Where is system profile registry hive stored?

[Dave R.]

In Windows XP Pro, I can load
%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\config\systemprofile\NTUSER.DAT and make changes
to the profile used by the system (for example, the wallpaper / screen
saver used when no users are logged in). In the unlikely event that the
profile is stored somewhere else, I can go to
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-18
and read the value ProfileImagePath to find it.

I can't seem to find it in an XP Embedded device we are evaluating.
There is no systemprofile directory under %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\config,
and there is no S-1-5-18 key under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList. S-1-5-19 (LocalService) and S-1-5-20
(NetworkService) are there, but no S-1-5-18 (systemprofile).

What am I missing here? Doesn't there have to be a system account and
corresponding profile?

Regards,

Dave

 

[Dave R.]

In Windows XP Pro, I can load
%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\config\systemprofile\NTUSER.DAT and make changes
to the profile used by the system (for example, the wallpaper / screen
saver used when no users are logged in). In the unlikely event that
the profile is stored somewhere else, I can go to
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-18
and read the value ProfileImagePath to find it.

I can't seem to find it in an XP Embedded device we are evaluating.
There is no systemprofile directory under
%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\config, and there is no S-1-5-18 key under
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
S-1-5-19 (LocalService) and S-1-5-20 (NetworkService) are there, but
no S-1-5-18 (systemprofile).

What am I missing here? Doesn't there have to be a system account and
corresponding profile?

No one has any ideas? I would have thought this would be a fairly
straight-forward answer. I'd even be interested in any ideas on how to
find out the answer!

Regards,

Dave