Re: User name assigned to a new profile!
>> "Nepatsfan" <nepatsfan@SBXXXIX.com> wrote in message
>> news:uZh7k21IJHA.3936@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> > "spamlet" <spam.morespam@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
>> > news:%23LL66%23yIJHA.3816@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> >>
>> >> "spamlet" <spam.morespam@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
>> >> news:OcbhzPxIJHA.3708@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> >>> Hi,
>> >>>
>> >>> This seems a similar problem to that noted by Bea below: as yet
>> >>> unanswered. (Is something going around?)
>> >>>
>> >>> Old Dell laptop, XPHome.
>> >>>
>> >>> On logging out of one profile and logging back on in my normal
>> >>> (administrator) one, 'userenv' in event log says a 'temporary'
>> >>> profile
>> >>> was substituted, and it would disappear on logging out. Not a bit of
>> >>> it!
>> >>>
>> >>> Now all I get after log on is the blue basic dell screen and a
>> >>> handful
>> >>> of standard desktop icons.
>> >>>
>> >>> Windows explorer shows that my folders and files are still there, but
>> >>> I
>> >>> cannot find any way to reassociate them with my user id, which now
>> >>> seems
>> >>> to be permanently referenced to this unwanted empty new one.
>> >>>
>> >>> There are still NTUser.dat and NTUser.dat.log files in the 'real me'
>> >>> folder, and the former is still a good 6meg full of data. The first
>> >>> lines of these two files seem to share a similar structure and
>> >>> relationship to those on my pc profiles, yet they seem to be being
>> >>> ignored in the log on process, even though I am still getting in with
>> >>> the same userid and password!
>> >>>
>> >>> The 4 userenv messages went like this:
>> >>>
>> >>> Unable to load registry: the process cannot access the file because
>> >>> it
>> >>> is being used by another process for..... \ntuser.dat
>> >>>
>> >>> Windows cannot load the locally stored profile. Possible causes of
>> >>> this
>> >>> error include insufficient security rights or a corrupt local
>> >>> profile.
>> >>> Detail - The process cannot access the file because it is being used
>> >>> by
>> >>> another process.
>> >>>
>> >>> Windows has backed up this user's profile [WHERE?] Windows will
>> >>> automatically try to use the backed up profile the next time the user
>> >>> logs on.
>> >>>
>> >>> Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a
>> >>> temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when
>> >>> you log off.
>> >>>
>> >>> Well thanks a bunch!
>> >>>
>> >>> I don't know my way round Home very well, and can't see how to bring
>> >>> up
>> >>> dialogues that would enable me to take ownership of my own folders
>> >>> again. There seems to be no 'use simple file sharing' tick box to
>> >>> untick
>> >>> and get a security tab detailing the permissions and inheritance
>> >>> situation/ownership etc. And when I try to change attributes on my
>> >>> real
>> >>> files from read only - which they all seem to have been rebranded -
>> >>> back
>> >>> to normal, the change does not stick (though they can be deleted).
>> >>>
>> >>> Userpasswords and userpasswords2 via run both show 'only one' me, and
>> >>> still as an administrator, but I cannot see how to get it to stop
>> >>> using
>> >>> the 'new profile' and go back to the proper one!
>> >>>
>> >>> Even more confusingly, there is another user, who just has a limited
>> >>> account, but still signs in with a user name and password via ctrl
>> >>> alt
>> >>> del. Yet he does not get a mention on user accounts at all, in either
>> >>> control panel or userpasswords! He also used to show up on the
>> >>> welcome
>> >>> screen but not now! Where is his account?
>> >>>
>> >>> A final odd thing is that when I went to tried a system restore, I
>> >>> found
>> >>> this had been turned off, though I have no recollection of having
>> >>> done
>> >>> this - and would consider it madness to do so! When I turned it on,
>> >>> the
>> >>> event log duly registered it, but, looking right back through the
>> >>> log,
>> >>> there is no entry to say it was ever turned off!
>> >>>
>> >>> Digging a little deeper, and right clicking for the properties sheet
>> >>> of
>> >>> 'the new me's' 'my documents', I find my whole new package is in a
>> >>> Temp
>> >>> folder c:\documents and settings\temp.
>> >>> If I just empty this, will my logon revert to the proper files?
>> >>>
>> >>> Even then, I still would not know where the limited account user's
>> >>> details are and why they don't register in UA or userpasswords!
>> >>>
>> >>> How can I go about getting my proper files reassociated with my user
>> >>> id,
>> >>> and having all of the users on the machine properly represented in
>> >>> the
>> >>> dialogues.
