Win XP Home Request for Help Please

[Greek God]

Hello folks
Please could I ask your collectiveness about a problem with Win XP Home Log on.
I have been running perfectly well with no viral or operating problems until this morning when I went to log in to my user account. On Logging in the boot took ages and eventually the screen came up as a a mono colour screen (no picture) No shortcuts or any of my personalisation, I can access windows explorer but I can't change any settings. eg I tried to change folder view to allow hidden files but the settings will not hold. If I go to control panel and try to change the view to classic it won't let me etc etc. My documents is there but with nothing in it. After some probing I have discovered that my user account is now somehow pointed to c:/documents and settings/Temp. If I try to restore the default to My Docs it reverts back to this folder and will not allow me to manually enter the correct folder.
Other user accounts work correctly still.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to reconnect the UAC to the correct my documents folder??
Thanks in advance

[Saab Dastard]

Sounds like a corrupt NTUser.dat file - have a look at this article from ms:

How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile in Windows XP (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151)

It might get you started in the right direction.

SD

[Coconutty]

Hi,

Have you recently "upgraded" to Win XP - SP3 - either intentionally or otherwise ?

If you have recently installed XP SP3, and this has resulted in your problem, then Microsoft Support would be the point of contact to try and sort it out !

There are other reports of similar problems after this upgrade here :

All Files in MyDocuments Gone, now only have Temp folder - CNET Windows XP Forums (http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?threadID=294502)

No fixes yet, but you could try a System Restore to an earlier date.

Before doing that - the usual question is "Have you got back ups of all your data ?"

You can check to see if your documents are still on the computer by manually navigating to : C:\Documents and Settings\"your own user name"\My Documents".

Will keep hunting the 'net for you to see if there are any other suggestions.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d129/coconut11/Coconutty.jpg

[Pontius Navigator]

System restore should not affect your documents etc.

I had a problem with a Netbook and had to repair my windows every 3 days for a couple of weeks. I was pleasantly surprised to find that 'repair' didn't affect any programs or settings already entered.

[Mike-Bracknell]

I had a problem with a Netbook and had to repair my windows every 3 days for a couple of weeks. I was pleasantly surprised to find that 'repair' didn't affect any programs or settings already entered.

All it does is roll back your registry hive to a previous save. Hence your documents will be unaffected as they aren't affected by the presence or otherwise of anything in the registry. Programs you installed after the save wouldn't work though.

Returning your Computer to Happier Times with System Restore (http://www.andyrathbone.com/tips/systemrestore.html) :ok:

[Keef]

If/when you get it sorted, turn OFF Windows updates. XP is old enough now that any bug that MS try to fix is likely to be very obscure. The fix is likely to cause more problems that it solves.

[Greek God]

Hi Folks
Many Thanks for all the responses. I have tried the system restore to several different earlier points all to no avail. My data is all there still and accessable via windows explorer except 2 folders which were marked as private. Ive tried renaming the documents folder but also to no avail. I haven't deliberately downloaded anything but I do seem to remember the shield on the shutdown dialogue box indicating updates would be carried out on exit. I will go and peruse the links you have given and again thanks
GG