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Author Topic: Windows cannot find local profile & is logging you on with temporary profile.  (Read 35663 times)

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KellyM

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    This is the first message I got when clicking onto my account. It then came up "Windows cannot load the locally stored profile. Possible causes of this error include insufficient security rights or a corrupt local profile." I changed users & logged onto my daughters account & this came up perfectly normal. I went onto the Microsoft website & it said it was a "migrated computer" problem & to delete the source user account or to delete the SID entries for the account from a registry subkey. Not too sure about either of these methods. Would be grateful if anyone could offer any advice. My system is Windows XP home Edition. Thanks.

    Rob Pomeroy



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    Had you been able to log in okay before this?  Are you now able to log in okay every time?  If so, you may have lost some configuration settings, but you probably don't otherwise need to worry.  Windows has rebuilt your profile.  Carry on as normal.
    Only able to visit the forums sporadically, sorry.

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    KellyM

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      I have never had a problem logging on before yesterday. The problem is still there, I am still being logged on with a temporary profile, which seems to be the same as starting all over again. I have lost most of my desktop icons, all my documents & pictures are gone and I need to create a new internet account so have lost all my contacts and saved emails. I tried to restore the computer to an earlier date but that did not work either. I would really like to be able to get back my old local profile if possible, I know everything is still in there, but how do I retrieve it? Thanks for any further help.

      Broni


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      Rob Pomeroy



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      Oh, okay Kelly.  Well the bad news is I don't think you've got any hope of repairing your old user profile.  I would suggest creating a new user and using that instead.  Don't delete the old user without ensuring you have preserved all the files you need from the old profile.  Pay particular attention to Outlook data files - they are usually in a fairly obscure location.
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      KellyM

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        Rob, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me so far and hope you can help me further. I have done as you advised and created a new user profile but have had no luck finding any of my old files. I imagine this is because I'm not sure of what I am doing! I have gone into the "System Properties-Advanced" section, where my old profile is  but am not sure if I need to copy this to somewhere else and then delete it. I have also searched for my Outlook Express files without any luck. I have looked through some other forums where this has happened to someone else and they said that these types of files (dbx or pst ) will be in a hidden folder "C:\ Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\ApplicationData\Identities\Microsoft\Outlook Express- but I can't find anything like that. So, as you can see, I could use any more information you can give me, as I have never  had to do anything like this before but would like to learn how so I can at least find my email contacts. Thanks in advance. Kelly.

        Rob Pomeroy



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        Kelly, by default you won't be able to find hidden files/folders.  In Windows Explorer, click Tools-->Folder Options.  On the View tab, find the option "Show hidden files and folders".  Enable that and click okay.  You should then be able to find the folder you were looking for previously at the location you mentioned.  If not, come back to us - there are some other places to look.
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        Helpmeh



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        Kelly, by default you won't be able to find hidden files/folders.  In Windows Explorer, click Tools-->Folder Options.  On the View tab, find the option "Show hidden files and folders".  Enable that and click okay.  You should then be able to find the folder you were looking for previously at the location you mentioned.  If not, come back to us - there are some other places to look.
        You may also need to enable viewing system files. Although when you're done, make sure you want to disable this feature as you don't want to mess with important system files.
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        Rob Pomeroy



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        Outlook files are not set to be system files, nor are they hidden in system folders, so this should not be necessary.
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        KellyM

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          Hi Rob,
                    Thanks for your time again. Sorry it's taken me a while to get back to you. I did as you suggested & enabled "Show hidden files & folders", but have still had no luck. When searching for "C:\DocumentsandSettings\User\LocalSettings\ApplicationData\Microsoft\Outlook" it said it was not a valid folder. I then tried "C:\DocumentsandSettings\User\LocalSettings\ApplicationData\Identities\{identification number-25 characters}\Microsoft\OutlookExpress" and got "refers to a location that is unavailable.It could be on a hard drive on this computer, or on a network. Check to make sure the disk was properly inserted or that you are connected to the Internet or your network & try again.If it still cannot be located, the information might have been moved to a different location." At the time of the search I was connected & I don't know what disk they mean. I also tried going into My Computer-Local Disk(C:)-Documents & Settings and clicked my old profile but a text box came up- "C:\Documents& Settings\KellyMuir is not accessible. Access is denied." So Rob, I hope you can give me more help. Thanks- Kelly.

          Rob Pomeroy



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          Ah!  There's the problem.  That last folder "C:\Documents and Settings\KellyMuir" has the permissions set so that you can't read or search it.  I bet your Outlook files are somewhere in there.

          Find the KellyMuir folder and right-click on it.  Choose Properties.  Click the Security tab.  Click Advanced.  Click the Owner tab.  Where it says "change owner to", choose your new user ID from the list.  Tick the box that says "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects."  Click okay and okay again.

          This process may take a while to complete.  Once it has done, you can retry your search.
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          KellyM

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            Rob, Thanks again for your reply. Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this. The good news is, before I read your last post, I tried logging onto my old profile again and was able to. A message came up about  the Registry Repair having done something and I have everything back again! Yay! Even though I did not have to try your last lot of tips, I have kept them just in case this happens again, so I at least know what to try. Thanks again for all your help. Kelly.

            Rob Pomeroy



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            A pleasure Kelly.  I'm glad you got things working.  Be sure to check in with us again if you have problems in future.
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            haleyc



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              I am having the exact same problem that Kellym was having.  Grrrrr.  This will be detrimental to my work if I don't recover my profile.  I have created a new user as administrator and tried copying the files from the original profile but I'm being told "Access Denied" when I click on any of the profile folders.  I have tried changing the security settings as you mentioned previously but again get told "Access Denied"

              Please, Please, Please help :'(

              Allan

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              I am having the exact same problem that Kellie was having.  Grrrrr.  This will be detrimental to my work if I don't recover my profile.  I have created a new user as administrator and tried copying the files from the original profile but I'm being told "Access Denied" when I click on any of the profile folders.  I have tried changing the security settings as you mentioned previously but again get told "Access Denied"

              Please, Please, Please help :'(
              Please start your own thread. Thank you.