I have a main profile (mia) under which I can access the master files
(C:/documents and settings/diaco) however this profile has become
corrupt (I think it's the registry keys) where every time I log into
it, it has to make a temp profile.
I've seen this caused by file system corruption involving not the
registry hive itself (ntuser.dat) but the associated log file
(ntuser,dat.LOG), which is disposable.
Once I renamed away the broken log file, all was well.
It's not easy to operate on this stuff from within Windows, because
files are always "in use"and/or are protected by the active OS.
You could try creating a different user profile (which will need admin
rights), log into that, and try and manage your profile's nads from
there. You could try ChkDsk /F, I guess, but there's no muzzle on
what that dog "fixes", so you should back up first.
Or you could do what I do, which is to build a Bart boot CDR, and from
there, operate on the relevant files. If the ntuser.dat hive really
is bad, you can also harvest a recent backup from C:\SVI's restore
points... I may have written that up somewhere... ah:
http://cquirke.blogspot.com/2006/10/bart-vs-badpoolcaller.html
Also, Google( Bart PE ) - IMO as essential as a spare tyre and
openable engine compartment in a car.
This is admittedly geeky stuff, but it is not impossible. Perhaps
your tech could use the details more effectively, though I wouldn't
expect a big OEM's "support" to take much interest.
The big picture is, your PC is eating important bits of itself - and
you really should find out why. If you haven't been switching off
without shutting down or deliberately running flaky software on it (as
someone learning to write machine code might do), then you may have
bad hardware or software (drivers, malware) in da house.
Then I made a new profile and even gave it admin rights, and
when I try to open the diaco folder from it, it says I do not have
permission. How do I give it permission?
Google( "Take ownership" XP )
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421
I avoid that whole mess by avoiding NTFS, on XP.
I want to delete the mia profile and just continue using the new
profile, since the mia profile is bad.
Nasty, as you'll be re-defaulting all settings, unless you manually
re-apply those changes to the new profile. Then again, if you think
those defaults (hide file name extensions, use 1G+ for web cache,
etc.) are acceptable, then nothing's changed
But I don not want to lose access to the diaco folder, where
all of my c drive stuff is. Dell support is useless, they want
me to basically re-image my computer and have to install everything
Well, they would, wouldn't they? They have "vendor vision", and as
all they are responsible for is the hardware, they couldn't care what
happens to anything else. Only when your attempts to "just" wipe and
rebuild fail to a smoking halt (or continuously reboot itself to death
due to crashes on startup plus the default "restart on errors") will
they go "hey, maybe the hardware's bad - send it in".
It's like...
- "Hello, is that Sunshine Foods?"
- ' Yep '
- "I think this tin is poisoned, it's bulging, can I send it back?"
- ' No, try giving some to one of the kids first '
- "OK... hey! He sort of jerked a lot, and isn't moving anymore!!"
- ' Hmm, alright; here's an RMA number... '
- "What about my child?"
- ' Restore your DNA backups ' <click>
--------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - -
Tech Support: The guys who follow the
'Parade of New Products' with a shovel.
