Corrupt user configuration database

Have you tried just using system restore and go back to a date before your hard stop??

start/programs/accessories/system tools

Read the question again.

See if you find this file on that user
Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat

If so backup the file and then reboot it should be recreated.

Also this file could be causing the problem NTUSER.DAT

Have you tried to boot to safe mode and chooce "last not good" option to boot?

user! oops!

Okay, CrazyOne, the file exists. When you say "backup the file and then reboot" you probably meant to say to backup then delete the file then reboot. I doubt that just a backup without a delete would fix it. However if I do that I will lose a lot, correct? Isn't that file part of the registry? I don't know if that part of the registry is corrupt but if not then I don't want to lose the data in it.

Thank you, shekerra. That sounds like the problem so the fix is probably the best I can do from here. I will lose (at least) the security permissions for the user but if that is all I lose then that is better than losing everything. I guess I was on the right track because I did already create a new user and I tried copying the good profile to it but I tried copying using the User Profile dialog. I also tried searching for a relevant KB article but I did not get the correct set of keywords.

For centerv: I do not know how to choose "last not good" option to boot. If a configuration is "not good" then I do not want to use it! I am surprised someone would even suggest such a thing but I doubt that Windows provides the option anyway, fortunately.

I had a similar problem one time and after a lot of trial and error I found that the UsrClass.dat file was causing the problem. I removed it and the problem went away and did not loose any settings. If the NTUSER.DAT is damaged then backing it up and removing it would at least confirm if this file is the problem or not. It it is then those settitngs are lost anyways. Since you already backed up the profile you should't be in any position to loose anything that you already lost. It just may be worth testing anyway.  

Sam you can still utilize the information in this MS TID:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q314045

>>I am surprised someone would even suggest such a thing but I doubt
that Windows provides the option anyway, fortunately.

mmmm, we must be well versed in winxp.
Booting to safe mode, F8, will give you a multitude of boot options.
Good luck in any event.

centerv, I know about the recovery console and the use of F8 to get there. What I was commenting on was the option to boot the "last not good".

I believe what cent meant was hitting the F8 key doing a regular boot and then choosing from the menu "Last Known good configuration". This usually only affects drivers that have been recently installed.

That being the case, I had not noticed it!
My fingers are not always where they should be. Hehe

Spelling eror   not=known

crazy
you know my weakness.  :>)

Using the "Last Known good configuration" did not fix the problem and I did not expect it to. That is for when the system cannot start; the whole system, not just one user.

Copying the profile as described in KB article Q318011 did not fix it. The user that I copied to could also complained that the profile is corrupt.

Deleteing the UsrClass.dat file did not fix it. Deleteing the NTUSER.DAT file does fix it. I used the user I copied to for testing.

KB article Q314045 is for Windows 2000 and appears to be the Windows 2000 version of Q318011.

So the question "how can I restore the profile to it's previous condition" still remains. If there is a way to recover and/or fix the data in the NTUSER.DAT file then that is what I want to do. If it is not possible then I will award points as appropriate for the existing answers.

There is no automatic registry backup in xp unless you've put it there.
There may be a ntuser.bak which may go back to the time of the original install.
If the above options have not worked for you, then I would try "repairing" xp (reloading) from the orignal cd in hopes that it may identify and repair the user problem.
That failing, recreate the user.

I thought I mentioned recreating the user...Or perhaps I have developed an attitude...

Check in the C:\Windows\System32\Repair and look at the dates on these files see how recent they are.

DEFAULT
SAM
SECURITY
SOFTWARE
SYSTEM

These are the registry Hives. If they are within a week or two of when the problem started then you might be able to recover most of of the profile provided the profile on the disk is not what is damaged. In other words if it is a registry thing then you might have a chance. However if the profile has damaged files then you may be out of luck.


Hi Cent I guess you forgot to slow down your CPU to match your typing speed. LOL

Recreating the user will not recover the user's registry data (ntuser.dat), right? I can figure that out myself.

There is not a \Windows\System32\Repair directory. You probably mean the C:\Windows\Repair directory. Those files are all nearly a month old. Do they have data from the user's ntuser.dat? If so, is there a way to recover just the one user's data?

If there is not a way to recover the user's registry data then the easiest solution is to start with a new user.

>>>>>Or perhaps I have developed an attitude.

Perhaps!

