How to recover the damaged user profile

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When you log on to your account, you may receive the following error message:

The system has recovered from a serious error. User profile is damaged.

You may also notice all the user documents, Outlook, Internet Explorer, and .NET settings missing.

After you receive this error message, your documents may be missing, and you may have to re-create your settings for Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and your Microsoft .NET Passport.

This issue may occur if your user profile is damaged. When this occurs, Windows may create a new profile for you to use, but the new profile does not reflect the "My Documents" folder that was used by the damaged profile. Windows creates a new profile in the C:\Documents and Settings\new user name folder, where new user name is the name that Windows is now using for your profile.

[Markos]

How to resolve this issue

1. Locate your documents, and then back them up. Your documents are in the C:\Documents and Settings\old user name\My Documents folder.
2. Locate your Favorites, and then back them up. Your Favorites are in the C:\Documents and Settings\old user name\Favorites folder.
3. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
4. In the Welcome to System Restore dialog box, click Next.
5. In the Select a Restore Point dialog box, select a date on the calendar, and then select a restore point to restore your computer to an earlier state.
6. In the Confirm Restore Point selection dialog box, confirm the selected restore point or the restoration. After you confirm the selection, the restoration process starts, your computer restarts, and you are prompted to log on.
7. Log on to your usual user profile, and then confirm that your computer has been restored correctly. If your computer has been restored correctly, do not complete the remaining steps. If your computer has not been restored correctly, go to the next step.
8. Log off the computer, and then log on to the computer by using the Administrator account, or an account with administrative permissions.
   
   Note The Administrator account is created automatically when you install Windows XP. The Administrator account is the one you use when you first set up a workstation or member server. You use this account before you create an account for yourself. The Administrator account is a member of the Administrators group on the workstation or member server. The Administrator account can never be deleted, disabled, or removed from the Administrators local group, ensuring that you never lock yourself out of the computer by deleting or disabling all the administrative accounts.
   
9. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
10. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
11. Important Before you continue with this step, make sure that you have backed up your documents.
    Right-click the damaged user account, and then click Delete.
    
12. On the Action menu, click New User.
    
13. Type the appropriate information in the dialog box, and then click to select or clear the following check boxes:
    
    • User must change password at next logon
    • User cannot change password
    • Password never expires
    • Account is disabled
    
    
14. Click Create, and then click Close.
15. Log off the computer, and then log on to the computer by using the new account.
16. Restore your documents and favorites from the backup you made to the following folders
    
    
    • C:\Documents and Settings\new user name\My Documents
    • C:\Documents and Settings\new user name\Favorites
    
    
17. Re-create your settings for Outlook, Internet Explorer, and your .NET Passport.

[Markos]

You can follow the below solution:

• Create a new user account:
• Go to Control Panel.
• Click User Accounts tool.
• Select the Create A New Account link.
• Give the account a name and click Next.

NOTE: Ensure that the account type is Computer Administrator (You can see the option button displayed in the process.)

Click Create Account button.
Logoff from the current account, and login with the new account. This will create a user profile for the new account. When the user profile creation procedure is complete log Off from the account without doing any other modifications.

Login to the old account again and perform the following:

• Right-click My Computer, and select Properties.
• Select the Advanced tab.
• Click the Settings button in the User Profiles section.
• Select the user account that was corrupted.
• Click the Copy To button.
• Click Browse button and then browse For Folder dialog box to locate the Documents and Settings folder and select the new account.

A confirmation dialog box should appear that informs you that the original files will be deleted and prompts you to confirm the copy operation. Click Yes.
Once the profile is copied, log off from the system and login again with the new username. All the settings of the old account will be copied.