Restoring User Profiles

UserName

UserName . ComputerName

UserName . ComputerName .000

UserName ComputerName .001


You can also create a date or time by viewing multiple profiles to determine the order of folders, provided that the creation date or time Not modified.

Back to top Requirements for restoring user profiles
To restore user profiles, the Documents and Settings\\ UserName profile folder must still exist and you must have Full Control for the folder Permissions. If you do not have the correct permissions for the user profile folder, you (or another user) must first log in to the computer as an administrator and restore the required permission level for the user profile.
Copying a document from the current profile folder to the appropriate user profile folder
If you have logged in to Windows after losing access to the original profile folder, there are at least two users who use it. Name of the user profile folder. To make these files accessible from the user profile you want to restore, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the computer as an administrator.
2. Copy all the documents in the current My Documents folder to the My Documents folder of the profile you want to restore.
   
   NOTE: If you have the My Documents folder to a location outside the Documents and Settings folder, you do not need to perform this step; however, after you restore your user profile, you may need to reassign the My Documents folder The destination folder location.
3. To keep the Internet links in your Favorites list, copy all Internet shortcuts from the current Favorites folder to the Favorites folder of the user profile you want to restore.
   
   NOTE: Do not copy Desktop.ini file.
   
   Providing Full Control permissions to the user profile folder
   
   1. Start Windows Explorer.
   2. Find and right-click on the previous user profile folder, then click Properties.
      
      By default, this folder is% SystemDrive% \\ Documents and Settings \\ UserName.
   3. Click the Security tab.
   4. In the Group or User Name list, click your username, and in the Permissions for UserName box, click to select the Allow check box next to Full Control.
      
      NOTE: If your user name does not appear in the "Group or user names" list, click Add, type your user name in the "Enter the object names to select", and then click OK .
   5. Click OK.
      
      Edit User Profile Registry Keys
      Warning: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft does not guarantee that it will solve the problem caused by improper use of the Registry Editor. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
      
      When editing the registry, have the profile mirror path point to the username you granted Full Control permissions in the Full Control permissions section of the User Profiles folder that you gave earlier in this article. To do this, follow these steps:
      1. Sign in to the computer with the username of the user profile you want to restore.
      2. Click Start and then click Run.
      3. In the Open box, type regedit and then click OK.
      4. In the Registry Editor, locate and click the following registry subkey:

         HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\ProfileList
         

      5. Find your user profile file folder.
         
         Note: When you click ProfileList child, the child is listed multiple folders. Each of these folders belongs to a different user. These folders are named by user security identifier (SID) instead of username.
         
         To locate your user profile folder, use one of the following methods:
         
      6. For each file listed under ProfileList subkey folder, click the folder, and then View the ProfileImagePath value in the right pane.
         
         This value contains the path to your user profile (such as% SystemDrive% \\ Documents and Settings \\ UserName).
         
         locate the file containing references ProfileImagePath value your user profile folder.
         
         - or -
      7. In the "Registry Editor", on the Edit menu, click Find. In the Find Target box, type your user name, click to select the Data under View check box, click to clear the Item and value check box, and then click Find Next.
         
         Press F3 to repeat the search until you find the correct folder under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \\ SOFTWARE \\ Microsoft \\ Windows NT \\ CurrentVersion \\ ProfileList children, this folder contains a reference ProfileImagePath value your user name.
         
         
      8. After you find your user profile subkey folder, double-click ProfileImagePath value.
      9. In the Value data box, type the path to the user profile folder that you want to restore, and then click OK.
      10. Exit the Registry Editor.
          
          When you log in to your computer next time, Windows will use the restored user profile.