Logon error results in lost pictures...HELP!

::Posting this here because it deals with a couple of issues that ar
tied together, but would otherwise probably apply to differen
categories on this board. Sorry if that is a problem, and also sorry i
this is a bit long, but I don’t want to leave anything out that might b
important.:
:: :
::Vista Home Premium 32bit, Had 3 user accounts; “Gary” (mine) as a
administrator, “Bernie” (my wife) as an administrator, and “Family” as
regular user. The problem started when I suddenly could no longer sav
or save-as in Word (Office 2003) from my own account. It worked fine i
both “Bernie” and “Family”, but there was no response at all when tryin
to save from my own account, using either the icon nor the file menu.:
:: :
::Wanted to try deleting “Bernie” and “Family” accounts to see i
“Gary” still had no ability to save, so I moved all the files
documents that were saved in those two accounts into a temp directory i
my own account, and then deleted the two additional user accounts. A
that point, it asked if I wanted to save the data in the accounts in
folder on the desktop. I said yes, but as suspected, the folders wer
empty (as I had already moved all the docs).:
:: :
::Still no ability to save or save-as in Word. So I re-created th
user accounts again (same names as before). But this time, neithe
would allow logon, returning an error message that the User Profil
Service Failed the Logon. So I deleted them again, this time answerin
“no” when it asked if I wanted to save the data in the user accounts
since I had nothing new there, and the old data had previously bee
moved. Then tried to make a new account with the name “Test”. Gave m
the same error and wouldn’t log on.:
:: :
::Tried the fix in the tutorial section, but it didn’t work fo
“Family”, and “Bernie” didn’t exist in the registry.:
:: :
::No comes the part that has me panicking! One of the directories
had moved to my temp directory was called Pictures, and had about
years worth of pictures in it. IT’S NOW GONE!! It was originally unde
the “Family” account, and was a self-created folder, not one of th
“Blue” folders that are default with user accounts.:
:: :
::I’ve tried to use the system restore to restore the PC to an earlie
point, but it fails. Is there any hope for me, particularly when i
comes to the pictures? And ultimately, when or if I have to do
re-install (from partition), how is the best way to set up the
accounts so that “Gary” has full control over all, “Bernie” has ful
control over all except “Gary”, and “family” has only regular use
control?:

--
4x4van

4x4van <> wrote in
news::

Is there ? (............ a 4x4 van ?)

No responses. Hmmm. I guess that means I'm up the creek

--
4x4van

4x4van wrote:

>
> ::Posting this here because it deals with a couple of issues that are
> tied together, but would otherwise probably apply to different
> categories on this board. Sorry if that is a problem, and also sorry if
> this is a bit long, but I don’t want to leave anything out that might be
> important.::
> :: ::
> ::Vista Home Premium 32bit, Had 3 user accounts; “Gary” (mine) as an
> administrator, “Bernie” (my wife) as an administrator, and “Family” as a
> regular user. The problem started when I suddenly could no longer save
> or save-as in Word (Office 2003) from my own account. It worked fine in
> both “Bernie” and “Family”, but there was no response at all when trying
> to save from my own account, using either the icon nor the file menu.::
> :: ::
> ::Wanted to try deleting “Bernie” and “Family” accounts to see if
> “Gary” still had no ability to save, so I moved all the files &
> documents that were saved in those two accounts into a temp directory in
> my own account, and then deleted the two additional user accounts. At
> that point, it asked if I wanted to save the data in the accounts in a
> folder on the desktop. I said yes, but as suspected, the folders were
> empty (as I had already moved all the docs).::
> :: ::
> ::Still no ability to save or save-as in Word. So I re-created the
> user accounts again (same names as before). But this time, neither
> would allow logon, returning an error message that the User Profile
> Service Failed the Logon. So I deleted them again, this time answering
> “no” when it asked if I wanted to save the data in the user accounts,
> since I had nothing new there, and the old data had previously been
> moved. Then tried to make a new account with the name “Test”. Gave me
> the same error and wouldn’t log on.::
> :: ::
> ::Tried the fix in the tutorial section, but it didn’t work for
> “Family”, and “Bernie” didn’t exist in the registry.::
> :: ::
> ::No comes the part that has me panicking! One of the directories I
> had moved to my temp directory was called Pictures, and had about 5
> years worth of pictures in it. IT’S NOW GONE!! It was originally under
> the “Family” account, and was a self-created folder, not one of the
> “Blue” folders that are default with user accounts.::
> :: ::
> ::I’ve tried to use the system restore to restore the PC to an earlier
> point, but it fails. Is there any hope for me, particularly when it
> comes to the pictures? And ultimately, when or if I have to do a
> re-install (from partition), how is the best way to set up the 3
> accounts so that “Gary” has full control over all, “Bernie” has full
> control over all except “Gary”, and “family” has only regular user
> control?::
>
>

1. Can you log into any account in Safe Mode?

2. If not, you can try booting with a rescue system such as Knoppix (Linux)
or a Bart's PE to see if you can locate the data.

3. If #2 doesn't work, I'd try some data recovery software (see below for
suggestions).

4. If you think the computer was virus/malware-free, it sounds like your
hard drive is possibly failing, or maybe bad RAM. Do hardware tests.
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...ardware_Tshoot

Data recovery - DO NOTHING FURTHER ON THE DRIVE. The data is still on the
hard drive but if you overwrite it, it will be extremely difficult or
impossible to recover it. If you use data recovery software, install it on
another machine and either use it from that operating system or create a
bootable cd/floppy and work with that. If you don't have the skill and/or
equipment to do these procedures and the data is crucial, take the machine
to a professional computer repair shop that has experience in doing data
recovery. This will not be your local version of BigStoreUSA. In-shop data
recovery is usually not exactly cheap (for ex., my charges are generally
$150-350USD), but it normally costs less than sending the drive to a
company like Drive Savers. You need to make the determination of the value
of your data and decide what to do.
Here are some links to various programs. I use Easy Recovery Pro, but it is
expensive. People whom I respect have recommended R-Studio and Restoration.
YMMV.

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery -
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software ?Undelete? -
http://www.undelete.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/

When this is over, create and implement a backup strategy. You should never
have "5 years worth of pictures" on your hard drive that aren't backed up
on DVD-Rs.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