Windows update seems to have corrupted my profile

I have a Dell Studio XPS running Windows 7.  I installed the latest update today and re-started as you're normally asked to do.  During this process I received the following message "you have been logged on with a temporary password.  You cannot access your files and files created in this profile will be deleted when you logoff.  To fix this logoff, and try logging on later.  Please see the event log for details or contact your system administrator".

 

I googled this and tried a fix but it didn't seem to work.  The fix was to go into the registry and delete the ".bak" profile.  I saved a copy of the registry to a thumb drive and have this profile but have not added it back.

 

The problem is I most of the icons on my desktop are gone at this point.

 

Thanks,

 

Guy

 

p.s.  I put this update on another desktop computer and it had problems also but a re-boot seemed to fix the.  It was not a profile problem but it was a lengthy Windows error message (I forget what it said) but like I said a re-boot seems to have fixed it.

 

Before doing any of the following, make a backup of your registry. I suggest you install ERUNT to do this.

Your files are still there. Sounds like your user profile has lost it's connection with where it's data is stored. If you are comfortable with using regedit, try this by booting to Safe Mode by pressing F8 during boot. Login as Administrator, no password.

The key is a registry hack that redirects Windows back to the ProfileImagePath of the original profile.

Click on Start then Run. type regedit and press Enter or click OK.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Once there, you will see the SID's listed for all of the profiles on the machine. Something like this:
 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-18
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-19
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-20
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-21-2734701773-3490380084-605924724-1001
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-21-2734701773-3490380084-605924724-1004
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-21-2734701773-3490380084-605924724-500

On my system, my profile is under the one that ends in 1001, yours may be different, check them all.

Within the Key for each SID there is an entry called "ProfileImagePath" that will look like

ProfileImagePath REG_EXPAND_SZ C:\Users\UserName…

Scroll through the SID's until you find the one with the screwy name, like

%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\youruserid.2

This is just an example, could be something else weird.

Just edit the Key to remove the ".2", and it will point the user back to their old profile…


Got this from TechRepublic.com but it's no longer there.

I have no Idea what I did but it seems to be fixed now.  Before I wrote to you I had shut the PC down and re-booted to no avail.  The profile area that you described is where I was earlier and deleted the ".bak" that did nothing.  With your instructions I clicked on what you called the screwy name.  I didn't have the 2 but I did have some other junk after my profile name.  I did absolutely nothing other than click on it.  I then decided to make sure I had my registry backup before I did anything, so I Xed out of this and checked my thumb drive to be sure.  It was there so I went back to the profile area and the Junk after my profile name was gone and a .bak file had been added.  I thought WTF and re-booted to see what would happen.  My whole desktop loaded this time.  I shut it down again to double check and it loaded again.

 

Damn, you're good!!!  Thanks.  Do you think it will hold?

Don't know if it will hold or not. I've not had a problem like it in 5 or more years.

 

I'd say the first thing you need to do is create an image backup to an external hard drive using Macrium Reflect Free (or similar). Then if something like this happens, recovery is only 20 or 30 minutes away.