Laptop - Profile Corrupted

[JCO]

Have a Laptop running Windows XP Home Edition. When the user tried to
logon, her Login Profile was corrupted. She contacted Dell who says that
her harddrive is going bad. He recommended that she attempts to purchase a
Warranty then send it in for repairs.

Sounds like Dell is just trying to make a buck. Does this really means that
her HD is bad? I suggested that they try to create a new Profile. She
attempts this while on the phone with Dell. I don't know the details but
the recreation of a new Profile failed. The computer is on its way to my
house for me to look at. I have one day to see if I can fix it (Saturday).

Looking for sum suggestions.. since I won't have much time to go back and
forth on this newsgroup.... about this issue. They will bring the Recovery
Disk (my experience is that these disks never work when they come from the
store. You almost need to get Dell to send you a fresh copy but it may be
my only choice). Worst case scenario, I could wipe the drive clean and
reinstall everything fresh.

I only have one day (Saturday) to resolve this.
Thanks in advance

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Have a Laptop running Windows XP Home Edition. When the user tried to
logon, her Login Profile was corrupted. She contacted Dell who says
that her harddrive is going bad. He recommended that she attempts to
purchase a Warranty then send it in for repairs.

Did you hear this directly from Dell, or via the user? I'd find it odd that
a Dell tech would say that just because a profile was corrupt. Event logs,
diagnostics, etc., would need to be checked out firstl

Sounds like Dell is just trying to make a buck. Does this really
means that her HD is bad? I suggested that they try to create a new
Profile. She attempts this while on the phone with Dell. I don't
know the details but the recreation of a new Profile failed. The
computer is on its way to my house for me to look at. I have one day
to see if I can fix it (Saturday).

Looking for sum suggestions.. since I won't have much time to go back
and forth on this newsgroup.... about this issue. They will bring
the Recovery Disk (my experience is that these disks never work when
they come from the store. You almost need to get Dell to send you a
fresh copy but it may be my only choice). Worst case scenario, I
could wipe the drive clean and reinstall everything fresh.

I only have one day (Saturday) to resolve this.
Thanks in advance

Check the event logs first - create a new user account and see if you can
copy the profile data she needs to it. You could also see if you can do a
system restore to when it last worked, etc. -

You might also check for viruses, spyware, etc., and make sure it's fully
patched/updated.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Have a Laptop running Windows XP Home Edition. When the user tried to
logon, her Login Profile was corrupted. She contacted Dell who says that
her harddrive is going bad. He recommended that she attempts to purchase a
Warranty then send it in for repairs.

Sounds like Dell is just trying to make a buck. Does this really means that
her HD is bad? I suggested that they try to create a new Profile. She
attempts this while on the phone with Dell. I don't know the details but
the recreation of a new Profile failed. The computer is on its way to my
house for me to look at. I have one day to see if I can fix it (Saturday).

Looking for sum suggestions.. since I won't have much time to go back and
forth on this newsgroup.... about this issue. They will bring the Recovery
Disk (my experience is that these disks never work when they come from the
store. You almost need to get Dell to send you a fresh copy but it may be
my only choice). Worst case scenario, I could wipe the drive clean and
reinstall everything fresh.

I only have one day (Saturday) to resolve this.
Thanks in advance

Reboot the machine and log on under an admin account (other
than your friend's), then rename her profile folder to something
else. Now log on as her in order to force a new profile to be
created. Her files and folders will still be accessible in the renamed
profile folder.

To check the quality of the disk, run chdksk C: /F /R. For a more
thorough check, run the diagnostic tool that her disk manufacturer
makes freely available on his home site. Check the BIOS for the
brand of her disk or run aida32.exe.
(http://www.aumha.org/freeware/freeware.php#aida32).

 

[JCO]

Thanks for quick response and I agree with you.
Also, I heard this from the users Dad, who will be dropping off the computer
in the morning.

It could all be a misunderstanding but that's neither here or there. I've
read several articles tonight on creating, coping data .. so forth (for a
corrupted Profile). I will begin work in the morning and keep you up to
date.



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[JCO]

It is my understanding that if I renamed the profile (or delete it), a new
profile will not be automatically re-created (when logging on using her
name). WindowsXP doesn't work that way. This would of worked if on Win2K
but not XP.

The results would be.. I can log on but won't be able to change or save
anything.
Just something I read a few minutes ago.

