"BROKEN" USER ACCOUNT

[Guest]

When I installed WXP, SP2, I initially gave my full name in setting up my
account, but then changed my account type from "Administrator" to "Power
User" and shortened the account name to my nickname. I then created another
"Power User" account for the other user on the PC, initially giving his full
name as well but then shortening it to his nickname. I then renamed the
"PCname/Administrator" account to disguise it. I created passwords for all
three of the accounts. Everything worked fine, except that the directory
structure under "Documents and Settings" for all accounts EXCEPT MY INITIAL
ONE showed the correct new name. My own account persisted in showing my full
name, which seemd to revealing to me. I tried a number of times to change
the name without success: twice "denied access" and once seemed to take the
change, but then reverted to the original full name with reboot. Finally,
just recently, the system allowed me to rename the relevant folders, the
change persisted, but, as I should have known, the original profile is now
inaccessible.

When I try to log on as myself, the system creates a new "Documents and
Settings" user directory with the name "me(current account name)/PCname", but
without ANY OF MY CONFIGURATIONS, even trying to set up Outlook, etc. from
scratch. The old (full name) folder structure remains. I tried, under
"Computer Management" > "Local Users and Groups" > "Users" > "My account"

right click, "Properties" > "Profile" to set the home folder to the old

(original) one, but it doesn't seem to help. i also changed all of the name
revisions in the original subdirectory back to their original format, again
without success.

Can someone please tell me how to rescue all 256 MB of my user data? PLEASE!!

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

The best way to rescue your data is from a backup and since that data is
quite important to you, in the future I suggest you start backing up and
fairly regularly given the chances you seem to take.

That said, try treating this as a corrupt user account as instructed in the
following Knowledge Base Article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q318011

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 08:35:08 -0800, "KenG"

Argh, user account blues again...

Everything worked fine, except that the directory structure under
"Documents and Settings" for all accounts EXCEPT MY INITIAL ONE
showed the correct new name. My own account persisted in showing my full
name, which seemd to revealing to me.

When you rename an account, this does not propagate to the name of the
user account subtree, as you've noticed. If you try and fight that,
e.g. by renaming this around etc., you end up with a real mess.

This might not matter, but sometimes does. For example, a mixed
Win9x/XP environment needs a 3rd-party replacement for WinPopUp, if XP
users are to joind existing Win9x WinPopUp use. Such a tool is
RealPopUp, and it can send msgs to users or computers by name.

But RealPopUp uses the original name - so if that's been changed, you
can't stop it still working. Worse; if that (old) name is used
elsewhere on the LAN, the traffic gets mixed up... e.g...

PC 1 called Jane, user is Janet
PC 2 called Fred, user is Fred

....now Janet gets a new PC, so it's...

PC 1 called Jane, user is Mark
PC 2 called Fred, user is Fred
PC 3 called Boss, user is Janet

....but any RealPopUp msg sent to Janet will appear on both PC1 and
PC3; there's no way to ever be able to use Janet on PC3 alone, short
of wiping PC1 and re-installing everything. Awful.

just recently, the system allowed me to rename the relevant folders, the
change persisted, but, as I should have known, the original profile is now
inaccessible.

Yup. A brittle luxury, this user account stuff.

When I try to log on as myself, the system creates a new "Documents and
Settings" user directory with the name "me(current account name)/PCname", but
without ANY OF MY CONFIGURATIONS, even trying to set up Outlook, etc. from
scratch. The old (full name) folder structure remains. I tried, under
"Computer Management" > "Local Users and Groups" > "Users" > "My account"
(original) one, but it doesn't seem to help. i also changed all of the name
revisions in the original subdirectory back to their original format, again
without success.

Can someone please tell me how to rescue all 256 MB of my user data? PLEASE!!

I'd work on the PC "under anaesthetic", i.e. from a maintenance OS
that can read all files and doesn't care what the OS things is going
on. But if you've used NTFS, and especially if you hardened access to
data (e.g. "make my files private") you may have locked yourself out.

 

[Guest]

Thank you so much for your sage advice, Michael! I actually do have regular
unattended backups to a second HD, but because of a software glitch involving
repeated full rather than the ordered incremental images, I had just been
forced to prune several of the oldest and recreating to backup script. I do
have a separate full system backups archived, but from a month ago. however,
if I restore that version, I'll lose Outlook rules, etc. dating from that
date and have to copy or import them from the existing account anyway. The
article you recommended was excellent! In creating a brand new account with
the desired name (something I would have to do anyway eventually), the
recommended procedure will then allow me to copy configuration settings from
the old account and import Outlook data. The crucial information was which
files from the old profile NOT TO COPY, which, after reading the article and
other resources, I now know to be the corrupted components of my original
profile. Thanks again for the great information and friendly advice!

