Transfer Data Between User Profiles

I've just read back through this topic to refresh myself with the problem you were having, and if I read right, you lost the ability to logon to the Alex profile. The profiles.txt you posted shows that the Alex profile is still active, so lets see if you can logon to it. Open the Control Panel and then User Accounts. There should be an account for Alex, Alex_2, and Owner. Let us know if this is correct.

In the User Account applet, under the Pick a task section, click 'Change the way users log on or off'. Uncheck the 'Use Welcome Screen' box. Click Apply Options and close the User Accounts applet. Log off. You should now have a classic logon menu, requiring you to type in a username (it may already have a name in there). Type in Alex and supply the password you used for the Alex profile. Is logon successful?

 

Where do I set my password? I don't want to log out to find that I can't get back in...



I can get into the Alex profile fine - I was just trying to drag the files from my past Alex profile into my old one. Then I saw how many old profiles I still had.

 

You set the password for a user account from within the User Accounts applet in the Control Panel. If you never had a logon password for Alex, don't worry about it now.

From your first post;

I'm assuming that either your computer boots directly to the Owner profile (desktop) or that Owner is the only icon at the welcome screen (was, until you created Alex_2). Is one of those assumptions correct?

Switching from the Welcome Screen logon to the Classic logon will not affect your ability to logon to the account. You need only type the name of the user account you wish to logon to, such as Owner or Alex or Alex_2, at the logon screen, then type the password for that account and hit enter (leave blank and hit enter if no password has been assigned).

While I'm aware that you can open (access) the Alex folders and files, that is not the same as logging onto the profile. If the information from the profiles.txt log is correct, then the Alex profile is still active, and successfully logging onto that profile may be the quickest fix for your problems.

 

OK, I am able to log onto the alex profile.

 

I guess now the question is, when using the Welcome Screen logon, is there an icon available for the Alex profile? Go back to the User Accounts applet in the Control Panel. Change the logon back to Use Welcome Screen and apply. Double click on the Alex username and then change the picture. Log off. Is Alex available?

Are things working as they should on the Alex profile?

 

Yes, the Alex profile shows up fine. So now in documents and settings, I have Alex and Alex_2. Alex, the profile I am on now, has many things wrong with it: I can't get the desktop to change, My computer will not go on the desktop, Windows Media Player will not work, etc. I will probably just move my things to the working profile and delete this one. What is the best way to transfer the files? Also I would like to delete any unnecessary profiles in Documents and Settings (the 5 admin accounts).

 

Just copy/paste the documents, pics, music files, favs, etc from one profile to the other. Once you have everything that you want to the working profile, delete the corrupted Alex user account via the User Accounts applet in the Control Panel. You will be prompted to save the documents for that profile when you delete it, which you won't need to do since you'll have already copied what you want. Reboot after deleting Alex. The Alex folder should be gone from Docs and Settings when you logon.

Since your test document resulted in the Administrator.YOUR-W92P4BHLZG.002 being the active Admin profile, you can delete the following. If you are unable to remove them (access denied), try from the Admin account in safe mode.

Administrator
Administrator.YOUR-W92P4BHLZG
Administrator.YOUR-W92P4BHLZG.000
Administrator.YOUR-W92P4BHLZG.001

 

OK, I did all that, and the new alex profile is still corrupted. So, I went to delete said profile. I clicked the option that said it would put all of my documents and Alex's Desktop into a folder on the admin desktop called "Alex ". Well, I did this and instead of moving all the files, it deleted them all and gave me a folder called Alex with nothing in it. I lost a load of files, and am now trying to get them back through system restore, which just seems to be bringing the folders back without the contents. What can I do now? I need my files back!!

 

Ugghhh Just for the record (and mainly as a warning to others that may come along), do not ever let Windows handle the backing up of important data when deleting a user account. Always place copies in another SAFE location first!

Before you do anything else, lets see if any of those files can be recovered. Do not install any new programs, create profiles, save new documents or pics, or make any other changes to the drive until you've completed the attempted recovery. Any additions or changes could quickly overwrite the space occupied by the deleted files with new data.

Download Restoration, preferrably to a floppy disk, USB drive or another computer. Double click and extract the files (again, to floppy or usb), then run the program.

Select the drive to scan, then click Search Deleted Files. It will scan and list all deleted files found. You can customize the search easily (and narrow the results) by typing in, for example, .doc to search only for files with that extension, or .jpg to search for pictures with that extension. You must select each file and click Restore by copying, one at a time. You will be prompted for a location to save it. An external source or partition other than the one scanned is preferable. You will be prompted if you select the drive being scanned as a destination, with a warning that some of the deleted data may be overwritten by the restored file. Not all recovered files will always be readable either.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.