Users all mixed up after reinstall: How to clean up?

[Clueless in Seattle]

A couple of days ago I resorted to reinstalling Windows 2000 because
the "Network and Dial-up Connections" had gone completley haywire on me
and I was unable to either connect to the internet or create any new
connections.

Prior to the reinstall it seemed like all my program data had been kept
in the "Administrator" folder under "Documents and Settings."

I also had a user folder named "Anonymous," because thats the "name" I
had entered the first time I installed Win2K.

During the reinstall, I again entered the same name -- "anonymous" --
when prompted by the setup program.

Now I have seven different user folders:

Administrator
All Users
All Users.WINNT
Anonymous
anonymous.MICRON ("Micron" is the network I.D. of my computer)
Default.User
Default User.WINNT

And the application data from my various programs is now scattered
among these different users. For example, after reinsatlling Win2K,
when I then reinstalled Mozilla Thunderbird, the application data for
the new Thunderbird installation ended up in the user folder
"anonymous.MICRON." But all my old application data, including my
previous Thunderbird email account settings and all of my email,
remained in the "Administrator" folder. With the result being that the
new installation of Thunderbird is unable to "see" my email accounts.
So I've now been with out email for over two days.

I'd be grateful for some help sorting out all these superfluous and
mixed up user folders.

First I'd like to figure out how to consolidate all my application data
and settings into a single user folder.

Can that be done?

Is the "Administrator" folder a good choice?

Second, I'd appreciate a recommendation for a reliable and
easy-to-understand reference manual for Win2K. I think I got myself
into this mess because had to reinstall Win2K without knowing how to do
it correctly. Up to now I have relied on help from newsgroups to guide
me in the operation of my computer. But this last time around, I
lost my ability to dial-up the internet, and so I was operating in the
dark.

Whew! That was a long message, and now I've reached the limit of my
ability to sit up and type, so I'm going to need to lie back down again
to get my strength back. I'll check back later today after I've rested
up.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

 

[David Webb]

Sounds like you may have reinstalled over the existing OS and possibly installed
into a new system folder, maybe that's why you have the additional user folders.

To check your current settings, open a command prompt window and enter this
command:

Set

Amongst all that good info you'll find the value for the SystemRoot. This shows
you where Windows is presently installed.

Close this window, launch Windows Explorer and scroll down the folder listing to
see if you may have a previous system folder, maybe named "Windows" or some
variation of WinNT.

For sanity's sake, you may want to verify what active user accounts you now
have. To do this, log on as Administrator then go to Control Panel > Users and
Passwords. Note which users are listed and to what Groups they belong to.

Do you require users to log on? If not, which user is the default and to what
Group to they belong? This is important because if you have a User with Admin
rights, they can install software and the data shows up under their folder,
whereas if you have been installing all software as the Administrator then it
shows up under its folder. There's really no need to move this data as long as
this Admin user remains as-is.

If I'm correct in my thinking, the following folders (annotated with >) are now
probably null and void:

Administrator

All Users All Users.WINNT
Anonymous

anonymous.MICRON ("Micron" is the network I.D. of my computer)

Default.User

Default User.WINNT

You can verify the most current by r-clicking on each folder then select
Properties.

None of the above suggestions offer any fixes, they hopefully may give you a few
ways to evaluate your situation better.

If I were you, I wouldn't make any changes to the user folders unless you have
the ability to backup and restore your system. A backup utility like Acronis
True Image is highly recommended for this.