It's not exactly easy in a long thread not to step on some of the same info more than once and keep some kind of sense in the flow.

I'm out of here.

>>>If so, is there a way to recover just the one user's data?

Generally speaking no because these hives are not in a text format so you can't just open them up like with a text editor and pull out the pertinent info. There is a few possible ways that would be somewhat time consuming, risky and may require being hooked to a network.

I'm really going to get an attitude crazy - I did mention recreating the user - ugggh
I'm simply tired of being ignored and it better not be a gender-biased option here.

Oh sorry Bev I am not ignoring you for some reason I got the impression SamHobbs tried doing that and it did not work. Chances are I misread something. Sorry about that. :>)

SamHobbs have you tried doing what Bev suggested. She is a damn good expert and it may behoove you to look into what she suggested a little deeper. :>)

Sorry crazy and Sam - I guess I am currently on some type of IT broomstick here - let me take out my broomstick IT kit and I'll be right back.
Sorry.

The thing I asked about is fixing or recovering the registry data. I have generally ignored the user re-creation because I assume it would not solve the problem of fixing or recovering the registry data. As for doing things such as using Windows setup to fix the problem it seems that people are just making suggestions. In the Microsoft newsgroups there are experts there that have actully done things such as this and can be more specific about how to solve the problem. The Microsoft newsgroups have been having problems since at least Sunday afternoon so I have been unable to use them for this.

I am not a total idiot about things such as the registry. For example I have written code to update the registry with data for an Automation server.

I should have checked my bookmarks first. I have a few bookmarks for the sites provided by the XP specialists that help out using the Microsoft newsgroups. I found KB article:

Damaged Registry Repair and Recovery in Windows XP (Q318159)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;;Q318159

So perhaps the problem can be fixed but I just need to get in touch with Microsoft. That KB article appears to be what I am looking for.

Kind of doubt that patch will fix the problem but it could come in handy sometime down the road. Corrupted registries usually result in not being able to boot into the system at all. Sometimes you can boot into safe mode with a corrupted registry but usually when a registry hive gets corrupted it takes booting to the Recovery Console or doing a repair to fix it.

CrazyOne, see the following:

Registry Contains a Group Policy Setting That RSoP Does Not Display (Q304478)
http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q304478
near the bottom it says "both the user's registry (Ntuser.dat)"

HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP (Q316434)
http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q316434
"All user-specific configuration information (which is displayed in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key) is stored in the Ntuser.dat file in the Documents and Settings\ user name folder."

The hotfix for "Damaged Registry Repair and Recovery in Windows XP (Q318159)" worked. My system is fixed.

So the help provided here was close enough that I will choose one or two of the existing comments as an answer. Any suggestions?

Cool I am glad it worked and my assumptions were mistaken about the hotfix.

>>>Any suggestions?

Thats up to you. Which ever comment or comments seem to point in correct direction would be the most probable. However if you feel that none really pointed in the correct direction you couuld ask Community Support to refund your points and then still enter this question into the database since a fix was found by you and could be useful info for others that have a similar problem.

I see you've fixed the problem and received help.  You may close this by choosing the Expert comment who helped you, or if more than one helped you, create a zero point question in Community Support, include this link and ask Moderator to help you split points.  Include the Expertname and point values you wish awarded.

Asta

No comment has been added lately, so it's time to clean up this TA.
I will leave a recommendation in the Cleanup topic area that this question is:

- Answered by: crazy/shek/centerv
- Place in PAQ
- 3 way split for points

 sorry crazyone - I disagree with a point refund.  All experts in this thread contributed too much information to even consider a refund of points.

Please leave any comments here within the
next seven days.

PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THIS COMMENT AS AN ANSWER!
Thank you,
FYI POPUP ADS BYTE...
SB

I was quite frustrated about this and while writing a response I clicked on a link and BAM my response is gone. I should have known better. Most other forum software open a new browser automatically when a link is clicked. I assumed that would happen here but I should not have assumed.

The reason I leave questions such as this hanging around like this is because it is the issure of rewarding points is so emotional. The issue is not paying the points; the issue is the principal of rewarding answers that are not helpful.

I strongly disagree with the statement "experts in this thread contributed too much information". The experts in this thread accomplished nothing except waste my time. I solved the problem myself and the exerts here did not help me find the solution. Some experts never understood what I was asking and they absolutely should not be rewarded. I would feel better if one of them were to have at least acknowledged what my requirements were.

