Get IT Done: Recover A Damaged Windows XP User Profile
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A user profile on a Windows XP system contains all the files and settings needed to configure your work environment. If the user profile becomes damaged, Windows XP will display one of two error messages when you to log on to the system:Windows cannot load your profile because it may be corrupted. You may be logged in using a temporary User Profile.OR:The system has recovered from a serious error.The operating system will then automatically create a new user profile and log you into this new profile. When this occurs, you’ll immediately discover that all of your personalized settings·such as color scheme, wallpaper, and icons are gone. Even more disturbing is that the My Documents folder doesn’t show any of your documents. You’ll also discover that Outlook Express and Internet Explorer will be void of any of your personal settings and data.
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When this happens, it’s very easy to quickly go into panic mode and think that you’ve lost everything. However, in most cases, all you’ve actually lost is the user profile and most, if not all, of your data is safe and sound.
Must be an administrator
Keep in mind that in order to perform the recovery operations discussed in this article, you must be working from an account with Computer Administrator privileges. If the temporary account that Windows XP creates for you when your original becomes damaged has Computer Administrator privileges, you can use it as a staging area for the recovery operation. If it’s not, you’ll need to log off, then log on to the default Administrator account or to another account that has Computer Administrator privileges. I’ll refer to this as the “working account” throughout this article.
Backing up your data
The first thing that you’ll want to do is make sure that the data in your original account is safe and then back it up. To begin the backup operation, launch Windows Explorer and navigate to the C:\Documents and Settings folder. Then, locate and open your original account folder. At this point, you should see all the files and folders in your original user profile, as shown in Figure A.
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| You can open your original account folder and back up all the files and folders containing crucial data. |
You’ll then want to copy your crucial data files to another location. For example, you’ll definitely want to copy the contents of your My Documents folder, which will appear as UserName’sDocuments. (On my example system, it’s called Greg Shultz’s Documents.) You may also want copy the contents of the Favorites folder. If you’re using Outlook Express, you can find the files that make up your e-mail messages stored in the Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{#####}\Microsoft\Outlook Express folder. You’ll find your Address Book file in the Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book folder. If you’re using Outlook 2000/XP, you’ll find the PST file in the Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder.
Once you’ve backed up your crucial data files, you can proceed with the recovery operation knowing that your data is indeed safe and sound.
Using System Restore
The first thing to try when attempting to recover a damaged user profile is a System Restore operation. As you know, the System Restore utility is designed to allow you to return your computer to the state it was in at an earlier time period. In this case, the goal is to return your system to the state it was in before the user profile was damaged.
Before you attempt this operation, there are two things you need to be aware of. First, if there are multiple user accounts on the system, performing a System Restore operation will return all user profiles to the state they were in at that earlier time. Second, depending on the severity of the damage to the user profile, performing a System Restore operation may not be able to rectify the problem.
You’ll find the System Restore utility on the All Programs | Accessories | System Tools menu. Once you launch System Restore, you’ll see the Welcome To System Restore page and will simply click Next. On the Select A Restore Point page, select the last restore point created before the damage to the user profile became apparent, then click Next. When you’re prompted to confirm the operation, click Next and the restore operation will begin.
Once System Restore finishes, it will restart the system. When it does, you can attempt to log on using your original user account. If System Restore was able to successfully recover the user profile, everything should be the way it was.
If you’re still unable to log on to your original account, it’s time to escalate your user profile recovery operation to the next level. However, you may first want to undo the System Restore operation.
To undo the System Restore operation, log on to the working account and launch System Restore. When you see the Welcome To System Restore page, you’ll discover a new option titled Undo My Last Restoration. Just select that option, click Next, and follow the onscreen instructions.
Copying your user profile
In this user profile recovery technique, you’ll attempt to revive the user profile by creating a new account and, subsequently, a new user profile. You’ll then copy your old user profile in its entirety to the new account. While this may sound like an operation that will simply replicate the problem over to the new account, it does indeed revive the user profile on occasion. Again, keep in mind that the success of this attempt depends on the severity of the damage to the user profile. However, since it’s a relatively painless operation, it’s worth a shot.