Ken Grush

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

You're welcome, Ken.

Sorry if I was a bit cryptic with regard to backups. Having once lost three
hard drives in one year I'm fanatical on the subject to say the least.<G>

Completely understandable abut your backup situation and I'm sure this
recent issue was a bit of a lesson to you if not reinforcement of something
you clearly know, the importance of good, up to date backups.

I'm glad the article was able to help, it often does in situations such as
this. I also want to make clear, these newsgroups are peer to peer and
sometimes such admonishments are as much for others who might read the
thread as they are for those to whom we are responding directly.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Thanks again, Michael,

The only other thing I would appreciate your advice on is whether there is
any advantage in using a restored copy of the profile folder, albeit 4 weeks
old, over the one sitting on my HD now but with the Ntuser data corrupted.
The restored version would probably work for log on right away, assuming that
I restore the directory names to their original format, as it was created
before my ill-advised directory name change. But, if I want a nonrevealing
directory structure, I would have to create a new account with the desired
name to launch the new directory structure and then copy exisitng (backup or
current) configuration and application data into the new directory. I guess
it's crucial to know if the Ntuser files are the only corrupted part of the
current folder. As I changed the name of the user account to the nickname
before changing the directory folder(s) name(s), this is how I planned to
proceed, logging on as Administrator.

1. Rename the existing account to the longer, full name version.
2. Create a new user account with the desired nickname as its name.
3. Copy exisitng user account data to the new account --
**this is where I need to know whether it would be better to use a
restored
copy or the current folder. In either case I will need to ensure
Outlook data
is imported from the most current folder.
4. Log off and log on as the new user.
5. Import, if it didn't come accross with the "copy and paste", any Outlook
data
files. I don't use Outlook Express.

Are there any other "imports" which need to be done?

I couldn't agree more with your emphasis on regular backups. A number of
authors have recommended a second HD for this purpose, together with remotely
stored archived copies, of course, and that is the course I took.

I would like to use my favorite "restoration" app, GoBack Deluxe, because it
has several advantages over the WXP utility. With GoBack, you can specify
the size and exact location of the restore database (WXP puts restore
"points" on every partition of every drive), and every file on the PC is
included (WXP focuses on "system" files as I understand it). Of course
backups are needed in case of HD failure or to selectively restore individual
files and/or file versions. This always worked well for me, being much
easier than restoring from backup. However, I recently followed
recommendations in the Resource Kit and installed the Recovery Console at the
root of my system drive. Unfortunately, GoBack has some effect on the MBR,
blocking access, so it seems to make it impossible to boot into the Recovery
Console. I get a message that the Console cannot access "KBDUS.DLL" and am
told to restart the computer. I was wondering whether there is anything I
can do to get around this. Currently, the Recovery Console is on the box and
working well, but GoBack is uninstalled.

Thanks again for your help!

Ken Grush

 

[Guest]

Thanks again, Michael,

The only other thing I would appreciate your advice on is whether there is
any advantage in using a restored copy of the profile folder, albeit 4 weeks
old, over the one sitting on my HD now but with the Ntuser data corrupted.
The restored version would probably work for log on right away, assuming that
I restore the directory names to their original format, as it was created
before my ill-advised directory name change. But, if I want a nonrevealing
directory structure, I would have to create a new account with the desired
name to launch the new directory structure and then copy exisitng (backup or
current) configuration and application data into the new directory. I guess
it's crucial to know if the Ntuser files are the only corrupted part of the
current folder. As I changed the name of the user account to the nickname
before changing the directory folder(s) name(s), this is how I planned to
proceed, logging on as Administrator.

1. Rename the existing account to the longer, full name version.
2. Create a new user account with the desired nickname as its name.
3. Copy exisitng user account data to the new account --
**this is where I need to know whether it would be better to use a
restored
copy or the current folder. In either case I will need to ensure
Outlook data
is imported from the most current folder.
4. Log off and log on as the new user.
5. Import, if it didn't come accross with the "copy and paste", any Outlook
data
files. I don't use Outlook Express.

Are there any other "imports" which need to be done?

