Registry error

  • Thread starter Thread starter djbeard83
  • Start date Start date
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djbeard83

When I turned on my computer this morning it took a long time to boot, and
once it did, everything in Windows was at the default setting (desktop, start
menu, favorites, Outlook configuration, etc.). Looking at the event viewer
for when I booted up I see the following message:

Windows was unable to load the registry. This is often caused by
insufficient memory or insufficient security rights.

DETAIL - The process cannot access the file because it is being used by
another process. for C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\ntuser.dat

I'm confused about how to fix this - online it mentioned something about
logging in in safe mode and creating a new user account. Is there any way
for me to recover my old settings or do I have to start over again? I do
have another login on this computer and it's not having the same problem; the
one with the problem is my defaut (admin) login. I've been getting low disk
space and low virtual memory errors for a while. If I free up disk space
will it solve the problem?
 
djbeard83 said:
When I turned on my computer this morning it took a long time to boot, and
once it did, everything in Windows was at the default setting (desktop,
start
menu, favorites, Outlook configuration, etc.). Looking at the event
viewer
for when I booted up I see the following message:

Windows was unable to load the registry. This is often caused by
insufficient memory or insufficient security rights.

DETAIL - The process cannot access the file because it is being used by
another process. for C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\ntuser.dat

I'm confused about how to fix this - online it mentioned something about
logging in in safe mode and creating a new user account. Is there any way
for me to recover my old settings or do I have to start over again? I do
have another login on this computer and it's not having the same problem;
the
one with the problem is my defaut (admin) login. I've been getting low
disk
space and low virtual memory errors for a while. If I free up disk space
will it solve the problem?
Click to expand...
Yes, create another account which is a member of the administrators group.
Then, go to folder \Documents & Settings\<old user name>
Take ownership of all files and folders.
Then copy files (except NTUSER.*) from the old user name to the new user
name.
Make sure that the files you just copied went to the correct folder else you
will be back wondering what happened.

Freeing up disk space will solve the low disk warning for a while. The long
term solution is a larger drive.
Low virtual memory messages refer to the size of the pagefile, and it is too
small. You need change the pagefile size to "system managed", and you need
a larger drive as well.
Jim
 
I set up a new admin account and it's working like it should - I copied some
application data, desktop settings, favorites, etc. Do I need to copy
EVERYTHING? That would take a long time. I'm most worried about getting my
Outlook configuration so I don't have to go through that again.

Also, once everything is done, do I just delete my old user profile? Is it
basically dead now?

Thanks for your help.
 
Just copy what you want.
After you get done copying, delete the old account. Since deleting the
account does not delete files or folders, you can delete the folder tree. I
believe I would not be in a hurry to delete the files and folders.
Jim
 
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