XP Accounts: Catastrophe!

Using XP with sp2. Computer started fresh with several user accts, primary HP_Administrator,
Administrator, All Users. At one time i tried to change the name of HP_Administrator to NAME_ Administrator
but apparently it just created another folder called NAME_Administrator. So i end up with four accts
with redundant file and folder entries, but not all the same stuff in them making it confusing to try to sort the start menu,
not to mention that i also ended up with NAME_Administrator Documents, identical to original HP_Administrator
documents folder. Either i or jack daniels reasoned that with 3 admin accts i should tidy up a bit. So i disabled the
NAME_Administrator acct. in comp mngt, since HP_Administrator is the one that i'd been using since setup, with
all privileges i should expect from a computer i spent my money on. (Except that i haven't figured out how to get
into portions of the d: partition i have in lieu of a HP or XP cd, probably unrelated to my current mess).
So anyway, while the link NAME_Administrator still exists i am denied access to My Documents and everything therein
as well as acct properties at least (service disabled msg?). Tried to restore to earlier in the day but just got message did
not restore because no changes were made. Considering i'm used to powering up, loging on automatically sans
PW and accessing what i need from c: my guess is that there have actually been some big changes.
Here's hoping someone can make sense of this post and please help me make sense of this mess.

Regards,
SH

 

Just a quick follow up:
Did a simple search for some reair option, and error msg: C:\Docs & Settings\Hp_Administrator\My Docs is inaccessable.
I never even messed with Hp_Administrator.

 

Stolen from some random forum:

1) Log on as the administrator and go to the old directory where your files are kept,

2) right mouse click on that folder and select the security tab properties and look at permissions. Click on "allow" for full control and you should be able to access your old files.

Note, to view the advanced properties you may have to first unselect the "use simple file sharing" via Windows Explorer, tools, option, view.

 

Norky, thanks for your answer. I tried this when i got back back but it did not work, all boxes for
allowing control are gray. On a hunch i created another acct, now i have two called Admin,
the latest allows to set control but is from scratch, i think, that means My Docs contain only the
out of box folders and settings. HP_Admin and NAME_Admin still access denied to MY DOCS
and all folders & files therein, and say on hover that 0folders, 0files where they resided. I,ve tried
restore points as far back as they go, but failed because "no Changes made". Now at boot i get
a selection screen, log on as Admin (all windows settings are default, as well as My Docs as mentioned)
and NAME_Admin ( all Windows settings intact But access denied to My Docs and Zero folders ,files).
Is it possible to wipe out all these files and folders just by changing the name of the cheif admin acct
or deleting an admin acct that is an exact reproduction of another? Thats not spelled out in the help
instructions i read. It's dawning on me that i don't know wtf i'm doing with xp. I ran W98 on an old
P2 350M for 8 yrs with out a serious glitch, reformat, or reinstall OS. But this computer i've already done
2 complete system restoration to factory, first time because some phone support guy reading from a
script had me before i knew it (i now know it was a connection problem which could have been solved far
less drastically), second time because computer would cycle through boot over and again,
boot disk was useless, safe mode didn't work, or restore point at boot.
I'm not usually prone to panic but i'm starting to freak. The irony is i just acquired a portable hd so i could
start doing proper backups, i just wanted to get fid of redundancies to make archiving and restoring
more efficient. Now all i need is to get back my lost data from My Docs, missing or access denied folders
pics,vids, downloads, music, games, notes.
Sorry for running on like this, i'm getting desperate, hoping i've just overlooked or misinterperated
something simple, i would be pleased to get out of this being merely embarrassed. Any suggestions will
be profoundly appreciated. Regards, SH.