| A couple of days ago I resorted to reinstalling Windows 2000 because
| the "Network and Dial-up Connections" had gone completley haywire on me
| and I was unable to either connect to the internet or create any new
| connections.
|
| Prior to the reinstall it seemed like all my program data had been kept
| in the "Administrator" folder under "Documents and Settings."
|
| I also had a user folder named "Anonymous," because thats the "name" I
| had entered the first time I installed Win2K.
|
| During the reinstall, I again entered the same name -- "anonymous" --
| when prompted by the setup program.
|
| Now I have seven different user folders:
|
| Administrator
| All Users
| All Users.WINNT
| Anonymous
| anonymous.MICRON ("Micron" is the network I.D. of my computer)
| Default.User
| Default User.WINNT
|
| And the application data from my various programs is now scattered
| among these different users. For example, after reinsatlling Win2K,
| when I then reinstalled Mozilla Thunderbird, the application data for
| the new Thunderbird installation ended up in the user folder
| "anonymous.MICRON." But all my old application data, including my
| previous Thunderbird email account settings and all of my email,
| remained in the "Administrator" folder. With the result being that the
| new installation of Thunderbird is unable to "see" my email accounts.
| So I've now been with out email for over two days.
|
| I'd be grateful for some help sorting out all these superfluous and
| mixed up user folders.
|
| First I'd like to figure out how to consolidate all my application data
| and settings into a single user folder.
|
| Can that be done?
|
| Is the "Administrator" folder a good choice?
|
| Second, I'd appreciate a recommendation for a reliable and
| easy-to-understand reference manual for Win2K. I think I got myself
| into this mess because had to reinstall Win2K without knowing how to do
| it correctly. Up to now I have relied on help from newsgroups to guide
| me in the operation of my computer. But this last time around, I
| lost my ability to dial-up the internet, and so I was operating in the
| dark.
|
| Whew! That was a long message, and now I've reached the limit of my
| ability to sit up and type, so I'm going to need to lie back down again
| to get my strength back. I'll check back later today after I've rested
| up.
|
| Will in Seattle
| a.k.a. "Clueless"
|

 

[Clueless in Seattle]

Thanks for all the info!

Here's what I've found:

Set: SystemRoot=C:\WINNT

System folders: WINDOWS & WINNT

Users: Administrator
anonymous
Guest

Both "Administrator" and "anonymous" show as being in the
"Administrators" Group.

Here are the "Created:" dates shown by Windows Explorer for the folders
under "Documents & Settings":

Administrator January 27, 2006
Administrator.MICRON June 7, 2006
All Users January 22, 2006
All Users.WINNT May 31, 2006
anonymous January 22, 2006
anonymous.MICRON May 31, 2006
Default.User January 22, 2006
Default User.WINNT May 31, 2006

Or, sorted by date of creation:

All Users January 22, 2006
anonymous January 22, 2006
Default.User January 22, 2006
Administrator January 27, 2006
All Users.WINNT May 31, 2006
anonymous.MICRON May 31, 2006
Default User.WINNT May 31, 2006
Administrator.MICRON June 7, 2006 (I don't have a clue how this
got created)

I am the only user of this computer, so I don't need to have any kind
of log on profiles.

I don't know how to tell which user is the default, but I believe that
right now it may be anonymous.MICRON.

I'm working on trying to get a viable back-up system set-up for this
computer. I had an HP tape drive running under Win 98 for backing up
my old computer and I backed it up nearly every day. But when I
switched to my current computer (a hand-me-down from a friend who
upgraded), my HP back-up software wouldn't run under Win2K. And severe
health problems prevented me from getting a new back-up systme in
place.

So, right now, I'm just trying to keep this beast up and running while
I continue to try to come up with a workable back-up system. I'm
disabled and on a very small disability pension so I'd like to avoid
having to buy back-up software. I'm going to try back-up software
built into Win2K.

Once I'm able to back up my system, then I'd like to tackle either
sorting out this user profile mess, or else perhaps reformatting the HD
and doing a clean reinstallation.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

 

[David Webb]

You did good!

It appears that your original installation was an upgrade from Windows 98.
That's why you have a Windows system folder and all the new users had some sort
of ID appended to their name. As I suspected, the folders with the earlier dates
are from the first installation and are now probably null and void.

The question is, what applications are still active on your system now?. I
suspect that your last installation of the OS may have ignored some or all of
your previously installed applications, since it may not have been an "upgrade
install". Hard for me to tell from here. You'll have to test each and every
application to see if it starts and runs as designed.

Current User: You should be able to tell who is logged in by clicking on the
Start button. There should be a "Log Off <User>" option there. If not, enable
this via Start > Settings > Taskbar & Start Menu > Advanced tab > check "Display
Logoff".

Backup Utilities: The Windows 2000 backup utility is good for some things but
not as full system backup and restore tool. The best type are those that can
create an image of your hard drive. This image is a sector-by-sector copy of
your drive not just a file-by-file copy of its contents. These images can be
stored in another partition, another drive, or on removable media such as DVD or
CD. I send mine to an external USB drive and I save the image in segments that
can be burned to CD's if necessary. There are some freeware versions available.
If you're interested, let me know and I'll track them down.

