ntuser.dat

[Tester]

Hi there,
Like a general troubleshooting step, is it safe to delete user profile
C:\documents and settings\JohnD for example after I backed up all his
data like my documents, favorites and desktop for the user as a last
resort before reformatting machine?
Like I uninstall/reinstall program first for the user if they give
problems and if that does not do it I delete the profile.
Will system become unstable or are there any other bad consequences I
have not thought of?
Thanks a lot, Calin

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi there,
Like a general troubleshooting step, is it safe to delete user profile
C:\documents and settings\JohnD for example after I backed up all his
data like my documents, favorites and desktop for the user as a last
resort before reformatting machine?
Like I uninstall/reinstall program first for the user if they give
problems and if that does not do it I delete the profile.
Will system become unstable or are there any other bad consequences I
have not thought of?
Thanks a lot, Calin

Backing up the user's profile (including all locked and hidden
files) will preserve his various settings. However, it won't
preserve the currently installed software or any hardware drivers
that he might have installed himself.

Why do you actually want to format the disk?

 

[Guest]

As long as you create another user account with the same properties (ie.
Administrative or limited user account), then you can log in under the new
account and delete the old user account and there will be no ill effects on
the computer. But, as Pegasus said there are files hidden within a user
profile that you did not mention you've backed up including:
Email(Outlook/OE/Thunderbird etc.) Address Book, Favorites, and other files
used on a regular basis. You have not told us what the problem is that you
are trying to troubleshoot. Maybe you should try and ask us about the
problem as well. In short it is ok to delete a user account from the
computer. It will not harm Windows it will only remove the users files and
settings. Good Luck,

Joe

Kemco ITP

 

[Tester]

Backing up the user's profile (including all locked and hidden

files) will preserve his various settings. However, it won't
preserve the currently installed software or any hardware drivers
that he might have installed himself.

Why do you actually want to format the disk?

Hi Pegasus,
User got some errors with a video capture program could not capture
sound only video, I deleted his profile and next his sound capture
started working but also got some other errors while opening a
directory with jpg files, or importing these pictures into word/
powerpoint. Next I ran chkdsk: c: /f /r , ran diskeeper, ran an Office
repair and I wondered if deleting his profile caused some instability
with office, etc ? Now it seems working so I will not do anything.
Calin

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi Pegasus,
User got some errors with a video capture program could not capture
sound only video, I deleted his profile and next his sound capture
started working but also got some other errors while opening a
directory with jpg files, or importing these pictures into word/
powerpoint. Next I ran chkdsk: c: /f /r , ran diskeeper, ran an Office
repair and I wondered if deleting his profile caused some instability
with office, etc ? Now it seems working so I will not do anything.
Calin

Deleting a user profile has no effect whatsoever on users other
than the selected user.

 

[Tester]

Deleting a user profile has no effect whatsoever on users other
than the selected user.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi Pegasus,
But deleting user profile and recreating a new one will affect all his
running programs, will they become unstable or they will still run,
this is my point?
Thanks a lot, Calin

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi Pegasus,
But deleting user profile and recreating a new one will affect all his
running programs, will they become unstable or they will still run,
this is my point?
Thanks a lot, Calin

Most programs won't run unless you do one of these things:
a) Re-install them, or
b) Modify the registry to point the recreated user to the old profile
folder.

Option b) appears pointless in your case because you would restore
the pre-existing error conditions.