# "Windows cannot load your profile because it may be corrupt"



## douglas598 (Apr 7, 2005)

Hi, douglas598 here. This is a Win 2000 Pro system. After a power outage (found out the UPS had gone south), the computer was restarted and this screen pops up, _"Windows cannot load your profile because it may be corrupt."_ This screen has a count down timer. If allowed to count down or OK is selected, the next screen says _"Windows cannot load your profile and is logging you on with a tempoary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off." _ After all this, the screen is like your using the computer for the first time except for a few, not all of your previous icons are on the new desktop. A new folder can now be found in _C:\ Documents and Settings named "user name.bak"_. Each time the PC is restarted, it's like the first time. And as promised by the second pop up window nothing is saved. Is there a way to restore the profile using the .bak folder. The .bak folder appears to have all the old user settings and folders. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
douglas598


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

First off, I'd be doing an image backup with something like Acronis True Image, so any mistakes you make won't be fatal. :smile:

The normal way to repair a profile is to move the good stuff from the broken profile to a new profile for the user. I've never had this happen to me that way, I've had a profile become damaged and just crash trying to logon. I fixed it by recreating the user account and then moving over any items I needed. Most applications will just re-initialize for a new user account, Microsoft Office comes to mind.


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## douglas598 (Apr 7, 2005)

*"Windows cannot load your profile...*

Thanks for the reply johnwill. I think I'm the only person this has ever happened to and this makes the second time. After the first time I formatted and started over. I created the new user and moved all important files over to it and everything seems to be fine. I appreciate your help. One more thing, am I in any danger of screwing things up if I delete the old corrupt user account? Thanks again for your help.


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## douglas598 (Apr 7, 2005)

*Just delete user account? Answered*

Found my second question answered by johnwill in another post (http://www.techsupportforum.com/showthread.php?t=40966&highlight=delete+user+account). Thanks again johnwill.


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