Windows – In windows XP how to get back the profile

restoreuser-profileswindows xp

I have a windows XP machine with split drives:

C:\ – just OS
D:\ – my data

I ran out of disk space and when logging into my profile, it popped with some error stating that since it didn't have any disk space it was logging me in as some default profile (even thought i was logging into my account name that i always use so it wasn't complete corrupted)

I deleted a bunch of files to get some space but now when i log into my account, all of my desktop icons are missing and when i click on "My Documents" it takes me to some new folder on the C:\ drive.

When i try to change to target of My documents to D:\My Documents i get an error that looks like this:

enter image description here

Can anyone give me some advice on how to restore my profile (as even though i am logging in to the same name on the main Windows XP login screen, it doesn't seem associated with all my stuff) ?

Best Answer

Error Message: Windows Cannot Load Your Profile Because It May Be Corrupted http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318011

Create a New User or Restore the User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151

Create a new user profile on the workgroup computer

  1. Log on as the Administrator or as a user with administrator credentials.
  2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  3. Click User Accounts.
  4. Under Pick a task, click Create a new account.
  5. Type a name for the user information, and then click Next.
  6. Click an account type, and then click Create Account.

Copy files to the new user profile

  1. Log on as a user other than the user whose profile you are copying files to or from.
  2. In Windows Explorer, click Tools, click Folder Options, click the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders, click to clear the Hide protected operating system files check box, and then click OK.
  3. Locate the C:\Documents and Settings\Old_Username folder, where C is the drive on which Windows XP is installed, and Old_Username is the name of the profile you want to copy user data from.
  4. Press and hold down the CTRL key while you click each file and subfolder in this folder, except the following files: Ntuser.dat Ntuser.dat.log Ntuser.ini
  5. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
  6. Locate the C:\Documents and Settings\New_Username folder, where C is the drive on which Windows XP is installed, and New_Username is the name of the user profile that you created in the "Create a New User Profile" section.
  7. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
  8. Log off the computer, and then log on as the new user.

Note You must import your e-mail messages and addresses to the new user profile before you delete the old profile. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 313055 Mail folders, address book, and e-mail messages are missing after you upgrade to Microsoft Windows XP

Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/57376-45-local-profiles-unavailable-loading-temp-profile

Another option is to try the TweakUI tool:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/c/a/fca6767b-9ed9-45a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

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