files on new machine seem to be read only

[wordmuse]

Hi,

I just transferred all my data files
to a new Vista computer.

Files that I newly create seem to
be editable, just fine. But the
transferred files seem to be read-only.

I can copy branches of the old files
to newly created files, and then I
can edit the items in the pasted branch.

I figure there's got to be a setting that
I'm just not seeing.

Assistance requested.

Thanks much.

Regards,
Bal

Added: Thinking about it, maybe it's because my "user" id on the new machine is different than the one on the old machine. So I'm guessing that unless there's a way for me to bypass who the user is for the old file, I'm hosed?