To begin, access the Control Panel and launch the User Accounts tool. Next, select the Create A New Account link. Then, give the account a name and click Next. When prompted to pick an account type, make sure the Computer Administrator option button is selected, and then click the Create Account button.
Once you create the new account, close the User Accounts tool. Then, click Start | Log Off. When you see the Log Off Windows dialog box, click the Log Off button. When you see either the Welcome Screen or the Log On To Windows dialog box, select or type the name you used for the new account. As soon as you do, Windows XP will create a user profile for the new account.
When the user profile creation procedure is complete and the system starts up, immediately click Log Off. Then, log back on to the working account.
Now, open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and select Properties. When you see the System Properties dialog box, select the Advanced tab. Then, locate and click the Settings button in the User Profiles section. You’ll now see a User Profiles dialog box that looks like the one shown in Figure B.
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| You’ll use the User Profiles tool to copy your old user profile to the new account. |
In this example, I’ll be copying the user profile from the Greg Shultz account to the Greg Shultz2 account. To do so, I’ll begin by selecting the Greg Shultz user profile and clicking the Copy To button. When the Copy To dialog box appears, click the Browse button and then use the resulting Browse For Folder dialog box to locate the Documents and Settings folder and select the new account. At this point, the Copy To dialog box will look like the one shown in Figure C. To continue, just click OK. You’ll then see a confirmation dialog box that informs you that the original files will be deleted and prompts you to confirm the copy operation. Just click Yes.
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| At this point, you’ll see the path to your new account in the Copy To dialog box. |
Once the copy operation finishes, close the User Profiles dialog box and the System Properties dialog box, then log off. At this point, you can attempt to log on to the new account. If this technique was able to successfully recover the user profile, everything should be the way it was.
If you’re still unable to log on to your account, it’s time to move to the next level. However, you’ll first need to completely remove the new user account and user profile. To do so, log on to the working account, access the User Profiles dialog box again, select the profile, and click the Delete button. Then, access the User Accounts tool and delete the new account and its files.
Moving to a new user profile
In this user profile recovery technique, you’ll move to a new user profile by creating a new account and, subsequently, a new user profile. You’ll then copy your data files and other portions of the user profile from your original to the new one. Keep in mind that when you move to a new user profile in this manner, you will loose all of your personalized settings, such as color scheme, wallpaper, and icons.
You’ll follow the instructions I presented earlier for creating a new account and a new user profile. In short, you’ll access the User Accounts tool to create a new account. Then, log on to the new account to create a default new user profile. Finally, log off and then log back on to the working account.
To begin this operation, launch Windows Explorer and navigate to the C:\Documents and Settings folder. Then, locate and open your original account folder. At this point, you should see all the files and folders in your original user profile, as shown earlier in Figure A.
Copy the contents of the folders containing the data that you want to move to your new user profile. In the case of my example system, I’d begin by copying the contents of the C:\Documents and Settings\Greg Shultz\Greg Shultz’s Documents folder to the C:\Documents and Settings\Greg Shultz2\Greg Shultz2’s folder.
In addition, you’ll want to copy the contents of the Favorites, Outlook Express, and Address Book folders if you’re using that e-mail program, or the Outlook folder. You may also want to copy the contents of Cookies, Templates, and any other folders that contain critical data files.
Be careful not to copy any files that are specifically related to the operating system, as any one of those files could be the culprit in the case of the corrupted user profile. For example, you definitely won’t want to copy Ntuser.dat, Ntuser.pol, or Ntuser.ini from your old user profile to your new one.
When you’re finished copying files, log out of the working profile, then log on to your new user profile. When you do, you should be able to access all of your data files and most of your applications, just as you did with your old profile. However, keep in mind that you may have to reinstall or at least reconfigure some of your applications. And, of course, you’ll need to recreate all your personalized settings.
