PC Windows XP help needed

[RadioNate]

My neighbor's computer is having a weird issue. I'm a Mac so I'm not help.

All the data under her profile in Windows XP is gone. Email, photos, programs, documents...they are all gone. Her profile looks like the factory default.

Her DH's profile is fine, so are her kids profiles.

Virus software has turned up nothing.

She tired a system restore and each point she tries is coming up invalid.

She can choose it, and it restarts and then there is there error message.

Any thoughts on how she can get her stuff back? It has to be on there somewhere but how do we access it?

They don't have a lot of extra $ right now so it there a diy solution?

 

[FireDancer]

What sometimes happens is a new user profile is setup during the boot process. I am an IT coordinator and I have yet to find a good reason why this happens. It is more common when one is attached to a domain than a workgroup but it still does happen.

The good news is that the majority of the time the old profile is still there. If she right clicks on the start menu and selects explore the folder navigator will open to her current profile (usually the start men).

If you trace the directory up the it's immediate root you will see the name of the profile she is in. Collapse that window tree. You should see all the other profiles on the computer. There will be her husband's, the all users profile, one for default user (which she may be in) and possibly other ones. One of those other ones is probably her old profile.

Lets say her log in name is Jen. Most likely she will see Jen but the new blank profile she is in is called Jen.000

Now, there are ways to associate the old profile with her current log in but I would tell her to search Google for that. It usually requires registry hacks and most users should stay the heck out of the registry.

My recommendation would be to copy everything out of the old profile into a directory on the C: root and then have another administrator erase her profile and recreate it under local users and groups in the control panel -> Administrative tools -> Computer Management. Once in there click on Local Users & Groups under the System Tolls and double click the users folder on the right. I would erase her current user and recreate it.

Let me know if you need further assistance.

 

[RadioNate]

It worked!!

She is thrilled. I'm thrilled!

Thank you.

Stuff is being transferred to an external drive now. This hard drive has like 2GB of space left.

The good news is that this isn't her main machine but there was one business program that wasn't completely transferred to the newer laptop.

That program and it's data is intact so everything will be backed up and moved tonight.

thanks!

 

[FireDancer]

You are welcome.

External drives are so cheap now a days I would recommend backing up the important stuff as often as is feasible.