Documents and Settings/Duplicate Users

alan4cult

Hi,

There has been a problem with my user folders since I first used the computer and i'm just wondering if I can rectify it.

I am running WinXP Home and have four users. Normally in the Documents and Settings Folder I would have these four user folders and the All user Folder. Yet two of my users have a duplicate folder.

Example
User1: John Smith (I love that name)
User2: Mary Smith

Documents and Settings Folder:
Alan Smith
Bryan Smith
John Smith
John Smith.PC200211311531
Mary Smith
Mary Smith.PC200211311531
All Users

Why do the folders with the PC200211311531 suffix appear? By the way the folders with this suffix are the main folders and cannot be deleted nor renamed. Any ways on how I can consolidate them to the Name-Only Folder and delete the ones with the PC200211311531 suffix?

Sorry for the "long-winded" description!

seamus

This usually happens when a profile becomes corrupt.

So when Mary Smith first started using the computer, her profile was stored in the /Mary Smith/ folder. Then something happened, and the machine needed to create a new blank profile, so it created the /Mary Smith.PC200211311531/ folder and started using that.

However, you can't be sure that the second folder is the one that's currently being used. I've seen machines create new profiles, then revert back to the original one at the next login.

What you need to do is:

1. Reboot
2. Log in as the Administrator (or Bryan or Alan Smith if they have admin priviledges).
3. Go to c:\documents and settings\
4. Make a note of the "last modified" date on the /Mary Smith.PC200211311531/ and /Mary Smith/ folders . The folder that has been most recently modified is the one that contains the profile currently in use.
5. Repeat step 4 for the other user
6. Create a /backup/ folder
7. Move the four odd folders into this folder.
8. Log in as Mary Smith.
9. Log out.
10. Log in as John Smith.
11. Log out.
12. Reboot
13. Log in as Administrator
14. Copy the contents of the current profile from the /backups/Mary Smith/ folder (if that's the right one), to c:\document and settings\Mary Smith
15. Repeat for the other user.
16. Log in as each user and verify that their profiles are intact.

alan4cult

Thanks,

I'll give your solution a try tomorrow night.

alan4cult

Yes, this worked like a treat.

Thank you for your help.

seamus

Hth