Cleaning out your old profile
Once you’ve totally moved into your new user profile, you’ll want to permanently delete your old, corrupted user profile. While you may be tempted to do so from within Windows Explorer, you shouldn’t because it won’t completely remove all the settings associated with your old user profile.
To do it the right way, access the User Profiles tool from the Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog box. Once you do, select the old user profile from the list and click the Delete button.
The automatic user profile backup technique
So you won’t ever have to go through all these troubleshooting steps should the user profile ever get corrupted again, you can trick Windows XP into administering the local user profile as if it were a roaming user profile. When you do so, Windows XP will back up your user profile each time you log off.
To use this trick, you have to log off your new account and log on to the working account. Then, access the User Profiles tool from the Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog box, select your user profile, click the Copy To button, and type the name of a folder on another drive in the Copy Profile To text box.
Once you complete that part of the operation, launch the Computer Management console, which you can do by pressing [Windows]-R and typing compmgmt.msc in the Open text box. Then, drill down to System Tools\Local Users and Groups\Users folder. Next, double-click on your account name and select the Profile tab. Then, type the path to the backup in the Profile Path text box, as shown in Figure D.
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| You can configure Windows XP to automatically back up the local user profile each time you log off. |
[Greg Shultz]
43 Comments
PlaneTalk :: View topic - Computer problem, boring but crucial
October 16th, 2006
at 3:15am
[…] Try this link: http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/it/2004/12/15/get-it-done-recover-a-damaged-windows-xp-user-profile/ I knew I’d seen how to do it before but there’s a lot too much to paraphrase there._________________Been dazed and confused so long it’s not true… […]
tangledwebster
March 18th, 2007
at 8:35pm
hmm…, so where is it being backedup to exactly?
to the new profile path?
I noticed that my user profile is now in a roaming status vs local.
Does this mean that the new profile path is the be all end all for my profile now?
So what happens if the new roaming profile path get wacked?
Or is the local profile still available somehow?
Cheers,
tw
KD
March 29th, 2007
at 7:56am
I just noticed this problem after my comp did its automatic system update after i shut it down….so does this make this yet another instance where microsoft’s system updates destroys your computer?
Ganief
April 10th, 2007
at 4:37am
my windows xp became corrupted. i then reinstalled a new copy. what has now happened is that on the previous xp my user profile (ganief) had some documents in. when i try to access this profile i get the error message access denied. i am the administrator of the computer but still i can’t get to my document. please help.
james
June 28th, 2007
at 3:30pm
i have windows xp and some how the administrative account was deleted and i was wanting to know if there was a way to make a new one without reloading xp
Nestor Castro
June 28th, 2007
at 4:27pm
Once the Profile got corrupted the PC logged me with a temporary profile, I discovered the “my documents”folder and moved the info to the desktop, I logged out of the temporary account and now I can’t find my files, how can I recover them?
Wayne
June 30th, 2007
at 7:24pm
Anyway you can shrink the user profile file size? like in the figure B.. my profile size has grown to 1.43GB..
Meccano
July 1st, 2007
at 7:03am
After 20 years of trying to work as an IT professional with Windows (from 1.0 to XP) and after reloading, recovering, reinstalling, updating,………. and I probably forgot half of what I’ve done to try to make this so-called system work, I’m in the process of solving all my problems once and for all : SWITCH TO LINUX !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck to those of you who stay with Windblows (it’s only a matter of time anyway……. but it’s so maddening to see a company sell garbage for 20 years and still be in business).
Tuomas
July 2nd, 2007
at 2:10am
Hello!
My problem is this. in the morning my computer worked just fine. But now in the afternoon its all f*cked up! I have no clue what has happened to it. It seems like it has lost my profile and all my personal stuff on the workdesk(?)
(All the terms are not clear to me:) English is not my native languge) and the personals files too… its all gone. Though the weird thing is that everything else on C drive is still there. All the movies music, programs and games. It logged me in as usual and my computer acted like it would have been formatted:/ Theres also some weird programs starting and shutting down all the time. So i figured it must be a virus. Its really slowing down my computer. So i wanted to do the system recovery. but for some reason i cant acces it in the beginning by pressing F10.
