My Computer puts the F.U. in FUN

Hi, Thanks for you help in advance.

I went through the HJT forum first but they were not able to resolve my computer issues and said to post there for more help.

Flyingfish's HJT Thread

I had a virus, my initial virus scanner seemed to have killed it, but several issues were left behind. We thought the virus was still around, but not it seems maybe the first virus cleaning program also killed some of the systems the virus was attached to.

But, what the tech do I know? So I need yer help. Here are the issues;

1. Task bar is locked, unlock, switched right back to locked.
2. Start Menu favorites is wiped clean, can't save new items.
3. NO hidden files settings are set to hidden. Change to see, change right back to hidden.
4. Background cannot be changed.
5. IE settings are all default, cannot change.
6. Cannot download programs from IE
7. Cannot save history in IE.
8. Cannot save bookmarks in IE.
9. Typed in URLs do not save in IE.
10. Fire Fox is okay
11. Cannot drag and drop docs/folders into the desk top recycling bin.
12. If I move folders around on the desktop, they revert back to default settings being cramed on the left side.
13. In safemode the admin profile seems to opperate normally, when I open my profile in safe mode it has the same above problems.
14. I might be forgettting something, but that is a good start.

So, what gives? Did my virus program eat something in the registry?

The easiest and probably quickest way to resolve this is to create a new account. If everything works okay, copy everything from the old, corrupted account to the new one.

See here: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

Or follow these directions posted in GeeksToGo.com

• Boot to Safe Mode, login as Administrator
• Show hidden files by opening My Computer, Tools menu, View tab, check Show Hidden Files/Folders and uncheck Hide extensions for known filetypes. Click Apply then OK.
• Create a new Administrator level account via Control Panel / User Accounts.. Pick a good name as you will be keeping it.
• Reboot the computer.
• Login with the new account so the folder structure under Documents and Settings gets created, then log off.
• Boot to Safe Mode, login as Administrator
• Browse to c:\documents and settings\OldUserAccount
• Select everything in that folder except the three files called ntuser.dat, ntuser.dat.log, and ntuser.ini.
• Copy all those files (except the one listed) into c:\documents and settings\NewUserAccount. Reply Yes or Yes to all when duplicate folders or files are found.
• Reboot the computer and login with your New user account.

Once you confirm that all your documents are located in My Documents of the New user, you can delete the old profile.

You may also try to see if your user profile has been locked. Open my computer, navigate to "C:\Documents and settings\" You will have to be showing hidden and system files, so you might need to do this from the safe mode administrator account. Look for ntuser.dat or ntuser.man, if you see a ntuser.man file, rename it to ntuser.dat. Also, check to make sure it is not flagged read-only. Reboot and see if it fixes your problem. EDIT: Are these settings reverting back immediately, or after a reboot?

EDIT: Are these settings reverting back immediately, or after a reboot?

Immediately.

Well, you have an interesting issue that I have never seen. Creating a new profile, and transferring data to the new profile as Ztruker suggested is definitely the solution to go with here.

[*]Select everything in that folder except the three files called ntuser.dat, ntuser.dat.log, and ntuser.ini.

My current user account is missing the ntuser.ini file. I think were under the C:\ drive, is that right? Thentuser.dat and ntuder text log file were there, but no ntuser.ini file. Now, I still cannot view hidden files under that profile, but if i can see the other two files, shouldn't I be able to view the .ini file?

Hi Flyingfish… If you don't see this file. Don't worry about it. You don't need to copy this file, so it is insignificant. Viewing hidden/system files in your old account should not be significant, because you should not be logged into that account to perform any of the instructed procedures from above. The copying of files is done from the safe mode "Administrator" account. Using that account, you will copy files from your old account to your new account, skipping the three ntuser files.

I should have been more specific. Were my problems, or part of them, caused by missing that file?

That's a very good question. Unfortunately, one I don't have an answer to. I did a brief search for what the ntuser.ini file is. It appears to be related to setting up mandatory and roaming profiles. So, I guess it could be related to your issue.