scott_davis
asked on
Accounts on Win2000
On a Win2000 server machine I just set up, the following subdirectories were created under C:\Documents and Settings...
---
Administrator
All Users
All Users.WINNT
Default User
Default User.WINNT
---
What is the difference between the directories with and without the WINNT appended?
It looks as if local machine profiles are stored in the WINNT folders, but what would be stored in the directories without the WINNT?
The machine, although Server is loaded, is configured as a standalone in a workgroup at the moment.
---
Administrator
All Users
All Users.WINNT
Default User
Default User.WINNT
---
What is the difference between the directories with and without the WINNT appended?
It looks as if local machine profiles are stored in the WINNT folders, but what would be stored in the directories without the WINNT?
The machine, although Server is loaded, is configured as a standalone in a workgroup at the moment.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
I believe I know what happened now.
This is insidious.
During the install, at the point where I was selecting when components (Accesories, etc) to install, the computer mysteriously rebooted.
However, upon rebooting, the system recovered at restarted setup not at the beginning but slightly before the point at which it formerly rebooted.
I guess the system had already created the "All Users" and "Default User" directories from the first interrupted setup, but when it backed up a little and restarted, it started at a point before creating these directories, so upon trying to create them again created the ".WINNT" versions instead.
YUK!
How can I get back to using the folders without the ".WINNT" crap?
Is it a simply copy and registry changes?
This is insidious.
During the install, at the point where I was selecting when components (Accesories, etc) to install, the computer mysteriously rebooted.
However, upon rebooting, the system recovered at restarted setup not at the beginning but slightly before the point at which it formerly rebooted.
I guess the system had already created the "All Users" and "Default User" directories from the first interrupted setup, but when it backed up a little and restarted, it started at a point before creating these directories, so upon trying to create them again created the ".WINNT" versions instead.
YUK!
How can I get back to using the folders without the ".WINNT" crap?
Is it a simply copy and registry changes?
Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwar e\Microsof t\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileL ist
in the registry and see what it says for AllUsersProfiles and DefaultUsersProfiles and see if it has the .WINNT extension in the values. If so, try removing the .WINNT extension and reboot and see what happens. If this works does this mean I get points for two questions? ;)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwar
in the registry and see what it says for AllUsersProfiles and DefaultUsersProfiles and see if it has the .WINNT extension in the values. If so, try removing the .WINNT extension and reboot and see what happens. If this works does this mean I get points for two questions? ;)
ASKER
That is the place where the values for the profile locations are stored. And, indeed, the WINNT extensions are there.
However, I should revoke your points, not double them, for suggesting I change them. Think about it. Do a registry search. There are plenty of other places in the registry that refer, in part, to the profile locations through hard-coding rather than through either
%ProfilesDirectory%/%AllUs ersProfile %
or
%ProfilesDirectory%/%Defau ltUserProf ile%
If I were to change these values alone I would cause corruption.
No, after examining things I think that I must simply re-install again.
However, I should revoke your points, not double them, for suggesting I change them. Think about it. Do a registry search. There are plenty of other places in the registry that refer, in part, to the profile locations through hard-coding rather than through either
%ProfilesDirectory%/%AllUs
or
%ProfilesDirectory%/%Defau
If I were to change these values alone I would cause corruption.
No, after examining things I think that I must simply re-install again.
ASKER
Thank you for this excellent URL.
I hand thee the points...
I hand thee the points...
ASKER
That article was helpful in establishing how things are supposed to work.
Now the bad news.
Things aren't working the way they should.
In the article, it says that the Windows 2000 installer will create a "All Users.WINNT" and "Default User.WINNT" folder when you install Windows 2000 on a partition that already has an established copy, such that settings from the first installation won't be overwritten.
But this was not the case for me!!!
I installed fresh, with only the install image and a prior "My Documents" directory on the partition existing before the install.
How could this have happened then?