User Profiles

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave Patrick
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Dave Patrick

Assuming the profile isn't corrupt hold the shift key while logging off
user2 and logon as user1 again. Be sure you know the password for the local
administrator account before hand.



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
In a previous posting, I described a problem whereby my computer is booting
to what I believe appears to be a different user profile than I have been
using for the past year. I am now convinced that this is the problem.
Under Documents & Settings (Windows Explorer), an old user profile (call it
User#2, removed a year ago) suddenly appeared today. (There was a sudden
power outage yesterday for a very brief period, although I use a surge
protector.) It is this profile to which the computer is booting. For
example, when I first booted up, the desktop was dramatically altered. The
icons for this changed desktop are shown in the Desktop folder under User#2.
If I open Internet Explorer, there are no Favorites in the Favorites folder,
because this folder is empty for User#2.

However, if one goes to the Control Panel, Users and Passwords, this
profile, User#2, does not appear. My question is: how do I get rid of this
profile, if the computer does not show it to exist? When I boot up the
computer, the former user profile name that I have used is shown in the
boot-up window, but the computer does not boot up to this profile.

I suppose that I could try to trick the computer by copying all of the files
and folders, shown under the former profile name, into the User#2 profile.
However, is there a risk if I delete the old profile name from the system
after doing that? If the User#2 profile does not show up now under Users
and Passwords, might not the computer boot up at all (except possibly to the
Administrator profile)?

Fun and games...

Gordon Biggar
Houston, Texas
 
Sir Patrick --

No impact. When I boot up, my only user choices are User1 (my original
profile) and Administrator. I only discovered the newly added User2 profile
when I went to Documents & Settings (via Windows Explorer). However, User2
does not appear in the list of users when I go to the Control Panel, Users
and Passwords.

Or, maybe I missed something in reference to holding down the shift key
while logging off.

GGB


Dave Patrick said:
Assuming the profile isn't corrupt hold the shift key while logging off
user2 and logon as user1 again. Be sure you know the password for the local
administrator account before hand.



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

G.G. Biggar said:
In a previous posting, I described a problem whereby my computer is
booting
to what I believe appears to be a different user profile than I have been
using for the past year. I am now convinced that this is the problem.
Under Documents & Settings (Windows Explorer), an old user profile (call
it
User#2, removed a year ago) suddenly appeared today. (There was a sudden
power outage yesterday for a very brief period, although I use a surge
protector.) It is this profile to which the computer is booting. For
example, when I first booted up, the desktop was dramatically altered.
The
icons for this changed desktop are shown in the Desktop folder under
User#2.
If I open Internet Explorer, there are no Favorites in the Favorites
folder,
because this folder is empty for User#2.

However, if one goes to the Control Panel, Users and Passwords, this
profile, User#2, does not appear. My question is: how do I get rid of
this
profile, if the computer does not show it to exist? When I boot up the
computer, the former user profile name that I have used is shown in the
boot-up window, but the computer does not boot up to this profile.

I suppose that I could try to trick the computer by copying all of the
files
and folders, shown under the former profile name, into the User#2 profile.
However, is there a risk if I delete the old profile name from the system
after doing that? If the User#2 profile does not show up now under Users
and Passwords, might not the computer boot up at all (except possibly to
the
Administrator profile)?

Fun and games...

Gordon Biggar
Houston, Texas
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
There won't be any selection to make. You'll need to type the username and
password into the logon box.



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
If the profile is corrupt, you can rename the profile(while logged on as
local admin), then when the user logs on again a new profile will be created
from the image in \default user. You can then copy over the items you need
from the renamed profile. Copy the folder contents not the folders
themselves. When your sure you have all you need, you can delete the renamed
profile(s). Use the import function of your e-mail software. Do not
overwrite ntuser.dat



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
But, that's the rub. The User2 profile is rejected as invalid, if one tries
to log in under that name (since it is not listed under Users and
Passwords). I must log in as User#1 to proceed, but that is not the profile
that is being loaded. Sounds like the user file (if that is the correct
name) has been corrupted. User#2 shows up under Documents and Settings, but
nowhere else.

Since I have a back up of the hard drive from earlier, is there a file that
can be restored to correct this problem, or is it not that simple?



Dave Patrick said:
There won't be any selection to make. You'll need to type the username and
password into the logon box.



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

G.G. Biggar said:
Sir Patrick --

No impact. When I boot up, my only user choices are User1 (my original
profile) and Administrator. I only discovered the newly added User2
profile
when I went to Documents & Settings (via Windows Explorer). However,
User2
does not appear in the list of users when I go to the Control Panel, Users
and Passwords.

Or, maybe I missed something in reference to holding down the shift key
while logging off.

GGB
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
What is the desired end result? Get rid of the user accounts? Recover the
only existing profile?



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
This is like a puzzle... but I'm not going to lose...

I went to Users and Passwords and attempted to add User2; was told that I
could not do so because User2 "already has permission to use the computer."
Remember, User1 (the original profile) is the only user profile shown.
User2 (corrupt?) only shows up under Documents & Settings, although that is
where the computer boots to.

My next thought was to rename User1 to that of User2, but I thought that I
should touch base before attempting that route. The system will probably
tell me that I cannot do that, because User2 already exists (at least in the
registry or somewhere). And, I will have wanted to copy the files from
User1 first so that I do not lose them when I log off.

This is a challenge, which we can all do without.

GGB

P.S. Can regedit (or some such program) be used to change the User2 name in
the registry, or elsewhere?






Dave Patrick said:
If the profile is corrupt, you can rename the profile(while logged on as
local admin), then when the user logs on again a new profile will be created
from the image in \default user. You can then copy over the items you need
from the renamed profile. Copy the folder contents not the folders
themselves. When your sure you have all you need, you can delete the renamed
profile(s). Use the import function of your e-mail software. Do not
overwrite ntuser.dat



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

G.G. Biggar said:
But, that's the rub. The User2 profile is rejected as invalid, if one
tries
to log in under that name (since it is not listed under Users and
Passwords). I must log in as User#1 to proceed, but that is not the
profile
that is being loaded. Sounds like the user file (if that is the correct
name) has been corrupted. User#2 shows up under Documents and Settings,
but
nowhere else.

Since I have a back up of the hard drive from earlier, is there a file
that
can be restored to correct this problem, or is it not that simple?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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