Help: I changed the reg key for my XP profile

[Andy]

I run WinXP Pro/SP2. It's a standalone machine attached to Internet
by cable modem.

To speed up a particular application, I disabled (renamed) what I
thought was a useless-looking registry key which the aplication was
repeatedly accessing. What a mistake !!!

The accounts on my machine include the following:

(1) the original administrators account,
(2) my own account (with admin privileges),
(3) a user account

and I changed the key for (2):
HKLM\S-1-5-21-861567501-920026266-1957994488-1003

-----------

When I rebooted, many of the startup programs did not launch.

So I rebooted again and this time I got a completely new desktop, new
almost everything! I had lost most of my personal settings!

I noticed that under Docs & Settings the was a new folder called
"John.X" in addition to my original account "John". ("X" is the
computer name I assigned.)

------------

How do I get back to how I was?

I have a backup of XP which is several weeks out of date and is too
old for me to to use. But I guess it would contains the unchanged
registry keys. Can I use those?

Andy

 

[Dave Patrick]

Sounds like you corrupted your profile. You can rename the profile(while
logged on as local admin), then when the user logs on again a new profile
will be created from the image in \default user. You can then copy over the
items you need from the renamed profile. Copy the folder contents not the
folders themselves. When your sure you have all you need, you can delete the
renamed profile(s). Use the import function of your e-mail software. Don't
overwrite ntuser.dat


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I run WinXP Pro/SP2. It's a standalone machine attached to Internet
| by cable modem.
|
| To speed up a particular application, I disabled (renamed) what I
| thought was a useless-looking registry key which the aplication was
| repeatedly accessing. What a mistake !!!
|
| The accounts on my machine include the following:
|
| (1) the original administrators account,
| (2) my own account (with admin privileges),
| (3) a user account
|
| and I changed the key for (2):
| HKLM\S-1-5-21-861567501-920026266-1957994488-1003
|
| -----------
|
| When I rebooted, many of the startup programs did not launch.
|
| So I rebooted again and this time I got a completely new desktop, new
| almost everything! I had lost most of my personal settings!
|
| I noticed that under Docs & Settings the was a new folder called
| "John.X" in addition to my original account "John". ("X" is the
| computer name I assigned.)
|
| ------------
|
| How do I get back to how I was?
|
| I have a backup of XP which is several weeks out of date and is too
| old for me to to use. But I guess it would contains the unchanged
| registry keys. Can I use those?
|
| Andy

 

[Dave B]

You must be a registry expert if you can tell how useful an entry is just by
looking at it.
Have you tried a restore point?

 

[Andy]

You must be a registry expert if you can tell how useful an entry
is just by looking at it.

I learnt that I was working well beyond my expertise. :-(

Have you tried a restore point?

Unfortunately I am not using restore points but I am taking full system
backups instead. That's what I meant to indicate when I said I had a
"backup of XP".