I think your main task is to see if all of your apps still work. If not, you may
want to consider a fresh start with a clean installation of Windows 2000.


| Thanks for all the info!
|
| Here's what I've found:
|
| Set: SystemRoot=C:\WINNT
|
| System folders: WINDOWS & WINNT
|
| Users: Administrator
| anonymous
| Guest
|
| Both "Administrator" and "anonymous" show as being in the
| "Administrators" Group.
|
| Here are the "Created:" dates shown by Windows Explorer for the folders
| under "Documents & Settings":
|
| Administrator January 27, 2006
| Administrator.MICRON June 7, 2006
| All Users January 22, 2006
| All Users.WINNT May 31, 2006
| anonymous January 22, 2006
| anonymous.MICRON May 31, 2006
| Default.User January 22, 2006
| Default User.WINNT May 31, 2006
|
| Or, sorted by date of creation:
|
| All Users January 22, 2006
| anonymous January 22, 2006
| Default.User January 22, 2006
| Administrator January 27, 2006
| All Users.WINNT May 31, 2006
| anonymous.MICRON May 31, 2006
| Default User.WINNT May 31, 2006
| Administrator.MICRON June 7, 2006 (I don't have a clue how this
| got created)
|
| I am the only user of this computer, so I don't need to have any kind
| of log on profiles.
|
| I don't know how to tell which user is the default, but I believe that
| right now it may be anonymous.MICRON.
|
| I'm working on trying to get a viable back-up system set-up for this
| computer. I had an HP tape drive running under Win 98 for backing up
| my old computer and I backed it up nearly every day. But when I
| switched to my current computer (a hand-me-down from a friend who
| upgraded), my HP back-up software wouldn't run under Win2K. And severe
| health problems prevented me from getting a new back-up systme in
| place.
|
| So, right now, I'm just trying to keep this beast up and running while
| I continue to try to come up with a workable back-up system. I'm
| disabled and on a very small disability pension so I'd like to avoid
| having to buy back-up software. I'm going to try back-up software
| built into Win2K.
|
| Once I'm able to back up my system, then I'd like to tackle either
| sorting out this user profile mess, or else perhaps reformatting the HD
| and doing a clean reinstallation.
|
| Will in Seattle
| a.k.a. "Clueless"
|
| David Webb wrote:
| > Sounds like you may have reinstalled over the existing OS and possibly
installed
| > into a new system folder, maybe that's why you have the additional user
folders.
| >
| > To check your current settings, open a command prompt window and enter this
| > command:
| >
| > Set
| >
| > Amongst all that good info you'll find the value for the SystemRoot. This
shows
| > you where Windows is presently installed.
| >
| > Close this window, launch Windows Explorer and scroll down the folder
listing to
| > see if you may have a previous system folder, maybe named "Windows" or some
| > variation of WinNT.
| >
| > For sanity's sake, you may want to verify what active user accounts you now
| > have. To do this, log on as Administrator then go to Control Panel > Users
and
| > Passwords. Note which users are listed and to what Groups they belong to.
| >
| > Do you require users to log on? If not, which user is the default and to
what
| > Group to they belong? This is important because if you have a User with
Admin
| > rights, they can install software and the data shows up under their folder,
| > whereas if you have been installing all software as the Administrator then
it
| > shows up under its folder. There's really no need to move this data as long
as
| > this Admin user remains as-is.
| >
| > If I'm correct in my thinking, the following folders (annotated with >) are
now
| > probably null and void:
| >
| > Administrator
| > >All Users
| > All Users.WINNT
| > >Anonymous
| > anonymous.MICRON ("Micron" is the network I.D. of my computer)
| > >Default.User
| > Default User.WINNT
| >
| > You can verify the most current by r-clicking on each folder then select
| > Properties.
| >
| > None of the above suggestions offer any fixes, they hopefully may give you a
few
| > ways to evaluate your situation better.
| >
| > If I were you, I wouldn't make any changes to the user folders unless you
have
| > the ability to backup and restore your system. A backup utility like Acronis
| > True Image is highly recommended for this.
| >
|