Windows won't use the backed up user profile, and not enough space to copy Docs & Settings

[Charles Blaquière]

(XP Pro SP2; I have admin privileges.)

Three days ago, my system drive accidentally became full. As a result,
another user (Michael) could not log on with their profile. Windows created
a temporary profile and assured me, in the event viewer, that it would
"automatically try to use the backed up profile the next time this user logs
on." (Events at end of message, but they're standard stuff.)

A few reboots later, Windows still uses the temporary profile for Michael,
with C:\Documents and Settings\Michael.TINMAN or C:\Documents and
Settings\Michael.TINMAN.000 as the home folder. The original C:\Documents
and Settings\Michael folder is still present.

The only System Restore checkpoint available is from after the time when
Userenv messages related to Michael's profile appeared in the Event Viewer,
so that's not an option.

Notes:

- I don't have enough free space to copy the Documents and Settings folder
(minus Ntuser.dat, Ntuser.dat.log, and Ntuser.ini) from the old Michael
folder to Michael.TINMAN or Michael.TINMAN.000 .

- Even if I did, there's an aesthetic concern with having user Michael have
a home folder other than just "Michael". Ick.

Two questions:

1) Now that I've cleared space for Windows to function correctly and
rebooted, since Windows did not revert Michael to his old folder and use
C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\ntuser.dat, does that mean that the file
is corrupted?

2) If so, is there a way for me to have the Michael account use the
newly-created ntuser.dat from one of the other folders, yet use the old
C:\Documents and Settings\Michael as its (what's the term - home folder?)

Thanks for your help.

Charles

__________

The following sequence appeared twice - I assume Michael tried to log on
twice.


Windows was unable to load the registry. This is often caused by
insufficient memory or insufficient security rights.
DETAIL - System could not allocate the required space in a registry log. for
C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\ntuser.dat
----------

Windows cannot load the locally stored profile. Possible causes of this
error include insufficient security rights or a corrupt local profile. If
this problem persists, contact your network administrator.
DETAIL - System could not allocate the required space in a registry log.
----------

Windows has backed up this user's profile. Windows will automatically try to
use the backed up profile the next time this user logs on.
----------

Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a temporary
profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off.
----------

Windows cannot load the user's profile but has logged you on with the
default profile for the system.
DETAIL - There is not enough space on the disk.
----------

 

[Charles Blaquière]

1. Log in as an Administrator (NOT Michael)
2. Back up any data from the current Profile folders (any of them) -
don't bother with NTUSER.DAT, just backup anything that you want to
keep from Favorites, Desktop, My Documents, Application Data, etc.
3. Put the backup folder someplace simple, like C:\BACKUP
4. DELETE all the profile folders FOR MICHAEL (So remove \Michael,
\Michael.TINMAN, \Michael.TINMAN.000)

Can I boot in Safe Mode (as an Admin user other than Michael) and simply
RENAME Michael's original profile folder? (To, say, Backup) I only have 1.3G
free on C: and 0.95G free on D: - and Michael's "Documents and Settings"
folder is 11.4G. Actually backing up his data would be time-consuming,
although feasible. (I have a DVD burner)

(See below for followup to this question)

4. Go in to Regedit (Start>Run, regedit)
5. Browse to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

6. Look through each of the Keys under ProfileList - inside each Key,
you'll see a value titled "ProfileImagePath" - That's the Profile
folder. Locate ALL the keys for Michael (he'll heave 3-4 entries,
one for each junked up profile folder) and DELETE the Keys (Keys are
the folders on the left - don't delete the ProfileList key, just
delete the keys under ProfileList that contain data about Michael's
account)

Once all the Profile Paths are gone and the Profile folders are gone,
just log out and have Michael log back in. It'll re-create his
profile path in \Michael.

I like it! That's exactly the sort of solution I was looking for.

Followup: if I renamed Michael's original folder in step 2, can I then:
- Boot in Safe Mode (as an Admin user other than Michael)
- Copy his newly-created Michael\ntuser.dat into the renamed folder
- Delete the newly-created Michael profile folder
- Rename the Backup folder to Michael

Would that be allowed?

Then, go back in as administrator and give him all the My Documents,
Desktop, Application Data, etc files you backed up (btw, I only
reccomend My Docs and Desktop - the rest can be a big pain and cause
problems if you're unfamilliar with them)

Michael has user data for a ton of programs - let's see if we can avoid
recreating it.

- I just did a search on Application Data, and only found one instance of a
file referencing the new ...TINMAN... profile.
- The registry only mentions "Michael.TINMAN" within the context of user
profiles.

So I should probably be able to reuse all his application data without any
problem.