Partition Move -> User Profile Broken

  • Thread starter Thread starter pedro441
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pedro441

I had a Windows XP PC, but got tempted by Vista, so I installed that.
Following Vista Business install my HDD looked like:

EISA, dev/sda1 | C:, WinXP, dev/sda2, 190GB | F:, Vista, dev/sda3, 40GB

I used Vista so much that I didn't need XP as much as I needed the space so
I changed it to:

EISA, dev/sda1 | C:, Data, dev/sda2, 190GB | F:, Vista, dev/sda3, 40GB
But Vista needed more than 40 GB with all its programs so I wanted to make
some more room for it.
After backing up my data I had:

EISA, dev/sda1 | C:, Data, dev/sda2, 170GB | Unallocated (20GB) | F:, Vista,
dev/sda3, 40GB

I found out that I can only expand a partition to the right (end of the
partition). So I wanted to move the vista partition to the beginning of the
drive. To do this I used Gparted live CD. I deleted C: and moved F: over to
the right:

EISA | Vista (40GB) | Unallocated (190GB)

When I booted with windows, it didn't know where to look for the OS, so I
used repair tools on the Vista DVD.
On reboot chkdisk was run, but it was checking c:, which didn't exist
anymore (so I thought). Anyway, Windows took what was F: and changed it to C:.

I can login using my username and password, but Vista cannot find my
profile. It says "Preparing your desktop" for a bit then takes me to a blank
screen. Here I can Ctrl-Alt-Delete to get the taks manager and run explorer
or cmd, but it loads a temporary profile for me.

All my data is still on the drive in C:\users\myname\ but windows won't let
me take that screen name.

Anyway, Boot is fine, I get to windows, but windows doesn't know where to
look for its profile. Also, I can't access computer management or set up any
new user profiles.


As the HDD stands now:
EISA, dev/sda1 | C: Vista /dev/sda3 | Unallocated.

I can start in safe mode, and even with the Admin user, but neither of these
give me any more options or progress.
 
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