HELP - How do you recreate an existing User Account in Windows Vista?

[Old Man of UO]

I am using Windows Vista x64 and have a corrupted user profile. I've searched several Windows help forums and can't find the help I need. I have a user account with a corrupted profile. I need help/advice on how to either:

1. Fix my corrupted profile
or
2. Transfer all folders and programs to a new account

Here is the background:
My folders in my existing user account always open subsequent folders in a new window unless I use the Explore command. Picture icons in folders won't show any more and only show the default blank icon. Folders randomly set themselves are Read-Only. And there are other annoying behaviors that I can't think of at the moment. The worst of all of this is not being able to preview pictures in folders without opening it first. I've reset all the settings, tried the Tweak program, and deleted all the Temporary cache to recreate the picture previews - which only made the problem worse.

If I create a new User Account, I don't have any of these issues, and the Administrator account works just fine. So the question is, what is the easiest way to fix this?

 

[Beer_Cayse]

Not a Vista user, but here's what we do at work for a corrupted profile. You may need to adjust paths to match Vista if different.

As ADMINISTRATOR
1. Rename the C:\Documents and Settings\<username> folder to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>_old

2. Log off

As <USERNAME>
1. Log in which should create the <username> folder tree in pristine condition.

2. Log off once all is stable.

As ADMINISTRATOR
1. Log back in and copy what's normally the "safe" items from <username>_old to <username>. These would be:
...... Favorites
...... Outlook personal folders (.PST) and address books (.PAB)
...... Desktop items
...... My Documents
...... Start Menu items - if needed
...... Other folders (EA Games settings especially)

2. Log off

As <USERNAME>
1. Log back in and try things - see where restoration may still be needed. Printer(s) (Start ==> Settings ==> Printers and Faxes) will need rebuilding manually.

Hope this helps ... Once the new user profile is satisfactory, Administrator should delete the <username>_old folder tree.

 

[Old Man of UO]

Thank you for the reply... I'll try this later this evening and BOY do I hope this works. It's getting annoying!

 

[Skylark SP]

Here is an article specific to Vista that you might find useful, although Beer_Cayse pretty well answered it.

-Skylark

 

[Old Man of UO]

UGH... well that worked, and thanks to Skylark and Beer Cayse for the help. But this isn't for the uninitiated to try. It took over an hour to copy settings, and several programs won't work (UO Patcher doesn't, but UOSA.exe works just fine *scratches head) and I can't even run the install programs from another account.

But, my folders and previews look great, and everythign actually runs a bit faster now... wonder why that is?

Thanks again.

 

[Wulf2k]

everythign actually runs a bit faster now... wonder why that is?

You're a few days older now, and every operation now takes up a smaller percentage of your total life.

Another example of Vista (and by extension, Win7) just not working, but that's a rant for another time/place.

If I create a new User Account, I don't have any of these issues, and the Administrator account works just fine.

I can't even run the install programs from another account.

So, did the above break something?

 

[Skylark SP]

Only thing I can think of is there can be some sneaky things that are placed in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive when programs are installed, and they are specific to the user login. The corrupt profile may have had damage to some of those user-specific settings, and they may not have been completely fixed or they may even have been wiped out by the profile repair procedure.

-Skylark

 

[Beer_Cayse]

In that article you linked, I thought I recognized the user registry hive. Just haven't poked under the hood recently enough to be 100% sure.

 

[Old Man of UO]

In that article you linked, I thought I recognized the user registry hive. ...

What does that mean?

I am planning to try copying the Ntuser.dat, Ntuser.dat.log and Ntuser.ini files from the NEW account back to the OLD account just to see what happens. Of course... backups of the old version first.

 

[Skylark SP]

The ntuser.dat file is one of the registry hive files and should contain HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

-Skylark

 

[Old Man of UO]

The ntuser.dat file is one of the registry hive files and should contain HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

-Skylark

Well, I copied that file and all of the other ntuser.dat.*** files, and the ntuser.ini, transferred them to the NEW account and everything is golden! All the programs, settings and folders work like new. I didn't have to reinstall anything. WHEW! THAT'S A RELIEF!

I only had to copy the other work files I've been working on the last two days. I'll keep the old account for a while until I am sure everything works.

A BIG THANK YOU TO BEER CAYSE AND SKYLAR!!

 

[Beer_Cayse]

awesome! glad it appears to be working! <salute>

 

[Skylark SP]

Ditto, glad things are up and running for you again.

-Skylark

 

[Wulf2k]

Pfft, you took the easy one, Skylark.

=]