I said I would reward points so I will. I will first submit this so I don't lose it also.

My system crashed many (more than a dozen) times again after this problem. If I had implemented this solution or any of the offers offered here I would have lost work each time. I am very fortuante that I found the hotfix instead. It seems to have (silently) fixed the problem each time.

Bev, I would not have had any idea of what gender you are if you had not said anything about gender. The only reason I ignored your answer(s) is that they would have caused loss of data. The hotfix restored me right bak to where I was before the crash.

June 16, 2003 was when you opened this question.  Your attitude in this thread is similiar to this thread:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20185198/Doing-ASP-when-a-button-is-clicked.html

"Comment from SamHobbs  09/21/2001 01:37PM PST  
I think I got the answer from the Microsoft ASP newsgroup. It's address is:

microsoft.public.inetserver.asp.general

The answer is that what I want to do is not possible. It was not clear to me that there is no ASP code in a HTML file sent to the client, and therefore when a DHTML event occurs, the ASP code is gone.

I will probably request this question be deleted soon.

Comment from mouatts  09/23/2001 06:36AM PST  
My self and others told you that ASP were server side only so you have ineffect your answer  
Comment from SamHobbs  09/23/2001 11:09AM PST  
The explanation provided by Moshe in the newsgroup included the explanation "Once an ASP page has finished processing on the server, it shows up at the client with the ASP part GONE.".

That is not the same as saying "Response is object is used onluy in server side scripts." or "the Response.Write MUST be in server side scripts" or "Of course there is no ASP because ASP executes on the server side and you are wanting something submitted which MUST occur on the client side."

I realize that for someone that understands that ASP only executes before the HTML is first sent to the client, all the comments probably are relevant, but for someone such as I that did not yet understand, the explanations provided in here were not clear enough.

Comment from mouatts  09/23/2001 11:34AM PST  
Then don't expect any further help on EE"  

Comment from SamHobbs  06/19/2002 03:56PM PST  
The hotfix for "Damaged Registry Repair and Recovery in Windows XP (Q318159)" worked. My system is fixed.

So the help provided here was close enough that I will choose one or two of the existing comments as an answer. Any suggestions?

Such integrity!

And here is more:
Comment from CrazyOne  06/19/2002 05:10PM PST  
Cool I am glad it worked and my assumptions were mistaken about the hotfix.

>>>Any suggestions?

Thats up to you. Which ever comment or comments seem to point in correct direction would be the most probable. However if you feel that none really pointed in the correct direction you couuld ask Community Support to refund your points and then still enter this question into the database since a fix was found by you and could be useful info for others that have a similar problem.



 
Comment from astaec  07/07/2002 08:28AM PST  
I see you've fixed the problem and received help.  You may close this by choosing the Expert comment who helped you, or if more than one helped you, create a zero point question in Community Support, include this link and ask Moderator to help you split points.  Include the Expertname and point values you wish awarded.

Asta  


You requested suggestions and then failed to follow through with the 'requested suggestions' - the last comment you made was on 06/19/2002 03:56PM PST >>> that was 7 months ago...I rest my case.

Thank you for doing the research. Those are good examples of why it is so emotional dealing with these issues.

I get the impression that your intent is to be critical. You seem to be implying that I am inconsistent in some way. To the extent I am inconsistent it is the unpleasantness of all this that makes me inconsistent. Members in the CodeGuru web site are not so quick to be critical becasue they are not competing for points. There was a time they were competing for points and people were sometimes less pleasant then than now.

I think that points get rewarded too easily here. I would think that management would want to keep the quality of the answers high but I suppose they profit from getting points used up faster. They can see all those points being used up but probably do not realize how much business they lose in other ways.

Wrong Sam - I could care less about the points here <everyone else in this queue could care less about the points also.  It is the fact that you made a statment - went back on it <even though plausable suggestions were offered here> and then you decided that you would penalize me with a C!  I do not need your points - nor do I want your points.  

<restore>
The initial question was:  "So how can I restore the profile to it's previous condition? I do not have a recent restore point to use so I assume I will lose some configuration data if I restore to a configuration from more than a month ago."
</restore>

then you change it to:
<fixing/recovering>
The thing I asked about is fixing or recovering the registry data. I have generally ignored the user re-creation because I assume it would not solve the problem of fixing or recovering the registry data.
</fixing/recovering>

In order to restore the profile to it's previous condition you have to create a new profile and copy over sections of the old profile minus the dat/then you have to rebuild the profile manually.

