Sadly, a Local Profile can become corrupted and the only way to fix it is use the Registry Editor to delete the profile from the ProfileList then append ‘.old’ to the profile and ask the user to log in and save a .txt file on the desktop to see if it erases once you log out. If the file remains, you can then copy the files from the appended ‘.old’ account so that the user can have access to them again. Keep in mind you will have to setup Outlook (and similar programs) again so that they can access their email. the steps to recreate a local profile is as follow.
Using the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe)
01. Log into the computer with a Local Administrator account
02. Left-click the Start Button when from the Desktop.
03. Type regedit in the Run/Start Search box.
04. Wait for the Registry Editor window to open.
05. Double-click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder.
06. Double-click on the SOFTWARE folder.
07. Double-click on the Microsoft folder.
08. Double-click on the Windows NT folder.
09. Double-click on the CurrentVersion folder.
10. Double-click on the ProfileList folder.
11. Scroll through the listed key there paying attention to ProfileImagePath.
12. Now delete the key name that mentions the corrupted user’s local profile.
13. Close or minimize the Registry Editor window.
14. Navigate to the user’s profile folder on the boot drive. (C:\Users or C:\Documents and Settings\)
15. Append the username with ‘.old’ in the list.
16. Log out then have the user log into the computer.
17. Save a .txt file on the desktop and log out the user.
18. Have the user log in again and check for the .txt file.
19. If the .txt file is still there, the issue is fixed. Otherwise, the account is temporary.
Stephan Pringle
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