Cloning user account - need help copying user profile to fix Premiere Pro abort

Hi, folks:

I need some help, please.  This is a fairly urgent problem from my perspective.

I am running lots of apps under Windows XP Pro/SP2.  I have a main user system account (my name - a non-domain account) that I run all my apps under (lots of them).  Adobe Premiere Pro suddenly stopped working - it simply quits with no error messages.

After lots of time diagnosing the problem, I determined that the application is ok and that it will run under a new user account.  So I suspect the main user account is corrupted somehow.

Are there any diagnostics to check the integrity of a user profile?  

If not, then I need to create a new account and copy the profile over from the old account - including the desktop configuration, startup configuration, start menu configuration, my documents (if possible; not critical).  I absolutely do not want to reinstall all my apps.

I have read the threads "Copy profile to other users"
https://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Windows/XP/Q_21561605.html?sfQueryTermInfo=1+copi+other+profil+user

and "Cannot copy user profile"
https://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Windows/2000/Q_21121766.html?sfQueryTermInfo=1+cannot+copi+profil+user

I am still stuck.  Perhaps I am not following the correct procedures.  Here is what I have tried:

1.  Created a new user account.  Then followed the instructions in the first thread listed above: control panel ->system->advanced->user profiles ->settings, then "copy to".

However, the new user account is not visible!

And... when I select the old user account, the "copy to" option is grayed out.  This is still the case when I try the operation under a completely different system account.

2.  The old account is listed as under c:/documents and settings/<user name>/.  I copied the desktop and my documents directories to another location with the intent of copying them over to the new user account.

But... there is no directory for that user at c:/documents and settings/<new user name>/.

I am really stuck and would appreciate your help.

TIA,

Fred