"User Environment" Crashing XP Pro

I am running Win XP Professional. I am not technically inclined. I mostly press buttons and pray.

I think the problem might have stemmed from a botched SP2 download. I fixed my initial problem by going to the add/remove center in the control panel and got rid of SP2.

When I was away from my laptop, my computer automatically downloaded some "update" from windows and restarted my computer.

Now I can't get past my profile login because the pc crashes.

Here is what pops up after i type in my password.

"User Environment: Windows cannot load the user profile but has logged you on with the default profile of the system. DETAILS: A required privilege is not held by the client. "

The problem is, it doesn't log me onto the default profile, the pc just freezes. I'm also not really sure what the DETAILS means. Just to confirm with y'all, I am running legal software. My XP is not a copy, pirated, or bootlegged or whatever.

After this screen proceeds, my lap tops freezes. I can't get past this point.

I also cannot reboot in safe mode or any other mode (I tried them all). When I try to log into safe mode, the Administrator login does become available, but I can't seem to remember the password. Though to be completely honest, I don't even remember assigning a password to the Admin profile.

To prove what a newbie I truly am, I tried using the recovery disk that came with my laptop and somehow ended up installing XP again. Now I have two operating systems on my computer! One-XP Professional. One-Windows Media Center Edition.

Am I scrod? If I do need to seek technical help, I don't even know what to tell the person.

Since I have two OS's on my laptop now, is there anyway to access the c-drive and my files and desktop, with the OS that is running? Or do I really need to take this sucker into a qualified technician?

Thanks for any and all help, tips or advice.

-Rob


Worse Case Scenario: I'm not sure if this is possible. But can I take my laptop in somewhere and have them transfer all the contents of my c-drive to an external hard drive, then wipe my laptop clean and start all over? Or are the files in XP somehow encrypted so that if you don't/can't login via the appropriate profile, you can never access the files?

 

Hello rizar,

Am I scrod? If I do need to seek technical help, I don't even know what to tell the person.

You need someone to fix this "hands on ", too many things have gone wrong. Tell them what you told us. XP has to be re-loaded from the beginning with all the updates again including SP2.

Worse Case Scenario: I'm not sure if this is possible. But can I take my laptop in somewhere and have them transfer all the contents of my c-drive to an external hard drive, then wipe my laptop clean and start all over? Or are the files in XP somehow encrypted so that if you don't/can't login via the appropriate profile, you can never access the files?

Unless you specifically encrypted the files, they should be readable/copyable. This is your best bet.

Regards - Charles

 

Not sure if this is bad form, but I'm bumping this to the top.

Any second opinions?

Thank you.

 

Yes. I second what charlesvar suggested.

The problem can be fixed but unless the 'fixer' has a fair amount of technical expertise, it would be very easy to spend hours/days just to make things worse and wind up losing all your personal stuff.

 

thanks for the input.

I mulled it over and decided my files weren't worth the cost of hiring a tech to salvage the files - so I nuked the C:drive, reformatted and reinstalled XP.

Now I'm trying to work out a slight user profile problem. When I startup, XP is loading the Admin profile automatically, therefore I have to logoff that profile then log on again onto my own personal profile.

Anyone else experiencing this?