Cannot Log On To Guest Account

[PhilBy]

I cannot log on to the guest account or a newly created
limited account. It gives an error message profile
cannot be found and than some registry error the a file
was not in registry format or something (then it goes
right back to the welcome screen). Currently I can only
log on to the original administrator account that was
created when I first got the computer. I have WinXP Home
Editon.

Thanks in Advance...

 

[Brian]

Hmmm... either your registry is screwed.. which means
reinstall Windows by using the windowsxp disc as a boot
disc and it will just recreate the windows operating
system and back up your registry regularly. Instead of
going through all that hastle first, you can also try
system restore to when you didnt have the problem. Also,
you can see if the guest account is disabled?

 

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

The user registry hives are separate files from the system hives. It
could be that XP for some reason can't create the profile folders in
C:\Documents and Settings. If you tried to move D&S, this could be the
cause of your woe.

 

[Shain Wray]

Hello Phil,

Please post the exact error messages you are receiving so we can look
further into this.


Best regards,
--
Shain Wray
Microsoft PSS Security Team

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.
Please reply to the newsgroup so that others may benefit. Thanks!

 

[PhilBy]

User Environment

Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be
loaded check that you are connected to the network, or
that your network is functioning correctly. If the
problem persists, please contact your network
administrator.

DETAIL - The system has attempted to load or restore a
file into the registry but the specified file is not in a
registry file.

The only option is to click ok, and you are returned to
the log in screen.


By the way, the computer is not on network.

Thanks for looking into the situation further.

 

[Shain Wray [MSFT]]

Hello Phil,

The likely issue is that the Documents and Settings\Default user folder is
missing. To see if your Default User profile is missing, do the following -

1. Open My Computer and click on Tools and then Folder Options.
2. Click on the View tab and change the radio button to Show hiddent files
and folders.
3. Check the Documents and Settings folder to make sure there is no
Default User folder.
4. If there is a Default User folder then check the contents and make sure
you have the following folders -

Application Data
Cookies
Desktop
Favorites
Local Settings
My Documents
Nethood
Printhood
Recent
SentTo
Start Menu
Templates

Also it should have a file NTUSER.DAT

If any are missing, please let me know which ones.

5. If there is not a Default User folder, then create one and copy the
contents of another users profile into it. Do not copy the Administrators
contents into the folder, only another user.

Best regards,
--
Shain Wray
Microsoft PSS Security Team

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.
Please reply to the newsgroup so that others may benefit. Thanks!

 

[PhilBy]

I didn't have a folder that said my documents in there or
one that said Recent. I tired to make new folders with
those names. It said folder with that name already
exists. I did show all hidden and system files like you
mentioned using the folder view options. I don't have
any other user folders on my comptuer other than the
administrator. I tried making a new limited user folder
again (so I could copy the files into the default user
folder like you said, but after creating the new limited
user through the users control panel, there isn't a
folder for the newly created user name. I only see the
one Labeled Philip (which is the adminstrator account
that I use). XP came preinstalled on my Compaq laptop
and the ony CDs it came with restore the hard drive to
factory default. If possible I would like to be able to
fix it with out having to restore the hard drive that way.

Thanks again for all of your help...

Philip

-----Original Message-----
Hello Phil,

The likely issue is that the Documents and

Settings\Default user folder is

 

[Shain Wray [MSFT]]

Hello Philip,

So, it looks like you may have a corrupted Default User profile. Do you
happen to have access another Windows XP Home system?

If so, try renaming the current Default User profile on your system and
copy one from a working Windows XP Home system. Make sure you check the
Security on the one you copy over and make sure it is set with the correct
privileges.

Best regards,
--
Shain Wray
Microsoft PSS Security Team

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.
Please reply to the newsgroup so that others may benefit. Thanks!