So please… If someone has any good virus removal tools(ad-aware didnt find anything)
or advice of any kind how i could use the system recovery it would greatly be appriciated.
Tuomas.
Maz
July 3rd, 2007
at 4:49am
I just had to reply to everyone.
KD: There could be a million things wrong that cause this problem. Windows updates may have just illuminated the fact that there are problems. I’m here because of a failing HDD.
Ganief: This is default behaviour of windows. You need to take owership of private files for other users (my documents and stuff). Right-click on the original profile folder and go to “Sharing and security” -> security -> advanced -> owner, to do this. Select your new user and apply to all subfolders and files.
James: If you have no accounts with administrative rights at all, then try boot a windows 2000 cd, and go into the recovery console. The windows 2000 cd will let you open it but wont ask for the administrator password.
Nestor Castro: You moved them to the folder which was destoryed when you logged off. A HDD recovery application may help recover this unless you’ve written over it.
Wayne: In your profile is C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Temp. This is the main area that is going to be full of un-needed crap that you would be able to delete. Otherwise, store less stuff on the desktop or my documents
Meccano: Play new games. I thought as much. Windows will survive because gamers still need it. Convince all the software vendors to release linux programs and you might just be right.
Tuomas: If you have trouble with the instructions in English then I wont be able to help. All your files should still be there so I suggest you take it to a computer store or something where people can fix it.
Have a good day.
Murtaza
July 4th, 2007
at 11:29pm
I have the same problem, but the original user file is corrupted for some reason. I had an unexpected shutdown and there are important documents in my original account and my lfie depends on it. How do i repair thr corrupted folder.
Eddie Hayes
July 26th, 2007
at 8:17am
I did this below but if it becomes corrupt again how do I restore ?
Thanks for any help in advance.
Once you complete that part of the operation, launch the Computer Management console, which you can do by pressing [Windows]-R and typing compmgmt.msc in the Open text box. Then, drill down to System Tools\Local Users and Groups\Users folder. Next, double-click on your account name and select the Profile tab. Then, type the path to the backup in the Profile Path text box, as shown in Figure D.
vaibhav
July 27th, 2007
at 12:43pm
Hi,
My problem is user profile deleted, we have changed the computer name also by this time one mistake was we didn’t kept back up of Outlook Express which now problem is i want to recover the old mails especially sent items. how to recover old mail files in windows xp.
sean
August 16th, 2007
at 8:42pm
Hi I deleted an admin user profile from xp because it had errors, and i click for the files not to be deleted from the user account. But now when i log in with the new admin account i cant get my files. They seem to be deleted along with the profile. It did keep a backup of the folders on the desktop as it said it would but the files are all missing. Does anyone have any idea what im talking about or how i can get my files back.
cj
August 29th, 2007
at 4:16am
My comp froze and when I reboted it it ran a disccontrol/check. When I logged on to my profile everything was totaly gone and the profile was reset. It changed the name by adding some numbers after the profile. I could log on to it but al my documents and stuff are gone. First I did systemrecovery and some settings came back. Then I’ve did the steps above but it just coppies an empty profile to a new profile. There is still 50 gb of data on my harddrive but I cant acces it. Please help!
Conni A Spencer
August 31st, 2007
at 1:48am
i followed your steps to the T, and was able to see my, once deleted, profile name and got as far as my laptop excepting my fingerprint (set up for that profile only) and then a screen appears and says that profile is not accesable???
I have certificates under that profile I HAVE TO BE ABLE TO USE! what else can I try?
Stepper
September 1st, 2007
at 11:57pm
Great to find this advice and I was able to create a new user profile and get all my old info from the original, working profile. However, I’m stuck at the last piece of advice about the trick to fool Windows into backing up and administering the local user profile as if it were a roaming file. I was not able to Copy Profile to, as that button was grayed out for both the local profile (original one) and my newly created one. I then opened the Computer Management console but was not able to find Local Users and Groups under the System Tools folder. Any other suggestions for backing up my new profile? I lost a whole day with this business and it hasn’t yet ended. Thanks for your help.