I couldn't agree more with your emphasis on regular backups. A number of
authors have recommended a second HD for this purpose, together with remotely
stored archived copies, of course, and that is the course I took.

I would like to use my favorite "restoration" app, GoBack Deluxe, because it
has several advantages over the WXP utility. With GoBack, you can specify
the size and exact location of the restore database (WXP puts restore
"points" on every partition of every drive), and every file on the PC is
included (WXP focuses on "system" files as I understand it). Of course
backups are needed in case of HD failure or to selectively restore individual
files and/or file versions. This always worked well for me, being much
easier than restoring from backup. However, I recently followed
recommendations in the Resource Kit and installed the Recovery Console at the
root of my system drive. Unfortunately, GoBack has some effect on the MBR,
blocking access, so it seems to make it impossible to boot into the Recovery
Console. I get a message that the Console cannot access "KBDUS.DLL" and am
told to restart the computer. I was wondering whether there is anything I
can do to get around this. Currently, the Recovery Console is on the box and
working well, but GoBack is uninstalled.

Thanks again for your help!

Ken Grush

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

I would restore from backup. The one sitting on your hard drive is the one
with the problem and we're not exactly certain of the cause but it's likely
sitting in the profile already on your hard drive.

Aside from Outlook, as long as you can get to the old data, I can't think of
anything off-hand that would need to be imported. Perhaps the Favorites,
there is an import/export function on the File menu in IE and it works great
for this.

I have a backup computer and I additionally save my data files to a CD-RW.
I use several different means of backup, that way if one goes bad, I have
additional sets in some other medium. For example, I make a selective
backup of my data files using a backup program as well as saving any data
file specifically to my hard drive and to a CD-RW. CD-RW disks do go bad
eventually so I also keep a copy of all of this on the backup computer. I
also create images of my system periodically. One I keep on a separate
partition for convenience and another I keep on the backup computer. When I
move to a DVD-burner I'll also keep one on a DVD disk.

Image files are extremely handy. If you are about to do something you know
might cause your system to tank, you can create an image file of your setup.
If the system tanks, the imaging software usually has a means of booting and
running the image app which would allow you to restore the image file. At
the very worst, I might have to reinstall XP, then install the imaging
application and then restore the image. Even in that scenario, I'd be up
and running again within 30 minutes to an hour.

The beauty of System Restore is that it only restores your system settings,
sometimes that is desirable. SR was never meant to be a backup application
as I'm sure you realize is quite obvious. GoBack has its advantages but
since I use image files supplemented by my backup, it's not really an issue
for me.

Also, if you get a virus or some sort of malware and you don't know
precisely when you got it, GoBack can be dangerous because you may simply be
restoring an already corrupt setup. I keep images of a clean install of XP,
another with a clean install plus my major applications installed and then,
I periodically make images of my setup as it is in its current state, all of
which is supplemented by my data backups.

You would have to visit the Symantec website and check their tech papers,
knowledge base or with their tech support about the specific issue you
describe.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the added insights. Until I read your latest response, I had the
most diverse set of backup mechanisms and destinations I knew of.
Congratulations! Although, at times it is a bit difficult to recall exactly
which file or file version is on which date backup, but that's what backup
browsers are for.

I would like to strongly recommend Dantz Retrospect 6.5 Professional, a very
scalable and sophisticated backup utility. Short of corporate Veritas type
agents, it has the most versatile, powerful and fast backup capabilities I've
found. Be prepared to actually read the manual, as some of it's extensive
repertoire of options are not intuitive or readily apparent. But when you've
learned it, it a snap to configure and run. I have the "Professional"
license, which includes up to 2 "Clients" in addition to the Base PC. It's a
bit pricey relative to other apps, and the annual maintenance contract
(~$130.00/yr.), which I also recommend, isn't cheap either. However, it
gives you access not only to all updates, but also to new major upgrade
versions (one's due out 1st quarter of 2005) as well as 8 x 5 (or maybe 6)
access to customer service and technical advice/support at no additional
charge. Check it out. Thanks again for an informative and interesting
exchange!

Ken Grush

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

I'm familiar with Dantz and it is indeed a very powerful piece of software
but as your post suggests you really should be an experienced user.

I find Stomp's Backup MyPC, provided by Veritas and formerly known as Backup
Exec is more than adequate to my own needs especially given this supplements
my imaging software. It's also a little more user friendly than the Dantz
product though I do believe the Dantz product is more versatile and quite
robust.