lehan
asked on
Login to Windows XP existing user profile using new user account
I have a Windows XP Pro system that was part of a domain.
I had to dis-join it from domain and login as local user.
The domain user profile still exists on the machine under Documents & Settings.
Is there a way I can force the new local user to use the ex-domain user profile
instead of using the newly created user profile?
I am just trying to prevent spending the time to re-setup everything for the new
user account.
Please don't recommend the Files & Settings Transfer Wizard as a solution - its
not what am looking for in this case.
Thanks in advance.
I had to dis-join it from domain and login as local user.
The domain user profile still exists on the machine under Documents & Settings.
Is there a way I can force the new local user to use the ex-domain user profile
instead of using the newly created user profile?
I am just trying to prevent spending the time to re-setup everything for the new
user account.
Please don't recommend the Files & Settings Transfer Wizard as a solution - its
not what am looking for in this case.
Thanks in advance.
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You can also log in as administrator, load windows explorer, open documents and settings/existing user and just drag all files and folders to the new user's directory. This takes less time than copying the profie with the wizard.
ASKER
Kenneniah - your first method did not work since the profile I wanted to copy was marked as "unknown user" and the Copy To option was grayed out.
your 2nd method though did "somewhat" work. once I created the profile path, rebooted then logged in as the new user, it took Windows about 30 mins to login. the profile I wanted did show up but Windows created a copy of it with a new name under Docs & Settings. My Documents folder was still pointing to the old profile so I had to re-point it. It was just messy since things were pointing to different profiles. But I guess it did work after some cleanup.
Thanks you both for the help - points go to Kenneniah.
your 2nd method though did "somewhat" work. once I created the profile path, rebooted then logged in as the new user, it took Windows about 30 mins to login. the profile I wanted did show up but Windows created a copy of it with a new name under Docs & Settings. My Documents folder was still pointing to the old profile so I had to re-point it. It was just messy since things were pointing to different profiles. But I guess it did work after some cleanup.
Thanks you both for the help - points go to Kenneniah.
Yeah, that's the hard part of working directly with profiles. The user's registry hive (ntuser.dat) can contain full paths to some directories. Sounds like you found those and got them changed though.
To make sure, you can open regedit while logged in as that user, and search HKEY_CURRENT_USER for the old profile name to see if there are any old paths left over.
To make sure, you can open regedit while logged in as that user, and search HKEY_CURRENT_USER for the old profile name to see if there are any old paths left over.