[chrisa1002]

I have a problem with my applications and Windows Explorer mainly. Nothing opens. I can open "Run" and Windows Media Player and MSN but My Computer doesn't open, nor does Internet Explorer. I can right-click on them, but when it comes to opening/launching, nothing happens.

This is a problem on my administrator account but not on the account that is "Limited".

Any ideas on what's wrong or what I should do?

[Advertisements]

Sounds to me like your user account has become corrupt. This can sometimes be repaired, but it is so much easier to simply switch to a new account.

Create a new account with Admin rights and log in. If all is ok there, transfer all your settings and data. After living with the new account for a while, and being assured that all data is present, delete the old account.

This Microsoft article explains: http://support.micro...om/?kbid=811151

It works like this:
1. The new account must be activated. That is, you have to log in once and let Windows configure it.

2. The procedure must be run from an Admin account that is not either of the accounts being managed. I use the ADMINISTRATOR account from Safe Mode, but any Admin account will do.

3.Copy everything from Documents and Settings in the old account to Documents and Settings in the new account except: Ntuser.dat ,Ntuser.dat.log, and Ntuser.ini

4. Reboot and log into the new account

Good luck, and please post back with your progress.

[1101doc]

Sounds to me like your user account has become corrupt. This can sometimes be repaired, but it is so much easier to simply switch to a new account.

Create a new account with Admin rights and log in. If all is ok there, transfer all your settings and data. After living with the new account for a while, and being assured that all data is present, delete the old account.

This Microsoft article explains: http://support.micro...om/?kbid=811151

It works like this:
1. The new account must be activated. That is, you have to log in once and let Windows configure it.

2. The procedure must be run from an Admin account that is not either of the accounts being managed. I use the ADMINISTRATOR account from Safe Mode, but any Admin account will do.

3.Copy everything from Documents and Settings in the old account to Documents and Settings in the new account except: Ntuser.dat ,Ntuser.dat.log, and Ntuser.ini

4. Reboot and log into the new account

Good luck, and please post back with your progress.

[chrisa1002]

I've made another Admin user, so now I have my corrupted one, my limited one, and this one.

But I can't access the files from my old admin user. I go to C:\Documents and Settings and try getting into it but it comes up with an error that says it's not accessible, access is denied.

How does a user become corrupted? :S

[1101doc]

There seem to be lots of ways to corrupt a user account since so many manage to do it (myself included). I don't really understand it either.

Are the files inaccessible from the ADMINISTRATOR account in Safe Mode?

[chrisa1002]

Yeah they are.

[1101doc]

Try Unlocker on them: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

[chrisa1002]

It says:

No Locking handle found.

However Unlocker can help you deal with this object.

Choose the action you want to perform on the object.

Rename, delete or move.

---

It doesn't open it

[1101doc]

No locking handle should mean that the files are not locked. Let's back up a bit. Do applications open from the newly created Admin account? Are things working OK there otherwise?

[chrisa1002]

Everything works fine on the new admin account. Applications open as do folders, etc. I still get the access is denied thing when I try to open folders from my previous admin account through C:/Documents and Setting/

[happyrock]

try this..
How to take ownership of a folder
Note You must be logged on to the computer with an account that has administrative credentials. If you are running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, you must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an account that has Administrative rights to have access to the Security tab.

If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must disable Simple File Sharing. By default, Windows XP Professional uses Simple File sharing when it is not joined to a domain.

For additional information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307874 ( http://support.micro...com/kb/307874/) How to disable simplified sharing and set permissions on a shared folder in Windows XP


To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
3. Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
4. In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
5. Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message:
You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?

All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.
Note folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.
6. Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

Edited by happyrck, 15 August 2007 - 06:40 AM.

[1101doc]

Try using Unlocker to move an inconsequential folder or file to a location in your new account as a test. If it becomes available, I would try moving all the data except for the 3 files to Documents and Settings in the new account.

[1101doc]

If you have XP Pro go with the "Take Ownership" procedure first. I lived so long with Home, I didn't think of it right away.

[chrisa1002]

I did the security thing and I can access the folder but not the sub folders and I couldn't do the same security adding thing with it.

However, I tried Last Known Good Configuration and everything in my old admin works fine again.

Do you think it'll stay the same, as in, will it remain working?

[chrisa1002]

Thanks 1101doc and happyrck for your help.

[1101doc]

Yep. Everything should be fine. Glad to hear it's all sorted.

Now I suggest that you put ERUNT to work for system.

Emergency Restore Utility for NT makes a complete Registry back-up at first boot each day, and saves the last 30. Each back-up file contains its own .exe which, when run, retsores the Registry to the state it was in at the time the back-up was made without reference to the parent program. The whole procedure takes about 2 min. and after a reboot, the system is back to the way it was the morning of whichever day I chose.

Back-ups can be made manually as well. Very handy for just before installing something.
If I can access my C:\ drive, I can "go-back" any time I need.

Get free ERUNT: http://www.larsheder...nline.de/erunt/
Read simple tutorial: http://www.larsheder...erunt/erunt.txt

Don't forget to mark this thread solved.

Good luck, and happy computing!