crashed user account after update

[J_A_R]

Hello together,

updating Spybot to version 1.6.0.30 under win2k crashed my user account.

Here the details:
While updating the old version as normal user, Spybot tried to install a newer version and then I got the message, that I have to be an Admin.
As Admin I got the message all is updated, but it was still the old version of Spybot. So I downloaded the newest version and installed it and all looked fine. I did the normal routine (backup, updates, complete scan) that is implemented at first start of the program and after the complete run nothing was found and I wanted to login as a normal user. I got a standard desktop like if I created a new user in win2k. I checked the user accounts and found out, that there is a new user with the old user name and added numbers and characters).

Unfortunately I did not find out in the forums, if it is possible to reactivate the old user settings.

Please help!

Thank you very much in advance!

Best wishes

JAR

[honda12]

Hi J_A_R,

The problem that you are experiencing is really odd

As far as im aware of Spybot doesn't interact with user accounts, so im really puzzled

What was the new account that Spybot created called?

[p2bee]

While updating the old version as normal user, Spybot tried to install a newer version and then I got the message, that I have to be an Admin.
As Admin I got the message all is updated, but it was still the old version of Spybot. So I downloaded the newest version and installed it and all looked fine. I did the normal routine (backup, updates, complete scan) that is implemented at first start of the program and after the complete run nothing was found and I wanted to login as a normal user. I got a standard desktop like if I created a new user in win2k. I checked the user accounts and found out, that there is a new user with the old user name and added numbers and characters).
Unfortunately I did not find out in the forums, if it is possible to reactivate the old user settings.
Please help!
JAR

Interesting: I just had a similar experience on a W2k machine, though it didn't happen after upgrading Spybot, but after simply using it. Like in your case a user account had disappeared. That is: the profile was still present under Documents and Settings, but it no longer showed up under Control Panel / System / User Profiles. In my case a new user profile couldn't be created because the user had no administrator right. After changing the user's group to Administrator, a new profile with "added characters" (the computer's name on the network) appeared.
Thereafter the fix was easy, and it may work in your case too, provided that the original user profile still exists under Documents and Settings:
- Open the Registry Editor, find all keys containing a path under Documents and Settings with the newly created username; in the key content change the new username back to the old one;
- Remove the newly created profile-with-added-characters.
Now you should be able to logon again as the "lost" user and have the original profile/settings back.

Now, having said this all, there is no way I can *prove* that this sort of problems is related to Spybot: it may as well have been sheer coincidence.

[TonyJ]

Hello,
I had the same happen to me on my Windows 2k Pro, Dell PC. I also found my old user account was visible in Documents and Settings in a separate folder. The new user (apparently created by updating to Spybot 1.6) was my old account with the network computer name appended: "TonyJohnson.TJPsystemtwo".

Let me clarify, I was able to login to my old user account as shown on the login screen. But after I was in, I got a new desktop, new background, and Windows asking me to establish an Internet connection!

I did have an old version of Spybot (1.4) installed when I downloaded 1.6 in Admin. I don't remember if I installed 1.4 under Admin or my user account. At any rate, I tried uninstalling 1.4, leaving 1.6. Still couldn't get my old account settings.

Long story short, after removing 1.6 and rebooting, I still get the new user with the network characters appended. That's when I came here.

I figured editing the registry would be necessary. I'll try the fix someone posted. I HOPE it's correct!

This is my business system and I can't afford to lose my user account!

I can't fathom why Bill Gates got rich selling an operating system that allows third party software to change core OS settings! Not to mention the other problems with security issues over the years.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox!

[jjjdavidson]

I believe Spybot accesses your "registry hive" -- your user profile -- when immunizing, and perhaps at other times. V1.5 occasionally left every hive on the system locked after the updater ran, but a reboot would clear it. (V1.6 is supposed to have fixed that.)

If your profile doesn't come back after a reboot, but the files are still there, and if you aren't afraid of the registry editor, then you can try resetting your profile path. Start REGEDIT while logged on your administrator account (don't use "Run as" from your regular account) and look at the key,

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Each key under ProfileList corresponds to one of the internal system IDs that Windows assigns to accounts. The short ones are internal Windows functions; the long ones are actual users. (The long one ending in -500, for instance, is the default administrator account.)

Under each ID key is the string value ProfileImagePath, which gives the actual disk path to your profile files, desktop, shortcuts, personal documents, and so on. Skip through the ID keys until you find one with ProfileImagePath pointing at your newly-created profile, and carefully change the path to point back to your original profile. (Don't change the "%systemroot%" string to "C:".)

If your old profile wasn't actually corrupted, it should come up normally the next time you log on your regular account.

[TonyJ]

Thanks, JJJDavidson!

Yours sounds like a preferable resolution.

I've edited the registry before, but it's been awhile. I always feel like an intern impersonating a surgeon, and one wrong move will kill the patient! (the system!)

I'll contemplate backing up the system first, hoping the new user account doesn't become the 'default' for my old one.

TJ

[TonyJ]

Hey JJJDavidson,

You are a genius! I followed your instructions. Once I got down through the tree in the registry to the correct key, changing it was easy.

I tried Windows Help on editing the registry, and on User Accounts, and found NOTHING on how to fix the user profiles in the registry. All it had were directions on changing stuff using the Administrator Users and Passwords in the Control Panel.

It could have taken me DAYS to figure out where exactly to go in the registry to fix this. MANY THANKS TO YOU AND FOR THIS FORUM!

I rebooted the system in Admin, checked Windows Explorer and found the folder for the new user was still there. However, when I logged off and back on as my old user, it came up with my old desktop, background, etc. YAY!

So now I've backed up the system and will log on to Admin to delete the bad new user folder with Windows Explorer. When I did this yesterday, it just gave me a pop-up that it was a Windows system folder and couldn't be deleted. If it does it again, I won't care, since I know the registry is now corrected and I have logged on successfully into my old account.

Once again, you have saved me loads of TIME from interrupting my business to get this fixed. I am behind the eight ball on getting my Quickbooks file updated and emailed to my accountant. Now I can proceed!

I wish I could buy you lunch or something, but I have no idea who or where you are.

Thanks SO much!

Tony

[J_A_R]

Hello together,

thank you very much for your feedback.

I tried jjjdavidson's advice with changing the registry and it worked!

By the way thx to p2bee, too, for the advice. I was offline for a few days and so I had two advices to choose from.

Thank you very much for your help!

Best wishes!

J_A_R