Deanna
September 13th, 2007
at 8:28am
Thank you so much! The system restore was just what I needed to do, but it was great to have a whole host of steps ready to perform if it did not work.
Damien Cronin
September 26th, 2007
at 2:08am
On my computer it is no longer recognising my profile. I had my profile which was the admin one and my housemates profile which was just a guest account. However now whenever i turn on my computer it only shows the guest account. i’m using windows xp but when i log on it doesnt show the usual format (that being the two squares with pics and names to choose from) but now shows like a security business type log on system (grey box) with only the guest’s account name and option for pasword. this logs on fine but i cant make any changes to the accounts or access the admin profile. When i try to log off it only turns off my profile but doesnt give me an option to switch profile and the same if i reboot.
I was wondering has anyone come accross this before that might be able to help me with this error. I’d greatly appreciate any help given.
Shannon Anderson
October 8th, 2007
at 9:09am
I tried to copy my user profile per your instructions, but when I click on my user name, the copy to buttons becomes ghosted, and therefor unclickable. What to do?
Anurag
October 12th, 2007
at 10:40am
I was using windows media center edition on a 60 days trial. and i had an administrative account with a password. i had my data(songs,videos ,documents) organized in My Document folder. On expire of the trial period i did’nt got access to my account so i installed my copy of windows professional service pack 1, which overwritted the windows media center edition.
I left the data intact(didnt format the partition)
Now i m not getting access to my previous data i had in My Document folder. The error message is access is denied. How can i get my data back now.
Please help me with this
My email id is anurag_manshani@yahoo.com plz Reply on this.
sree
October 14th, 2007
at 10:55am
I tried to create a new user profile as Admin, from my current Administrator account…I was able to create the new one but lost the current account. My present problem is i’m unable to access the Administrator user profile or its contents in the “C:\Documents and Settings” It says Access Denied…. In “sharing and security” , i don’t see anything you suggest..Probably becoz i’m using home edition…Is there any solution i have few imp docs on the desktop of that profile..How to get them??? When trying to copy profile as given in this article, it says Access Denied….
reuben
October 23rd, 2007
at 11:00pm
i am having trouble locating my outlook files. i cant find a folder named local settings anywhere. I am using xp pro and outlook 2000
Sam
November 9th, 2007
at 9:32am
Your solution worked perfectly! Thanks!
MarkVH
November 14th, 2007
at 6:53am
Hey there ..i was deleting old users profiles from my system through that advanced tab and i accidentally deleted my own user settings now i lost all my documents, pics, stuff my friends sent me , etc…how do it get it back?
i am kinda freakin out here
MarkVH
November 14th, 2007
at 6:56am
hey there i was gettin rid of old user accounts and stuff in the advanced tab and i accidentally deleted my own user settings and lost everything,…all my documents, pic, things friends sent me etc..how do i get it back?..i am freakin out a bit here
nonny
November 14th, 2007
at 1:22pm
oh thank you thank you thank you for telling me where to find all my files (documents and settings). i was preparing to go lie on the train tracks after my profile was corrupted and i system restored and windows opened like my computer was shiny and new. and empty.
it wasn’t empty. thank you thank you for telling me where to find a year’s work.
Nick
November 18th, 2007
at 10:22pm
When I go to my local disk it shows no files or folders whatsoever. But when I try to name a folder into “Document and Settings” it says the folder exists but it isn’t shown
Romy
November 19th, 2007
at 10:37am
Hi, Thank you so much for the article. So much good advice!
I have a problem though… My old username doesnt show up on the list of usernames? But when I go to Documents and Settings, I can see my old user name. How do you suggest I delete the old user name once I have copied all the files?
Thank you for your help!
Andy
November 20th, 2007
at 9:50am
Alright - I got my profile recovered into a new profile
Thanks!!
