User account mess - please help!

[Rev RN]

I have a new-to-me Dell Dimension 4550 with a new install of XP Pro SP2. I
loaded a bunch of programs before I realized that I hadn't set up a user
account separate from the Administrator. Once I did, I set up a personal
user account with Administrator privileges. Trouble was, none of the stuff
I'd done to personalize the setup etc was available on that profile.

Fast forward - I don't know everything I did to try to copy stuff over from
one profile to the other, but here's where I stand.

When I get the welcome screen, two accounts show up: Administrator and
"Me".

Administrator still has the settings & correct application data.
When I log onto "me" it's a totally fresh profile.

HOWEVER, when I go into Documents & Settings, I have the following user
accounts listed:
Administrator,
All Users,
Default User,
"Me," and
"Me.Me09" (the name this computer has on our peer-to-peer network.)

This last account does not show up in the Control Panel User Accounts
anywhere, nor does it anyplace else I've looked. "Me" does, but does not
appear to load when I log on as Administrator.

When I try to delete "Me.Me09" in Explorer, I get a message saying that this
file is essential to Windows working right and can't be deleted.

What I want to end up with is one user account that has all my settings,
files, etc. so the Administrator account will "disappear" like it's supposed
to. Is there a way to make this happen? I've looked in this site, as well
as a lot of others, and can't seem to find anyone who's had this problem.

I hope somebody out there can help me - it's driving me crazy. I don't want
to install any more programs until I get this straightened out.

Thanks

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a new-to-me Dell Dimension 4550 with a new install of XP Pro
SP2. I loaded a bunch of programs before I realized that I hadn't
set up a user account separate from the Administrator. Once I did,
I set up a personal user account with Administrator privileges.
Trouble was, none of the stuff I'd done to personalize the setup
etc was available on that profile.

Fast forward - I don't know everything I did to try to copy stuff
over from one profile to the other, but here's where I stand.

When I get the welcome screen, two accounts show up: Administrator
and "Me".

Administrator still has the settings & correct application data.
When I log onto "me" it's a totally fresh profile.

HOWEVER, when I go into Documents & Settings, I have the following
user accounts listed:
Administrator,
All Users,
Default User,
"Me," and
"Me.Me09" (the name this computer has on our peer-to-peer network.)

This last account does not show up in the Control Panel User
Accounts anywhere, nor does it anyplace else I've looked. "Me"
does, but does not appear to load when I log on as Administrator.

When I try to delete "Me.Me09" in Explorer, I get a message saying
that this file is essential to Windows working right and can't be
deleted.

What I want to end up with is one user account that has all my
settings, files, etc. so the Administrator account will
"disappear" like it's supposed to. Is there a way to make this
happen? I've looked in this site, as well as a lot of others, and
can't seem to find anyone who's had this problem.

I hope somebody out there can help me - it's driving me crazy. I
don't want to install any more programs until I get this
straightened out.

Just copy the start menu items and desktop shortcuts you need to the account
you plan to use.
(\Documents and Settings\<account>\Desktop\ and \Documents and
Settings\<account>\Start Menu\)

Then use TweakUI to again hide the "administrator" account from the
"Welcome" screen logon.

Ignore extra folders - because it is unclear why you have them right now.

Don't know which one is 'in use' when logged in with the account you really
want to be using? Easy enough to find out. Log in as that user, visit the
\Documents and Settings\<account> you think it is in explorer, go into the
"Desktop" folder and create a new TEXT document in that folder. If it
appears on your desktop - you have the right one, if it does not - try the
other possibility. That's the one you want to copy the shortcuts to.

 

[Rev RN]

I'm afraid to run TweakUI right now because I don't want to lose the
Administrator account on the Welcome screen until I get the rest figured out.

I still can't log into the "Me" account. It's in the Documents & Settings
list, but whenever I try to log into it, XP creates a new user and names it
"Me.Me09" (and the only place I can find that profile is in Documents &
Settings). I've made sure that there are both start-up and desktop folders
in "Me" 's documents and settings. The only place the .txt file shows up is
when I'm logged on to Administrator.

"Me" also shows up when I go into Safe Mode, as well as in computer
management. It's the administrator group because I've made it an
administrator account. As I already said, "Me.Me09" does not show up in
either of these locations.

What will happen if I delete "Me" in documents and settings? Is there any
way to save what I've copied to it already? Should I intentionally create a
whole new profile and start copying files from Administrator and "Me" all
over again?

Thanks.

 

[Jim]

Replies inline ---

I'm afraid to run TweakUI right now because I don't want to lose the
Administrator account on the Welcome screen until I get the rest figured
out.

You can alway logon to any account through the ctrl-alt-del sequence.

I still can't log into the "Me" account. It's in the Documents & Settings
list, but whenever I try to log into it, XP creates a new user and names
it
"Me.Me09" (and the only place I can find that profile is in Documents &
Settings). I've made sure that there are both start-up and desktop
folders
in "Me" 's documents and settings. The only place the .txt file shows up
is
when I'm logged on to Administrator.

You have the Me.Me09 account because you tried to make a new account called
"Me" before you deleted the original. The computer is working correctly
because the user name "Me" is just an alias for the folder tree starting
with Me.Me09.

"Me" also shows up when I go into Safe Mode, as well as in computer
management. It's the administrator group because I've made it an
administrator account. As I already said, "Me.Me09" does not show up in
either of these locations.

What will happen if I delete "Me" in documents and settings? Is there any
way to save what I've copied to it already? Should I intentionally create
a
whole new profile and start copying files from Administrator and "Me" all
over again?

There is no need to copy files, etc., anywhere. What you do is to put the
shortcuts to programs which every user executes in the "All Users" folder
tree. Put the shortcuts to programs which only the Adminstrator needs in
the "Administrator" folder tree. Put the shortcuts which only the user "Me"
needs in the "Me.Me09" folder tree. The programs reside in the "Program
Files" folder tree, and you should leave them there.
By the way, somehow or other I managed to create a new account for myself on
this computer. That procedure is how I managed to get things working once
again.
Jim

 

[Anteaus]

Typing 'set' in a commandprompt window will tell you (among other things)
which profile-folder the current user is accessing. If it's the wrong one,
the ReProfiler utility from this page:

http://iwrconsultancy.co.uk/software/

may help. Note that it's alpha software so use at your discretion.

Note that I wouldn't advise assigning the Administrator profile to a
standard user, though.