If you loose Full Control permissions to your profile folder, in the %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings folder,
Windows 2000 and Windows XP will create a new one the next time you log on. The new profile is named:
UserName - if the older profile was deleted.
UserName.ComputerName - if the old profile exists.
UserName.ComputerName.000 - if UserName.ComputerName exists.
UserName.ComputerName.001 - if UserName.ComputerName.000 exists.
If the original profile exists, you can recover it:
1. Log on as a member of the Administrators group and grant your UserName Full Control
of the original profile folder, sub-folders, and files.
2. Copy any documents, favorites, cookies, etc.. from the current profile, and any intermediate profiles, to the original profile. Do NOT copy Desktop.ini.
3. Use the Registry Editor to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
4. In each SID sub-key, inspect the ProfileImagePath value name, a REG_EXPAND_SZ data type,
for a string that contains your UserName. It will look something like
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\UserName.ComputerName. You can use
the Find function to locate it.
5. Change the data value to %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\UserName
6. Delete all your BAD profile folders, like %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\UserName.ComputerName,
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\UserName.ComputerName.000, etc..
When you log on, your profile will be restored.
See tip 2240 » How do I use my Windows 2000 (or Windows XP) domain profile on my laptop, while traveling?