I accidentally hit the switch on my work computer, and when I powered back up I got a message saying that my profile may be corrupted:
Well, we don’t really have a system administrator. I can get into Windows 2000, but not as myself. This is a problem because I can’t access (or even see) files that I need. When I log onto Outlook, it’s as if I’m a new user.
In Outlook I went to Tools|Options|Mail Setup and tested my account settnigs.
[quote]
Some errors occurred while processing the tests. Please review the list of erors below for more details. If the problem persists after taking the suggested actions, please contact your Internet Service Provider.
How can I recover my user profile, so that I can get to my files and e-mail?
Okay, until someone who is a profesional drops by, I’ll take a stab at things and ask a couple questions.
I’m assuming that your profile is kept locally on your computer… Who has administrative access to the computer? With admin access you can see any profile in the computer and all files saved on the computer.
An administrator can set you up a new profile and set up all the files and programs to be accessible from the new profile.
Going into Control Panel|Users and Passwords|(my username), I see that I am in the Administrators group. (Not that I know anything about administering a network.)
I found a page that said to create a new user and log on as that new user, then delete my old user name. Unfortunately I’m not seeing how deleting my profile and creating a new one will get my old information back. (And I’m leery about deleting stuff I don’t know about anyway.)
I’ve just located “Johnny L.A”.bak underneath the “Johnny L.A.” folder in Documents and Settings. At least I can get to the (very many) files I need. Can this file somehow be used in the restoration of my corrupted profile?
In THEORY (Please backup everything before you try this) you should be able to log in as Administrator and DELETE the “Johnny L.A.” folder, then RENAME the “Johnny L.A.bak” folder to “Johnny L.A.” Then when you log back in as yourself the profile should be restored.
Okay, you don’t need to worry about the network or doing any network stuff as long as all the stuff you need is on the single workstation you have in front of you. If you have stuff on shared network drives then I’m out of my league here (In other words, I don’t know crap about networks).
In Win2000, a person (as you discovered) with admin access can create profiles. Make a new profile with a different name than the corrupted one. Copy all the stuff you need from the old profile and put it under the new profile. Then just log in from now on with the new name. I wouldn’t delete the old profile until you get better instruction from someone who really knows what he/she is doing and may be able to tell you how to repair your orginal profile. This should be good enough to keep you working. You’ll probably want to give the new name admin access so that you can go back to the files under your old log in in case you need to get there.
For the Outlook problem, you’ll need the server name(s) for the outgoing and incoming mail and the password for it. You can probably get the server name(s) from your ISP and they can also reset the password for you too.
Oh, I may not have stressed this enough… COPY the stuff from the old profile, don’t just move it. Keep your original intact. I am not a professional but I use Win2000 at home with my home network and have had people get their profiles messed up before. A professional probably knows better ways than the ones I used.
Maybe I should have read Fat Bald Guy’s post…
Maybe he’s a pro, I don’t know anything about what he said…
Thanks for the replies.
The boss told me not to worry about it, as long as I can still get to my files. He says I don’t really need e-mail at the moment. (I’ll remind him of that when I have to send some drawings out.) Anyway, the guy who set us up in the first place is coming over tonight after hours. I’ve told him what the problem is. If he can’t fix it, I might try what I posted earlier (post #3).