Additional name extension added to user name in My Documents

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim
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J

Jim

I just had a hard drive crash so reinstalled XP on a new
hard drive (XP Home), then immediately upgraded to XP
Professional (on a Dell Dimension 8200). I don't know if
I answered a question wrong or not, but I now have two
entries (among others) under my documents and settings:
\jlinck
and
\jlinck.jlinckoffice

I can't access \jlinck and all my files and such default
to the \jlinck.jlinckoffice directory. This is a problem
because on two other machines that I regularly use, I
have the \jlinck directory as my key one. This allows me
to run programs and such on each system without needed to
change the code, among other things. Can someone tell me
why this happened and how I can fix it? jlinck is, of
course, an administrator. Thanks,
Jim
 
I just had a hard drive crash so reinstalled XP on a new
hard drive (XP Home), then immediately upgraded to XP
Professional (on a Dell Dimension 8200). I don't know if
I answered a question wrong or not, but I now have two
entries (among others) under my documents and settings:
\jlinck
and
\jlinck.jlinckoffice

I can't access \jlinck and all my files and such default
to the \jlinck.jlinckoffice directory. This is a problem
because on two other machines that I regularly use, I
have the \jlinck directory as my key one. This allows me
to run programs and such on each system without needed to
change the code, among other things. Can someone tell me
why this happened and how I can fix it? jlinck is, of
course, an administrator. Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand...

This happens when install XP over itself instead of performing a repair
install. Then you created a user account that was already present in the
old install. To differentiate the new account's folders from the old
account's folders and to protect the data stored in the old account, XP
setup tacked on the trailing .jlinckoffice designation.

As long as the data was not encrypted, you can regain access to the files
by taking ownership.

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=308421
 
Thanks. Can I then get rid of the newly created
\jlinck.jlinckoffice folder and windows will know to
default me to \jlinck when I log on as jlinck?
Thanks,
Jim
 
Thanks. Can I then get rid of the newly created
\jlinck.jlinckoffice folder and windows will know to
default me to \jlinck when I log on as jlinck?
Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand...

No. Windows will not default back to the \jlinck account. It is considered
abandoned and is referenced internally with a different SID. Salvage what
you can from it and stay with your current account.

To confirm which folders are your current ones, log on with your account.
Then type %userprofile% in the Start> Run box. Windows Explorer will open
with the focus on the folders for the account you are logged on to.
 
So is there, then, no way for me to continue logging in as jlinck and have
jlinck as the default directory? That's a shame. Thanks,
Jim
 
So is there, then, no way for me to continue logging in as jlinck and have
jlinck as the default directory? That's a shame. Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand...

After getting the data out of the old jlinck account, delete all remnants
of it that you can find. Rename the account that you're currently using.
Restart. Create a new account named jlinck. Log onto it and transfer your
stuff over to it. A bit of dance but you need to undo the mess from the
reinstall before you can accomplish the creation of an account that has
folder names matching the account's friendly name.
 
Thanks! I'll do it (the hassles of not changing are worse). Wish I would
have known before I installed and I could have easily avoided it (had a hard
drive crash so I was almost starting from scratch -- only had XP Home
installed on it for a week before I did the upgrade). Lesson learned!
Thanks,
Jim
 
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