still get permissions to the subfolders it tells me that access is denied.

Also:
I'm partly making this thread to be archived and found on search engines, so if anyone has suggestion of the keywords to use and the proper title then please let me know

[patio]

How to Take Ownership...

[improbabilitist]

Hey thanks very much, I'll copy&paste some of that in case the link goes down.


How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP

Prerequisites

Log on as an administrator

You must be logged on to Windows as an administrator in order to change security permissions for a file or a folder. If the computer is your personal computer, you are likely already logged on with an administrator account. If the computer is part of a network at work, you might have to ask the system administrator for help. To verify that you are logged on to Windows with a user account that is a computer administrator, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/admin

Start Windows XP Home Edition in safe mode
If you are running Windows XP Home Edition, you must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an account that has administrative rights in order to access the Security tab. Access to the Security tab is required in order to change security permission. If you are running Windows XP Professional, you do not have to start the computer in safe mode.

How to take ownership of a folder
You must have ownership of a protected folder in order to access it. If another user has restricted access and you are the computer administrator, you can access the folder by taking ownership.

To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:
Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of the folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message:
You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?
All permissions will be replaced if you click Yes.

Note folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.
Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.