Hi, Ramesh:

Yes, looking at those two article titles, I think the first one is just what
I'm looking for. Thanks very much for your kind assistance!

Best regards,

Paul :^)

"Ramesh, MS-MVP" wrote:

> Paul,
>
> The NTUSER.DAT stores the user profile settings (Desktop customizations, Quick Launch settings and so forth). KB811151 tells how to extract the *data* from a corrupted profile, but not the user settings from that profile.
>
> Perhaps this is what you're looking for.
>
> How to create a custom default user profile:
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=319974
>
> -or-
>
> "Copy a user profile"
> http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d...file_copy.mspx
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
> Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com
>
>
> "Paul" <jazzveggies@juno.com.(donotspam)> wrote in message news:18CEA4A0-0E91-47F1-BF68-C1D4CAA76AB9@microsoft.com...
> I've just finished restoring a massively corrupt XP Home installation (SP1;
> will download SP2 right away) on a three-year-old Compaq Presario 2.4 GHz
> desktop using the OEM restore partition. (Yes, I prefer a restore CD but do
> not have one for this machine.)
>
> I recalled reading about a procedure some time ago for copying settings
> between user profiles, and located Article ID 811151, "How to copy data from
> a corrupted user profile to a new profile," on the Knowledgebase. I followed
> each step in the article, using a test profile just to be sure the procedure
> worked before using it to create eight additional profiles for family members.
>
> I do a lot of customization to the Desktop such as, for instance, pulling
> the Taskbar up to double height (which has the convenient effect of showing
> the day and date along with the time) and adding the Address toolbar to the
> Taskbar; removing all icons from the background and putting shortcuts to
> several Windows applets(Recycle Bin, My Computer, System Properties, Windows
> Explorer), as well as frequently used apps like Winamp and the so-called
> "alternate" browsers, in the Quick Launch toolbar; changing the time setting
> to 24-hour; using the TweakUI Powertoy to stop those incessant "balloon"
> messages in the Notification Area, and so on.
>
> Anyway, I first modified an existing proflie with my preferences as outlined
> above, then created a new profile, "Test," as the destination. After
> following the steps given in the article, I logged off my own administrator
> profile, which is neither the source nor the destination, and then logged
> into the new profile. Unfortunately, none of the setting customizations were
> present; the "Test" profile instead displayed the appearance of a default new
> profile, without any of my desired mods.
>
> All three profiles involved have administrator credentials so I'm sure
> that's not the problem. I don't believe I misread any of the steps in the
> article -- tried the whole thing twice -- so I'm stumped. Who has actually
> used this procedure successfully with XP Home and can tell me what might be
> causing the issue?
>
> I must say I'm curious as to why the article does not mention the need to
> resolve the several "Confirm Folder/File Replace" dialogs that present during
> the "paste" process, generated because all folders and files being brought
> over from the source profile are already present in the destination profile.
> As thorough as the steps seem otherwise, I'm surprised the author skipped
> right over this.
>
> Like most of you, I stay away from XP Home as much as possible, using Pro on
> all my own machines. The computer I'm rescuing belongs to relatives and I'm
> not about to spend the time and money to bump it up to Pro, much as I'd like
> to. In any event, I don't suppose the issue is caused by XP Home itself.
>
> So then, a penny for your thoughts?
>