Restoring a User Profile On a Windows NT Workstation or Server (171769)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q171769

SYMPTOMS

After you run the repair process in Windows NT and select the options below on the restore registry screen, all default settings are restored. No user accounts exist, and the administrator password is returned to the password in use at the time the Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) was made or updated.

[X] SYSTEM (System Configuration)
[X] SOFTWARE (Software Information)
[X] DEFAULT (Default User Profile)
[X] SECURITY (Security Policy) and SAM (User Accounts Database)

CAUSE

Choosing to overwrite the registry and replace all SAM and security information creates this situation.

RESOLUTION

The recommended method to restore the proper user account database and domain password is to restore the registry from a current tape backup. If a current tape backup is not available, or, restoring from tape will cause other problems, the following method can be used to restore users. If using this method causes other problems, restore the registry from backup or recreate the user accounts.

This resolution assumes that you have the administrator password needed to sign on to the local computer and that the user is local, or their profile is stored locally (or the user is on the domain but their profile is stored locally).

NOTE: This is not a feasible solution for restoring more than a few users. This resolution does not insure that applications will function correctly. Some applications replace Windows NT files and can not work with the Windows NT files that are restored from the selected options through the ERD process. Applications may need to be reinstalled.

If the User Logs On to the Computer Locally

  1. Log on to the local computer with administrator privileges.
  2. Recreate the user of the workstation in User Manager.
  3. Go to the %SystemRoot%\Profiles\ directory and rename the Default User profile to Default Old.
  4. Rename the user profile of the user you are trying to restore, Default User.
  5. Log on to the local computer as that user and the Default profile will be assigned to them.
  6. Log off the computer as the user, log on to the computer as administrator, and delete the Default User profile.
  7. Repeat steps 1-6 to restore user's profiles.
  8. Rename Default Old to Default User.

If the User Logs On to the Domain but the Profile is Stored Locally

  1. Delete the machine account from the domain.
  2. Log on to the local computer with administrator privileges and rejoin the domain.
  3. Perform steps 3-8 above.

If the User has Successfully Logged On to the Computer at Least Once and Created a New Profile

  1. Log on to the local computer with administrator privileges.
  2. Go to the %SystemRoot%\Profiles directory, and delete the user.000 profile.
  3. Perform steps 3-8 above.
For more information regarding Security IDs and the ERD, refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles

162001 Do Not Disk Duplicate Installed Versions of Windows NT

150919 How to Prevent a User from Changing the User Profile Type

122857 RDISK /S and RDISK /S- Options in Windows NT

126464 Repair Disk Utility Does Not Update SAM and Security

129037 Windows NT 3.5x and 4.0 Emergency Repair Process Screens

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/9/2001
Keywords:kbprb kbsetup KB171769
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.