User Profile May Become Corrupted After You Perform a Clean Windows 2000 Installation (296834)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP2
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP2
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP2
This article was previously published under Q296834
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

When you perform a clean Windows 2000 installation, you may receive the following error message:
Windows cannot load profile. It may be corrupt. Contact your administrator.

RESOLUTION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To resolve this behavior, delete the corrupted profile, restart the computer, and then perform the following steps:
  1. Create a new user account that has Administrator rights.
  2. Log on as the new user.
  3. Delete the corrupt built-in Administrator profile in the registry:
    1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
    2. Locate the administrator profile value under the following key in the registry:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

    3. Compare the Security Identifier (SID) with the profile path on the right to determine which SID to delete.
    4. On the Edit menu, click Delete
    5. Quit Registry Editor.
  4. Restart the computer, and then log on as administrator by means of the new user account. Windows 2000 creates a new, uncorrupted Administrator account.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/19/2003
Keywords:kb3rdparty kbenv kbpolicy kbprb KB296834
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