 

[JCO]

One of my concerns also is this:
You can't copy a profile while you are logged into it. My luck, is that
this person will not know the Administrator Login. This may be a concern


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When it comes to profiles then WinXP works in exactly
the same way as Win2000. Try it - it is completely reversible!
And while you're at it, post what you read and state where
you found it. It sounds like someone is spreading myths.

 

[JCO]

Article was found here:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Q_20711559.html

 

[JCO]

Issue I'm having is that I can't copy anything from the old profile to the
new profile.
When the mouse touches the old profile, I get a popup error message that
says:

C:\Documents and Settings\....\ is not accessible. Access is denied.
I even logged in as Administrator

Why can't I access this account. I was able to do it when I first logged
in. When I create the new account, the old account became "not accessible"


This is what I'm reading:

Creating Admin Account (hidden administration logon account):
http://www.mcse.ms/archive59-2004-11-1227225.html

What to do if your Profile is corrupted:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318011

How to copy data from a corrupted user Profile to a new Profile:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151/



"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

One of my concerns also is this:
You can't copy a profile while you are logged into it. My luck, is
that this person will not know the Administrator Login. This may be
a concern

Try leaving the password blank.

 

[JCO]

Another issue I have is that I can't delete some of the files. New Profile
has been created and the old stuff was finally moved over. But I can't
delete everything in the old profile. I suspect this is the corrupted
files.

I booted up using BartPE Tools (on a CD) and still can't get rid of the
files. If I booted from a CD and still can't delete files, does this mean
that it is the harddrive?

I'm running Disk utilities now to see if that is possible.

Any other help in ... how to delete files that appear to be corrupted... Let
me know.




"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[JCO]

Yes, I read that earlier and it was the case.
This is especially true with Home Edition, since the Admin is Hidden.
Thanks

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

The item you refer to is a question from a poster. Why
the condition occurred to his machine I do not know
but his conclusion is definitely wrong. If you have a valid
subscription to this site then I suggest you check the answer
too, to find my advice confirmed. Under WinXP, a new
profile folder WILL be created from the Default Users folder
when no personal profile folder exists.

If you cannot create a new profile or if you have problems
deleting existing files then you either have a permission issue
or a corrupted file structure. Check your permissions and
check your file structure and everything else will work just fine.

 

[JCO]

I understand.
And I believe you are correct. I had no problem creating a new profile. I
had issues trying to copy the old profile to the new one. Once I learned
that I had to take Ownership, it copied over pretty good. Then the next
issue is that I found files that will not copy or delete.
Scandisk/Checkdisk did not clear up the issue either.

It is difficult to tell if this is a file corruption of a bad spot on the
harddrive. The only way to know that would be to Image the partition
(excluding the bad files), reformat the partition, then restore the image to
the reformatted partition. I did not have time to do this task since I only
had the one day to work on it. At any rate, the user has her computer and
it is working well enough to get her through the next 5-6 weeks of college.
After that, I may get another crack at working on the laptop.

Okay, I gave you the full run through of what I did. Any other advice is
appreciated and will be taken under consideration... when I get the laptop
back.
Thanks

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

To determine if you have a faulty cluster on the disk is easy:
Such an event gets logged in the Event Logger. There is no
reason to image the partition.

From your report it is not possible to diagnose the reason
why you cannot copy or delete some files. You must perform
these actions from a Command Prompt and report the exact
commands you use and the responses you see on the screen.

 

[JCO]

I don't understand what you want me to do.
From the Command Prompt... what action should I do?

It is my understanding, which I read in a Microsoft article, that Chkdsk
cannot distinguish the difference between a corrupted file or a Cluster
Problem. Therefore it will record it as a Cluster Issue when in-fact.. it
may not be. The problem is in the MFT. That is why, I said... we will
never know unless I re-format the drive. Then if Chkdsk runs and finds
nothing... It must of been corrupted files (not the disk) or the Master Fat
Table (MFT).

That is what I get out of this article?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;246026

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

The article you quote explains that under some circumstances you
cannot delete some files. It says nothing about bad clusters.

To identify bad clusters, run this command from a Command Prompt:

chkdsk /L /R

To copy or delete files from a Command Prompt, run this command:

xcopy "c:\some folder\some file.txt" "d:\some other folder\"
del "c:\some folder\some file.txt"

If you have the problem mentioned in your kb article then you
will have to back up your whole disk to a different medium,
then format it and restore everything.

 

[Vincent Xu [MSFT]]

Hi JCO,

I'm glad to see the knowledge sharing in this thread and I just jump in to
check if your problem still occur. Let me know if you still have concern in
this issue.

Have a good day.

Best regards,

Vincent Xu
Microsoft Online Partner Support

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