Documents and Settings subfolders

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave D
  • Start date Start date
D

Dave D

Has anyone had this problem (feature)? I set up my brand
new PC, with XP home edition already installed, with 4
user accounts upon the first time boot up of the machine.
These had first names associated with them and created
folders under document and settings with the same names
(i.e. - joe, bill, ted, mike). Then when each user account
was accessed, it would create an almost duplcate folder
(the duplicate one was about 10% larger in size) using the
computer system name I also assigned during first time
boot up of the PC (i.e. - computer1) as an extension, so
that I would have both a joe folder and a joe.computer1
folder. Deleting the duplicate folders only means they
would be recreated next time that user account is logged
into. These are not temp folders though - if you don't
delete them, they stay. Anyone know what is causing this?
Thanks much!
 
You cannot manually create user profile folders.
These are automatically created in the stand-alone
environment upon first login by the account.
 
Roger - Thank you - and yes. But...what I'm asking is why
is the system automatically creating TWO essentially
duplicate user profile folders for ONE user account??
P.S. - Other people I know with XP have not experienced
this phenomenom. If they have a user named "joe", they
only have one user profile folder, rather than one
called "joe" and one called "joe.COMPUTER1".
 
Hi Dave,

Thanks for clearing that up, as I was not too certain from
your post just when the first of the two was being created.

There are three circumstances I am aware of where this
happens, well, now maybe four.
1. if the first profile for the use has become unrecognizable
2. in a domain if domain account Joe and local account Joe
both use the machine
3. if multiple boots installed on the machine end up using
the same Documents and Settings for profiling

Your circumstance, where a newly defined account gets two
profile folders created on its first login is new to me.

What happens if you define a test account, log in, and then
do something like making a shortcut on the desktop and
check to see that it is in the D&S\account.computer profile.
Then log off and in as an admin, delete the D&S\account
profile and rename the D&S\account.computer profile to
be simply D&S\account ?

Was this system cloned ?
 
Roger,

Thanks much for the more detailed analysis.
It's interesting the other ways you can see this
phenomenom happening - and they make sense to me.
Unfortunately, I appear to be in that elusive fourth cause
(i.e. - unknown) category!

It will probably have to remain a mystery to us all (which
is both good and bad) because I went in and deleted my
user accounts (actually deleted the admin accounts in safe
mode and then the limited accounts in normal mode) and the
recreated accounts are NOT experiencing this problem.
I've tried messing with it - but can't get the
account.computer profile to recreate. So it looks
fixed...for now? Bizarre.
Thank you again. And if you think there is something else
worth trying or checking anyway, please let me know.
 
Hi Roger,
In my first login as administrator my XP pro created a profile as
administrator.COMPUTERNAME without ever asking for it. Now I have two
administrator profile folder, an "administrator" and a
"administrator.COMPUTERNAME". But in the logon screen there is only one
administrator icon. At the same time checking my system with MBSA, it warns
that I have too much administrators.

My question is simple. Which administrator folder can I delete, if any?
Thanks
Mike
 
If you are not in a domain and do not have multiple boots,
then only one of these is in use.
To determine which you can use the feature in properties of
the taskbar to do advance customization, and this will dump
you into an Explorer window located in the profile that is
being used. Alternatively, just create a new shortcut on your
desktop and look into the .\desktop subfolders of the two
profiles and see which it is within.
The other is not used. Rather than delete it, a safer thing is
to rename it, just in case you need it or something in it.
I rename to things like what-it-was.junk so later when I see
something I have forgotten about that ends in .junk I just delete
it at that time.
 
Back
Top