BTW my intent is not to be critical - I believe in 'truth'

>I would think that management would want to keep the quality of the answers high but I suppose they profit from getting points used up faster. They can see all those points being used up but probably do not realize how much business they lose in other ways.
Just an FYI, the grade you give has no bearing on the points you loose for a question (points being used up faster)
You asked a 100 point question, and no matter what grade you give, the 100 points (and only 100 points) are deducted from your account

SamHobbs
The reality as I see it.
By asking a question here you garned a lot of info that whether you realize it or not or wish to acknowledge, led you to the correction.

When you asked your question with your 100 points that are worth ZIP, you set in motion many experts that I would guess do this for a living at approx. $50 to $100 per hour or more.
This may not apply to CrazyOne, as I heard somewhere he was independedly wealthy, :>), but I'm sure I'm not far off.

Where else in (Sam Hill) would you get this kind of effort?

If you fix it, that's great. Share the knowledge and award split points to all that participated.
Worth it to just listen to you bellyache.
A psychiatrist would want real dollars!

Is it fun yet? bah  :<)

PS Profit by points?
Out of curiosity, how many points did you ever pay for?
I bet I know the answer!

>>>This may not apply to CrazyOne, as I heard somewhere he was independedly wealthy, :>), but I'm sure I'm not far off.

Hehehehe actually I am independently poverty stricken is more like it. Doing this a big time hobby for me. Beats watching TV. And where I live the IT industry is in such a slump to get a job in the industry one almost has to pay a bribe to get the job. So doing this helps keep my skill levels from deteriorating so if and when a job does open up I won't have lost to much of what I know. Plus I learn a lot here as well.

The interesting thing about that fix is it no longer exists. Supposedly it is incorporated in SP1 now and if it is it doesn't work very well.

Quite frankly SamHobbs I think you got lucky with that hot fix. Most the people I have recommended that fix to before MS yanked it didn't work for them. So be glad it did for you. :>)

I knew that C, but I couldn't help.
I must be having that kind of a night!

>>>So be glad it did for you.

I sure am. I don't know if there is anything special I did to make it work but it sure worked for me.

I can assure everyone that nothing in this thread told me anything I did not already know that helped me find the solution. I learned something about the user.dat file being part of the registry or something like that but that did not help find the solution.

Samhobbs you could at least humble yourself for a moment of your time <being that you know everything and can solve everything yourself> and thank crazy and cent for their input here.
Gaaad the one thing that annoys me most is an unappreciative person...

>>>I knew that C, but I couldn't help.
I must be having that kind of a night!


You seem to be a good mood my freind. Keep the jibes coming. I find them amusing and enjoy seeing them. :>)

:>)

I avoid rewarding negative attitude. The more negative attitude I get the less likely I am to cooperate.

Personally I think you are an ass SAM - EOD

Understand you perfectly Sam
Seen way too much of it.
You can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink.

All I can say is that it takes all kinds to make this worls spin, I guess.

With that I'll bow out of this question.
The best of luck to you.

SamHobbs

I am not looking for anything from you and I don't have a problem with having your points refunded. However I don't recall or see where I had a negative attitude or made any remarks that where not in a friendly manner. I think I have been courteous towards you and will continue to be so.

I am sorry, CrazyOne. I did not intend to imply that you were negative. Yes you have a professional attitude.

Sometimes the things we say can have unintended implications. A compliment given to someone can be misinterpreted as a criticism of another.

Ok,I have read through the thread.  I am inclined to refund the points and change the grade to an A.  Seems we have some issues here.  I just hope in the future you understand that all these experts that tried to assist are not paid, and did this on personal time.  As I am an expert here also, sometimes I just have to pipe in and give my 2 cents regarding that.
And by the way, when it comes to follow up and questions, did you feel that you did not get your answer in https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20185198/Doing-ASP-when-a-button-is-clicked.html and therefore feel that these experts were off the mark also?  And with this one, https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20263516/Server-side-scriptlets.html you refer to the awarding of points, would you like me to close that also.

Just a question.

Action, refund points and let it go.

Computer101
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