Import existing profiles into reinstalled Windows?

[Guest]

I have reinstalled Win XP SP2 by overwriting an earlier installation. How can
I force Windows to recognise and load the earlier profiles 'MC' (admin) and
'AR' (limited)?

In the process of reinstalling, I created new a 'MC' admin account that now
shows up under 'local settings' as 'MAIN.MC' (or maybe 'MC.MAIN' - can't
quite remember) alongside the old 'MC' profile, where 'MAIN' is the name I
gave to the computer when prompted. Is it necessary to name the computer when
installing Windows?

I also now have two 'all users' profiles - the original 'all users' and 'all
users.WINDOWS'. Is it safe to delete unneeded or inaccessible profiles?

Finally, if it's too hard to force Windows to recognise the earlier
profiles, what can I do to manually import the data, such as Outlook files?
And will I need to re-instal all the programs I had set up under the earler
profiles? They don't exist as far as the new profiles are concerned.

Thanks.

Marty.

 

[Guest]

To import a profile:

Log on as an Adminstrative-level account,
Create a user on the new computer with the exact-same name as the old user.
Log on as that user.
Log off, and back on as Admin.
Delete the contents of the profile-folder which logging-on as the new user
created.
Copy the entire contents of the old profile into this folder. (when doing so
use a filemanager which will reliably copy hidden/system files and folders.)
Log on as the new user, and everything should be as before - except that of
course shortcuts whose targets don't exist on the new computer won't work.

Note that the step of logging-on once as the new user before copying is
essential - if the profile has already been copied, Windows will 'sidestep'
it and create a new folder called 'username.domain' instead of 'username'