user profile question

[Steve T]

I had a corrupt local profile as in my post from 4/21/09 and got it resolved
following the suggestions. Now I have, under Docs & Settings; an
Administration folder and the new profile named XXXX. I don't want that. The
Admin folder is still intact, nothing has been deleted. Can I just delete
Ntuser.dat,Ntuser.dat.log and Ntuser.ini in that folder and copy back from
XXXX profile? I just want to have one user account/profile named Admin is
what I'm getting to. Thanks, Steve T.

 

[John John - MVP]

No, not really. There are many references in the ntuser.dat file that
point to the folder itself, if you move this file from:

C:\Documents and Settings\XXXX
to
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator

much of the information will still be pointing to Documents and
Settings\XXXX and Windows as well as many of the applications will look
there for their files.

John

 

[Steve T]

If I delete the Ntuser files from the Admin folder, will Windows recreate
them? Steve T.

 

[John John - MVP]

No, these files are created when the profile is created, they are then
built upon as the user uses his/her account, new information and
settings are added when the users sets the account to his or her liking.

John

 

[Steve T]

So how do I re-create a new Admin profile? Steve T.

 

[John John (MVP)]

You create a new administrator account. Were you running your XP
installation on the built-in Administrator account?

John

 

[Steve T]

Yes I was. I never added any other profiles. Won't XP tell me that an
Administrator account already exists? By the way, after I created the new
profile; I changed the account name in Control Panel but the original name
remains under Explorer view. If I right-click on that name and try to change
to the User name in Control Panel I get an error message that states this is
a system file and I cannot change it. Thanks, Steve T.

 

[John John - MVP]

I assume that you have another account (the one that you now use) with
administrator privileges?

Rename: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator

to: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.Old

Logoff or reboot and logon as Administrator.

It isn't a good idea to use the built-in Administrator account for your
day to day activities, this is a special purpose account, and accont
that you use to get you out of a pickle!

John

 

[Steve T]

Thanks John. I'll give it a go later tonight or tomorrow and report back.
Steve T.

 

[Steve T]

Well here we go again John. FYI, the User profile problem is not on this PC;
it's on another one I have on a small home network. I went to C:\Docs & Sett
in Explorer View and right-clicked on Administrator and renamed it to
Administrator.Old. I rebooted and went to CP>User Accounts and made sure I
was logged on to the new profile I had created a few days ago. Not a problem
since Administrator icon is not even present, only my new account and a
grayed-out Guest appear in CP. I tried to create a New User Account but when
I type in Administrator it states that it already exists, choose another
name. Thanks, Steve T.

 

[John John - MVP]

Reboot and logon as "Administrator" You cannot create another user with
the same name, just try to log back on to the old Administrator account.

John

 

[Steve T]

My PC boots straight to the desktop, there are no options at the Welcome
screen to select an account. The one account I created does have Admin
privileges. I guess I'm just confused when you say "Administrator". I don't
understand the reasoning for changing the file to .Old if I cannot create a
new one to replace it? Thanks, Steve T.

 

[John John - MVP]

What did you mean when earlier you posted "The Admin folder is still
intact"? What is the "Admin" folder, please write the full name and
path of the account, don't abbreviate the spelling. My understanding is
(or was) that you were running the computer on the built-in
"Administrator" account and that it was corrupted and that you now
wanted to try to rebuild this profile folder. Are you using XP Home or
XP Pro?

John

 

[Steve T]

I am running XP Home.
In Explorer view C:\Documents and Settings>
Administrator.Old (this is the one I renamed .Old as I thought you
instructed)
All Users, (etc.)
is the current view.
Scrolling down I have the User profile that I created named Steve.
Start>Control Panel>User Accounts only shows User named Steve and grayed out
Guest Account.
On boot up, the PC goes to a blank (blue) Welcome screen and then straight
to desktop. There is no option to select a User.
Sorry about screwing up your weekend.
Thanks, Steve T.

 

[Steve T]

John, I was using the built-in Administrator when it became corrupted. I had
to create the one named Steve to overcome the start-up error messages. Steve
T.

 

[John John - MVP]

You have now come to a point that most people come to after running XP
Home on the built-in "Administrator" as their day to day user account.
On XP Home as soon as you create a second user account the built-in
Administrator account becomes hidden, the Administrator account is now
only available by loging on to Safe Mode. From now on you will have to
run on the second account that you created (Steve).

To try to rebuild the corrupt Administrator profile log on to Safe Mode
and Windows should create a new set of profile folders for the account.

John

 

[John John - MVP]

What was the startup error message?

John

John, I was using the built-in Administrator when it became corrupted. I had
to create the one named Steve to overcome the start-up error messages. Steve
T.

 

[Steve T]

Not the complete word for word but this is mostly it:
"Windows cannot load the locally
stored profile. Insufficient security rights or a local corrupt file. Cannot
find local profile." And thank you for all of the help.

<snipped>

Thanks, John. Steve T.

 

[John John - MVP]

Ok, looks like the profile was damaged, the way to fix this was to
create a new profile. Did you succeed in login on to Safe Mode?

John

 

[Steve T]

Just got it done late last night and finished up copying all of my files to
the new profile today. Thank you for all of the time and effort. Steve T.