Windows – How to “clone” a user account, i.e create an account using another account as default settings in Windows

cloneuser-accountswindows

Is there a way to create a new user account in Windows (Server 2008 R2 we are using, but Windows 7 would be much the same I'm sure) using another one for default settings? I.e. let's say I have an account called "Tom", with his own desktop icons, shortcuts, etc, could I make a new account called "Dick" that started off with all the same settings, desktop, quick launch, etc, as Tom has?

Best Answer

You can use User Profile Manager 2.1 to copy an existing profile to a new default User Profile. It works in Windows 7 and lower to Windows XP. The Trial Version is free for 14 Days.

Migration Window of User Profile Manager 2.1

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Classic case of a corrupted profile. Many ways it could have happened. If you don't want to delete the profile reg key, you can try changing the ProfilePath Value of the

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Profile List\<SID of User>

Key back to the original folder, but be forewarned that in my experience this rarely works. Instead it's best to delete the entire SID, backup/delete the profile folders, and reboot the machine. When the user logs back on they'll get a fresh profile, and you can manually copy the data that's needed back to the 'new' profile folder.

Windows – Cannot Create Any Account on Windows 7 – User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded

I have started to investigate the security rights of all those files, which could not be copied. All of them were inaccessible by the Administrators!

So I have changed the ownership of those files to administrators and gave the permission to them and everyone. After this step I could log in and both the folders and registry keys were created.

When I have started with this text I didn't know the solution so I have decided to keep writing and share. I did not know why suddenly the problem occured so I cannot trace it back to prevent it happening again.

Best Answer

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