7.12   (PROFILE) -   Fixing a Hosed Profile     (updated 26 January 2007)

Going over quota during a login session can hose a person's MS Windows profile (as changes can't be written to disk). People should now be informed of their quota and limit in a hard-to-miss window under MS Windows. We hope that will clear up the majority of problems. In cases where it doesn't and a hosed profile results it can be fixed by following the steps below. (The procedures are more sane using two computers -- one booted to Linux and the other booted to MS Windows.)

From Michael Martinez, Thu Nov 10 08:57:46 2005

1. Log of all MS Windows machines before proceeding. (added 2007-Jan-26)
2. Log on to a linux computer and delete your .windowsxp-profile.
3. Log on to a Windows computer and
   1. Delete any folders in C:\Documents and Settings\ with your username.
   2. Log back out.
4. At a linux computer delete the .windowsxp-profile (created from the MS Windows login of step three).

Now you should have a blank profile that will get populated with the default user profile of the first Windows computer you log in to.

NOTE: If you want to restore any settings you had from your old profile you'll need to save the old profile instead of blow it away. To go that route do the following.

1. Log of all MS Windows machines before proceeding. (added 2007-Jan-26)
2. Log on to a Linux box and move  /.windowsxp-profile to  /.windowsxp-profile.<datestamp> (where datestamp is of the form 20051110, so you can tell when it was moved)
3. Log on to an MS Windows computer and delete any folders in C:\Documents and Settings\ with your username. Then log out.
4. In a Linux session delete the .windowsxp-profile (created from the MS Windows login of step three).
5. Again log on to MS Windows. This will create a new profile directory and basic info as well as possibly recover any old data. Then log out.
6. (In Linux) Move any material from  /.windowsxp-profile.<datestamp> (see step two) that the user wants to keep back into the current  /.windowsxp-profile directory.