have been signing in as owner forever and have had my documents,
desktop etc. just fine. now all of a sudden when i login im loged in as
computername.owner and i have a all new desktop and my documents etc.
is this the result of some automatic update or something ? how can i
get back to just logging in as owner ? i know my desktop and
mydocuments etc are there because i can click on documents and settings
and see just owner and all the folders desktop my documents etc.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> have been signing in as owner forever and have had my documents,
> desktop etc. just fine. now all of a sudden when i login im loged in as
> computername.owner and i have a all new desktop and my documents etc.
> is this the result of some automatic update or something ? how can i
> get back to just logging in as owner ? i know my desktop and
> mydocuments etc are there because i can click on documents and settings
> and see just owner and all the folders desktop my documents etc.
>

A user account and a profile are two different things. An account is an
identity, and has a name and a password. A profile is a folder (located by
default under \documents and settings in Windows XP) containing documents,
desktop icons, user-specific registry and so on for a particular account.

You are still logging in as the same user account, but the something under
the profile folder for that user (under Documents and Settings) apparently
became corrupted. Windows therefore created a new profile for you
automatically, and prefixed it with the computer name to avoid having a
duplicate folder name. If this only happened once, your best bet is to just
copy over your files and settings to the computername.owner folder - see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151 (you don't need to do the part about
creating a new profile in that document- you can keep using your existing
account.)

If the profile is repeatedly being corrupted, that is usually an early sign
of a failing hard drive or memory.

Memory diagnostic: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
Hard drive diagnostic:
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm (designed for
Maxtor/Quantum hard drives but it will test any manufacturer.)


--
Colin Nash
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

thanx for the tip, ill do just that. the microsoft article doesnt
mettion copying the desktop or start menu or any of those other things,
is that not necessary ?

Colin Nash [MVP] wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > have been signing in as owner forever and have had my documents,
> > desktop etc. just fine. now all of a sudden when i login im loged in as
> > computername.owner and i have a all new desktop and my documents etc.
> > is this the result of some automatic update or something ? how can i
> > get back to just logging in as owner ? i know my desktop and
> > mydocuments etc are there because i can click on documents and settings
> > and see just owner and all the folders desktop my documents etc.
> >
>
> A user account and a profile are two different things. An account is an
> identity, and has a name and a password. A profile is a folder (located by
> default under \documents and settings in Windows XP) containing documents,
> desktop icons, user-specific registry and so on for a particular account.
>
> You are still logging in as the same user account, but the something under
> the profile folder for that user (under Documents and Settings) apparently
> became corrupted. Windows therefore created a new profile for you
> automatically, and prefixed it with the computer name to avoid having a
> duplicate folder name. If this only happened once, your best bet is to just
> copy over your files and settings to the computername.owner folder - see
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151 (you don't need to do the part about
> creating a new profile in that document- you can keep using your existing
> account.)
>
> If the profile is repeatedly being corrupted, that is usually an early sign
> of a failing hard drive or memory.
>
> Memory diagnostic: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
> Hard drive diagnostic:
> http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm (designed for
> Maxtor/Quantum hard drives but it will test any manufacturer.)
>
>
> --
> Colin Nash
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User

well i did what the article suggested but im having a problem with
outlook. none of my emails are there. i was using outlook but for
internet mail (pop3) only. cant find where the files are or what their
names are to copy.

Colin Nash [MVP] wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > have been signing in as owner forever and have had my documents,
> > desktop etc. just fine. now all of a sudden when i login im loged in as
> > computername.owner and i have a all new desktop and my documents etc.
> > is this the result of some automatic update or something ? how can i
> > get back to just logging in as owner ? i know my desktop and
> > mydocuments etc are there because i can click on documents and settings
> > and see just owner and all the folders desktop my documents etc.
> >
>
> A user account and a profile are two different things. An account is an
> identity, and has a name and a password. A profile is a folder (located by
> default under \documents and settings in Windows XP) containing documents,
> desktop icons, user-specific registry and so on for a particular account.
>
> You are still logging in as the same user account, but the something under
> the profile folder for that user (under Documents and Settings) apparently
> became corrupted. Windows therefore created a new profile for you
> automatically, and prefixed it with the computer name to avoid having a
> duplicate folder name. If this only happened once, your best bet is to just
> copy over your files and settings to the computername.owner folder - see
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151 (you don't need to do the part about
> creating a new profile in that document- you can keep using your existing
> account.)
>
> If the profile is repeatedly being corrupted, that is usually an early sign
> of a failing hard drive or memory.
>
> Memory diagnostic: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
> Hard drive diagnostic:
> http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm (designed for
> Maxtor/Quantum hard drives but it will test any manufacturer.)
>
>
> --
> Colin Nash
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> thanx for the tip, ill do just that. the microsoft article doesnt
> mettion copying the desktop or start menu or any of those other things,
> is that not necessary ?
>


Under the profile folder, you should see a Desktop and Start Menu icon- the
article says to copy all folders except the registry files (files that start
with "ntuser")... so you should be copying the desktop and Start Menu.

Usually your mail in Outlook is located in a file with a *.pst extension...
usually under Local Settings\Application Data. Try doing a search and make
sure you copy this file back over to the same location in the new profile.
You may need to go and setup your mail account/passwords in Outlook again.


--
Colin Nash
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

found them, did a search for them in search, files folders and checked
the option to search system files and hidden files. there they were. i
created a directory called email off the root to put them in. lots
easier that way. im the only one who ever uses this computer so no
problem.

thanx for your help.


Colin Nash [MVP] wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > thanx for the tip, ill do just that. the microsoft article doesnt
> > mettion copying the desktop or start menu or any of those other things,
> > is that not necessary ?
> >
>
>
> Under the profile folder, you should see a Desktop and Start Menu icon- the
> article says to copy all folders except the registry files (files that start
> with "ntuser")... so you should be copying the desktop and Start Menu.
>
> Usually your mail in Outlook is located in a file with a *.pst extension...
> usually under Local Settings\Application Data. Try doing a search and make
> sure you copy this file back over to the same location in the new profile.
> You may need to go and setup your mail account/passwords in Outlook again.
>
>
> --
> Colin Nash
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User