>> >>>
>> >>> This one really does have me confused I am afraid. Any light that
>> >>> can
>> >>> be thrown on this would be very helpful, thank you.
>> >>>
>> >>> Much obliged,
>> >>>
>> >>> S
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Right,
>> >> More digging and tinkering, I see that if I replace the NTUSer.dat,
>> >> and
>> >> NTUser.dat.log in the new Temp identity, with copies of those from the
>> >> old one, I then get my old screen picture, but only a few of the icons
>> >> and folders normally on it. 'MyDocuments' is still the temp one...
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > In order to take ownership of folders in a system running XP Home
>> > Edition
>> > you have to boot the computer into Safe Mode. Restart your laptop and
>> > keep
>> > hitting the F8 key until the Windows Advanced Options Menu is
>> > displayed.
>> > Use the up arrow to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter and log on with an
>> > account
>> > that is a member of the Administrators group. The built in
>> > Administrator
>> > account will do the job. You should now have access to the Security tab
>> > on
>> > the properties sheet of your old folders. From there you can take
>> > ownership and give your account Full Control permissions.
>> >
>> > How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
>> > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421
>> >
>> > "Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
>> > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881
>> >
>> > As for your other issues, you may find that copying the ntuser.dat and
>> > ntuser.dat.log files leads to your experiencing the same problem with
>> > your
>> > new account. There's always the possibility that they were the source
>> > of
>> > your original problem.
>> >
>> > Good luck
>> >
>> > Nepatsfan
>>
>> Hi Bea,
>> And many thanks to Nepatsafan: the lack of those security tabs on
>> 'properties' in XPHome has caused a lot of head scratching in the past.
>> I
>> will now post your link in a very prominent place on my desktop! (And on
>> paper...)
>>
>> I am not convinced that the problem is not a bug in the system itself, as
>> I
>> have found similar things happening on our XPPro desktop: on 'fast user
>> switching' from one account to another, the second account's profile
>> 'suddenly can't be found' and you have to pull the plug pretty damn quick
>> before Outlook.pst gets trashed. (Thank heavens for Google Desktop
>> search,
>> which copies all your email into its index file!). On this occasion, the
>> event log messages at first said that the profile could not be loaded
>> *because it was in use by another*. As I have various networking and
>> shared
>> folders on my desktop, I wonder if they could be making the system think
>> some part of the other user profile was already in use?
>>
>> And Bea, curiously enough, after writing my own plea, I browsed through
>> some
>> of the others below it and ended up reading the thread on 'Cleaning up
>> the
>> windows registry' (Which: don't).
>>
>> Following the links to discussion of why not to do this, on AumHa, I
>> usefully learned more about the NTuser etc files (which up until now I
>> had
>> never come across). Included in how to repair the damage done by
>> registry
>> cleaners was this link to the MS Knowledgebase articles on how to get
>> back
>> your lost profile:
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555473
>>
>> AumHa also recommend something called ERUnt (download on their site) for
>> regular backing up of the registry and the individual NTUser files. Read
>> the
>> relevant thread here:
>> http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=62...sid=1a1e5e5b66cd4790a1f11595c1f713d1&start=15
>>
>> After which you should understand more about NTUser and the other
>> registry
>> files.
>> I downloaded the Erunt, but on a first read through it seems to require
>> some
>> setting up, if it is to work automatically, that is a bit techy for me...
>>
>> And so to the profile.
>> The KB articles say to create a new account, and then copy the old one
>> into
>> it via the my computer properties/advanced dialogue.
>>
>> Having done this I am at an intermediate stage of a solution. Whereas,
>> when
>> I just moved the NTUser.dat and NTUser.dat.log, files to the profile XP
>> had
>> created for me in the Temp folder, my profile remained the basic temp one
>> bar the fact that it had the right desktop picture, now that I have
>> copied
>> the old profile into a new one and deleted the temp folder, my new
>> profile
>> has most of my desktop files and folders, but not the picture...
>>
>> Also, looking at the folder sizes of my various profiles and ex profiles
>> in
>> Docsandsets, I find that the newly 'restocked' one is some 500 meg
>> smaller
>> than the original! I have not looked far into this yet, but I assume it
>> is
>> because it is not yet associated with my email dbxs, and has lost the
>> Google
>> Earth cache (Of which I am only vaguely aware as to its purpose on my
>> m/c,
>> and what I will lose if I delete it or allow it to be deleted.)
