Sadly, a Network Profile can become corrupted and the only permanent way to fix it is use the Registry Editor to delete the profile from the ProfileList then later append ‘.old’ to the corrupted profile and ask the user to log in once more and then save a .txt file on the desktop to see if the .txt file erases itself once they log out. If the .txt file remains on the desktop or the profile is not detected as temporary, you can then copy the files from the appended ‘.old’ account so that the user can have access to them again.

Please keep in mind that you will have to setup Outlook (and similar programs) again so that they can access their email from the Exchange Server. The steps to recreate a network 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 network profile.
13. 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.
19a. If the .txt file is still there, the issue is fixed so you can copy (not move) the data from the corrupted account.
19b. If the account is temporary, try and delete the profile from the Registry Editor again or setup a new hard drive and migrate the files from the account.
20. After four weeks, you can delete the appended profile and files to save disk space. If you replaced the corrupted hard drive, you can erase it and use for someone else.

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Stephan Pringle

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About The Author: Stephan Pringle is an Information Technology Specialist. He covers hardware and software and provides tips for you to troubleshoot and repair issues on your own. In his spare time, he writes articles about the State of New York on his Hackintosh and is currently the top contributor of the New York City section of Yahoo! Answers.

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