BUT still have not been able to figure out to get all my old Outlook stuff - please help.
Thanks again
claudine hellmuth
December 20th, 2007
at 9:51pm
our profile got corrupted last night and we didn’t know what to do. Just wanted to thank you for your help! the system restore worked! yay!
Jack
January 3rd, 2008
at 9:48pm
I just restarted my comp with a new HD. I setup two profiles and then did all the windows updates. Now I have dupicates. I have one that says “admin” and one that says “admin.computername” the other is the same… the one with the plane name is generic, (”jim”) the other has all my stuff (”jim.computername”)…
Jean
January 7th, 2008
at 9:39am
Wow! I am really impressed!! I got my user profile back this morning and I am in awe. Thanks so much for this fix.
Mark
January 30th, 2008
at 11:52am
There are three user profiles on my computer. I am running WinXP Home with SP2. I was fooling around with the “User Accounts 2″ in the control panel and accidentally erased my sons user account. So, I tried to create a new one for him and a little window pops up that says his account already exists. I don’t know. What should I do? How can I find it and restore it to the welcome screen?
Thanks for any help…
Maddie
February 11th, 2008
at 6:49am
We have multiusers on the family computer using XP professional 2003. My son’s profile has become corrupted causing his documents and favorites to disappear. I have found them when I explore. I read your suggestion to system restore the computer.
How can I restore the system to a time when the corruption occurred? I don’t want to restore totally since I have some viruses in a vault and I do not want these restored. I only see a general “system restore” option and not a choice of what date to restore it to.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Ron
February 14th, 2008
at 6:44am
Helpful article, but one thing should be tweaked in it. The only way the system restore would work was if I booted into Safe Mode.
I, too, lost my profile after an automatic update. I have disabled this and now will choose the updates I want to make. Windows isn’t a a solid enough system to let it take control.
Neville
March 20th, 2008
at 8:20pm
My administrator file has disappeared along with any ability to create another file. The only file is a guest on in user group. How do I recover or insert another administrator file. Without the administrator file I can do nothing as far as delete or run new programs.
Martin
March 25th, 2008
at 6:03pm
I have a problem with my user account, what happened was; my computer was infected with various bugs and spyware that caused many pop-ups to fix this my dad preformed a system recovery, now while that fixed the bugs and pop-us, my windows xp account which had a password on it is in accessible saying that access is denied, is it possible to retrive all the data on my account? i need to know because all of my files for uni were on there. If anyone knows how to fix this could you please e-mail me replaceable_90@hotmail.com
MSAyub
March 27th, 2008
at 9:53am
I have a problem though… My old username showing but loging in diferent like temp uesrprofile
David Mariluch
April 16th, 2008
at 11:49pm
On my laptop my user profile was somehow deleted. I did receive the error message saying that it could no longer locate my user profile. It then created a default user with an identical name to my prior user profile. My documents and settings for my prior profile is not there, so i can not backup my files. I know my files are still somehow on my hard drive because the amount of memory used is still the same. I have tried system restore in despiration because i am not able to back up my files and when used it restores my computer to the vary same state it was in after i lost my user profile. I am very lost and in desperate need of some help. Thank you very much.
Wendy E
April 24th, 2008
at 1:23pm
Your advice really works.
Thank you.
HJ
April 26th, 2008
at 11:11pm
All my files deleted itself when a got an error telling that it couldn’t setup the security settings of the a file.
I was using the the copy to button, to another local profile.
Calvin H
May 23rd, 2008
at 1:55pm
I had luck with the UPHCLEAN utility from Microsoft. It cleaned up the hive. Well, the computer in question (running Windows XP Pro sp1) is pretty clean to begin with. The user said it was now logging in faster than before.
In addition, the computer never had any system restore points. I did not apply any of the valuable tricks mentioned by the writer. Backing up the profile in question is my first step. Using UPHCLEAN is the second step. There are other steps to follow, including some mentioned in the article, if UPHCLEAN did not help. Well, the UPHCLEAN utility did not help cleaning up my own computer, though.