>>
>> I have now added folders to all the profiles on my m/cs in which to back
>> up
>> the NTUser and dat log files. Whether I remember to look for and back
>> them
>> up regularly is another matter... And even then there is the email, but
>> I
>> do use OE quick backup, and copy Outlook pst to a separate drive fairly
>> regularly. Seems this is yet another hint I should finally get around to
>> imaging my whole drives with Acronis!
>>
>> Keep us posted on progress with your own profile problem. Any more tips
>> and
>> conclusions would be most interesting. I too will let you know how
>> things
>> pan out this end when I've had time for some more tinkering.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> S
"Bea" <DeleteQueen@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BA9FFC3E-0E2D-4FDD-886F-F6C961F3AFB3@microsoft.com...
> Hi S!
>
> Haven't been really successful yet. I had this problem since Friday.
> Being
> jobless, I've been working on this for hours and hours.
>
> Thanks to the help of Nepatsfan and other posters, I was able to Get
> access
> of docs from the administrator profile, then copy it to another user.
> However I can only access them on safe mode, to do that I always have to
> create new profile.
>
> I hope throught the help of the the posters who are generous with their
> time
> and knowledge, this problem will be fixed for good.
>
> thanks,
> Bea
Hi Bea,
I've cut and pasted your bit down to the bottom here, as it gets rather
confusing if we don't stick to the same pattern. (Most news groups like you
to post at the bottom, but quite a few in ms public seem to post at the top
these days. So whichever it is, just try to keep it going in the same
direction once the thread has got under way.)
I am not entirely sure what your problem is or even whether you are using
XPHome or Pro, but I have found it quite confusing coming to grips with the
difference between profiles, accounts, and identities, and consequently with
the sequence that one has to follow to set up a new account (or keep the old
one) and get the right files into it.
Are you saying that you can't log on other than in safe mode, or that you
can log on but are denied access to your files because they are now in a
different profile to which your new account has no permission because it is
not an administrator account? Also, was your old account actually the
computer's built in Administrator, account or was it a separate one that you
made, and thus is one of the AdministratorS plural as opposed to THE
Administrator. If your old profile is only set to be accessed by THE
Administrator, then you will need to add Adminstrators in the plural to its
permissions table. Unfortunately, it can be quite confusing dealing with
the various dialogues under the Security tab, and you may need someone to
help you with them.
Anyhow, even if you do have the permissions it can still be confusing
getting the profile attached to the right account. When you create a new
account in Control Panel, it initially has no profile. When you log in to
your new account the first time a set of folders is created for your
profile, but with a hidden security code that uniquely associates them with
that account. So even if you make another account with the same name and
password, it won't be associated with the old profile folders, and instead,
windows makes you a new profile with default settings. If you used the same
name as your original account, without deleting your original, then the new
one is given an extension number to distinguish it.
That's what happened to me, and I got a bit of a list of extra default
profiles before I twigged what was going on! By which time I had to have a
good look at all the properties sheets size and files data to make sure
which profiles belonged to which accounts and which to none at all...
So anyhow to cut a long story short, I've got things back in order now, and
if your is not a more fiddly permissions issue, the same may work for you:
So sequence is:
In a spare admin account;
Rename original profile folder in MyComputer\C\Docs and Settings;
Delete any new profiles xp has made for you that have very little in (on my
laptop these are all about 850k);
Log on in normal way with your original user name and password;
Log off when xp has finished building a new profile with your original
profile's name;
Log back in to spare admin ac;
In docs and sets, empty the new profile folder completely (to get rid of
some of the default links you may have removed in your real profile) so that
it just leaves the empty profile folder with your name on;
Copy (not move, you may need them again) all the contents of your original
but renamed folder, into the now empty new profile folder. If your
ntuser.dat and ntuser.dat.log files are still serviceable, this should
recreate your original profile.
A good sign that you are headed in the right direction is that this may take
several minutes, depending on how much stuff is in your profile. In my case
there were Google Earth cache files and Picassa photo database files which
were 400Mb odd, which slowed the copying down rather.
(If you have one, also copy all the contents to a backup drive as well; then
delete the original, if you are pushed for space. You will now appreciate
its probably a good idea to keep a back up profile somewhere!)
I found that after I had done this everything worked OK except that my
normal desktop picture did not come up on its own. In the main folder of my
profile is a file marked 'theme'. Just clicking on this got it all loaded
properly.
So that's it from my end. I still have one phantom account that I need to
track down, but it is not, thankfully, mine!
And your right: this relatively simple process took days to suss out. You
never stop learning with MS!
Good luck,
S
