deleting old profiles after recovery

[tjb]

xp home sp2

back in november i had to do a recovery that set my xp back to factory
settings.
i still have the old log on user profiles that still have files in them but
i can no longer access them.
i get a prompt saying "- "user profile" is not accessible, access is denied."

i noticed when doing a malware scan of my computer that the old user profile
that cant be accessed is being scanned.

thinking i can save scan time i considered deleting this old user profile,
since i cant open it or use it in any way.

is it safe to delete?

thanx in advance.

 

[John John - MVP]

xp home sp2

back in november i had to do a recovery that set my xp back to factory
settings.
i still have the old log on user profiles that still have files in them but
i can no longer access them.
i get a prompt saying "- "user profile" is not accessible, access is denied."

Take ownership of the profile and all its subfolders:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421
How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP

You will then be able to access the profile and its files.

i noticed when doing a malware scan of my computer that the old user profile
that cant be accessed is being scanned.

thinking i can save scan time i considered deleting this old user profile,
since i cant open it or use it in any way.

is it safe to delete?

As far as Windows is concerned, yes. Windows will not let you delete
the currently active profile (the profile with which you are logged on),
any other profiles are fair game, ultimately only you know if it is safe
to delete a profile.

John

 

[tjb]

awesome!

it worked!
thank you very much.

Take ownership of the profile and all its subfolders:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421
How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP

You will then be able to access the profile and its files.



As far as Windows is concerned, yes. Windows will not let you delete
the currently active profile (the profile with which you are logged on),
any other profiles are fair game, ultimately only you know if it is safe
to delete a profile.

John
.

 

[John John - MVP]

You're welcome.

awesome!

it worked!
thank you very much.