User Profile lost but still active

[Guest]

From an admin profile I went to Run and entered: control userpassword2.
Elected Users then a profile to change; elected group membership/standard
user then apply and POOF. It disappeared, however, I can still sign in under
that missing profile but only through "Log on to Windows" and not the welcome
screen option with fast user switching. In addition, when logged onto that
missing profile in the control panel, changing the user profile is still
restricted user setting and is labeled as "Guests". HUH ?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

From an admin profile I went to Run and entered: control userpassword2.
Elected Users then a profile to change; elected group membership/standard
user then apply and POOF. It disappeared, however, I can still sign in under
that missing profile but only through "Log on to Windows" and not the welcome
screen option with fast user switching. In addition, when logged onto that
missing profile in the control panel, changing the user profile is still
restricted user setting and is labeled as "Guests". HUH ?

Let's get a few things straightened out.
- Under WinXP you can have a few accounts defined,
e.g. Fred, Fran, Peter.
- When you log on under any of these accounts then a
profile folder is created for that account, e.g.
c:\documents and settings\Fred
c:\documents and settings\Fran
c:\documents and settings\Peter
- If a profile folder is deleted then a new profile folder is
created automatically at the next logon.
- User account names are visible in the logon screen unless the
are listed in the registry under

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\Us
erList
If so then you must press Ctrl+Alt+Del twice when logging
on in order to get a text box to specify the desired
account name.

I now suggest that it's not your user profile that is lost but
your account name is included in the the above registry
location.

As far as your closing remark is concerned: "In addition,
when logged onto that missing profile in the control panel,
changing the user profile is still restricted user setting and
is labeled as "Guests"." - I don't know what you mean.
"Missing profile in the control panel"? No such thing!
"Labelled as Guests"? Where exactly?

 

[Guest]

Awesome Response Time Pegasus - Thanks. I will try the Ctrl+Alt+Del twice to
check on that. I will try to better define the "In addition, user settings
in the control panel" part after I try the above suggestion.

Thanks in advance

 

[Guest]

--
Thanks in advance

Let's get a few things straightened out.
- Under WinXP you can have a few accounts defined,
e.g. Fred, Fran, Peter.
- When you log on under any of these accounts then a
profile folder is created for that account, e.g.
c:\documents and settings\Fred
c:\documents and settings\Fran
c:\documents and settings\Peter
- If a profile folder is deleted then a new profile folder is
created automatically at the next logon.
- User account names are visible in the logon screen unless the
are listed in the registry under

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\Us
erList
If so then you must press Ctrl+Alt+Del twice when logging
on in order to get a text box to specify the desired
account name.

I now suggest that it's not your user profile that is lost but
your account name is included in the the above registry
location.

As far as your closing remark is concerned: "In addition,
when logged onto that missing profile in the control panel,
changing the user profile is still restricted user setting and
is labeled as "Guests"." - I don't know what you mean.
"Missing profile in the control panel"? No such thing!
"Labelled as Guests"? Where exactly?

Can't find HKEY\SOTWARE\etc.
To clearify: The profile is not missing but just the user account, lets call
it "LO." It disappeared from the "Welcome" sign on screen but available
throught the "log On To Windows" screen. I am an admin user and "LO" is a
restricted user. Signing on to "LO" and going to the User Accounts in the
control panel, the thumbnail picture associated with the "Welcome" screen is
still there but labeled as "Guests". Just need to have it available for the
"Welcome" screen so I can use fast switching again.
Please help.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

--
Thanks in advance



Can't find HKEY\SOTWARE\etc.

That's because your spelling is terrible. The key I gave you was
completely different. Note that HKLM is an abbreviation for
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

To clearify: The profile is not missing but just the user account, lets call
it "LO." It disappeared from the "Welcome" sign on screen but available
throught the "log On To Windows" screen. I am an admin user and "LO" is a
restricted user. Signing on to "LO" and going to the User Accounts in the
control panel, the thumbnail picture associated with the "Welcome" screen is
still there but labeled as "Guests". Just need to have it available for the
"Welcome" screen so I can use fast switching again.
Please help.

I can't tell you any more than before: Check your registry. If all
else fails then create a new user under a slightly different name.

If you demoted your user to Guest status then you can promote
him back to User status via the Control Panel / Users Accounts /
Properties / Other dropbox.

 

[Guest]

From an admin profile I went to Run and entered: control userpassword2.
Elected Users then a profile to change; elected group membership/standard
user then apply and POOF. It disappeared, however, I can still sign in under
that missing profile but only through "Log on to Windows" and not the welcome
screen option with fast user switching. In addition, when logged onto that
missing profile in the control panel, changing the user profile is still
restricted user setting and is labeled as "Guests". HUH ?