copying "account unknown" user profile to good user account.

[Guest Jeffery Roodhouse]

An office had a single Windows 2000 Server acting as a DC. That server died.

We installed a Windows 2003 SBS. Had to create the users again on SBS, no

problem, but of course the have different SIDs from the first DC. the problem

is with the PCs. The domain name is the name for the SBS, but the PCs don't

see the domain. In order to reregister the PCs, I've done the following:

1. move the PC from domain to workgroup.

2. move the PC back to domain.

3. add domain user back to PC with "admin" permissions for prep.

 

Now, the user profile on the PC from the original domain is showing as

"unknown account", where the same username under the same original domain,

but on a new DC is showing as the "domain\username", and of course it's

pointing to a different folder in "documents and settings".

 

How can I copy the original profile "unknown account" to the new profile

"domain\username" so the user has all the same settings as before?

 

my quick workaround is to edit the registry by going to

hklm\software\microsoft\windows nt\current version\profile list, finding the

profile for the new user created and pointing the "profile image path" key to

the directory of the original user. This does not do a final cleanup as the

"account unknown" profile of the original user still exists. If I delete it

now, it still deletes all the profile settings for this user.

 

Also, any way to restore an "account unknown" profile after deleting it

(accidentally)?

--

Jeffery Roodhouse

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: copying "account unknown" user profile to good user account.

 

Jeffery Roodhouse <JefferyRoodhouse@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> An office had a single Windows 2000 Server acting as a DC. That

> server died. We installed a Windows 2003 SBS. Had to create the users

> again on SBS,

 

Youch. No backups, I suppose?

> no problem,

 

Recreating the entire AD/Exchange environment sounds like a problem to me!

> but of course the have different SIDs from

> the first DC. the problem is with the PCs. The domain name is the

> name for the SBS, but the PCs don't see the domain.

 

Yep.

> In order to

> reregister the PCs, I've done the following:

> 1. move the PC from domain to workgroup.

> 2. move the PC back to domain.

> 3. add domain user back to PC with "admin" permissions for prep.

 

Not sure what that means....

>

> Now, the user profile on the PC from the original domain is showing as

> "unknown account", where the same username under the same original

> domain, but on a new DC is showing as the "domain\username", and of

> course it's pointing to a different folder in "documents and

> settings".

>

> How can I copy the original profile "unknown account" to the new

> profile "domain\username" so the user has all the same settings as

> before?

>

> my quick workaround is to edit the registry by going to

> hklm\software\microsoft\windows nt\current version\profile list,

> finding the profile for the new user created and pointing the

> "profile image path" key to the directory of the original user. This

> does not do a final cleanup as the "account unknown" profile of the

> original user still exists. If I delete it now, it still deletes all

> the profile settings for this user.

>

> Also, any way to restore an "account unknown" profile after deleting

> it (accidentally)?

 

 

If you haven't done *all* the PC yet....wait. You need to join the computers

to the SBS2003 domain using the wizards, and that will copy local profiles

to domain profiles.

 

Create a local user, log in once & back out. Then log in as an account with

local admin rights, and in control panel | system | advanced | settings,

copy the account unknown profile to the new one (c:\documents and

settings\newuser) and make sure "Everyone" is ticked for "allowed to use".

 

The log back in as the new local user to make sure it worked.

 

Then disjoin the domain manually, and rejoin it using

http://servername/connectcomputer. It will prompt you for the domain user

you wish to use the PC, and which local user account to copy.

 

In general, not much should *be* in the profile directory - all data belongs

on the server. You can use folder redirection via group policy to make this

easier. Try posting in m.p.windows.server.sbs for some friendly help with

SBS2003.

[Guest Jeffery Roodhouse]

Re: copying "account unknown" user profile to good user account.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I was able to copy the x domain user profile to the local local user, demote

the PC, promote the PC through the server web as mentioned, and then copy the

profile from the local user back to the domain user. This worked great.

 

However, I was not able to copy the "account unknown" profiles as the "copy

to" was disabled on them. Suggestions?

 

As well, do you have any, any, any, any advise on restoring the profile that

was deleted? Any other software to restore the profile files? I'm up for any

way to do this.

 

Thanks,

Jeff

 

 

 

--

Jeffery Roodhouse

 

 

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]" wrote:

> Jeffery Roodhouse <JefferyRoodhouse@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> > An office had a single Windows 2000 Server acting as a DC. That

> > server died. We installed a Windows 2003 SBS. Had to create the users

> > again on SBS,

>

> Youch. No backups, I suppose?

>

> > no problem,

>

> Recreating the entire AD/Exchange environment sounds like a problem to me!

>

> > but of course the have different SIDs from

> > the first DC. the problem is with the PCs. The domain name is the

> > name for the SBS, but the PCs don't see the domain.

>

> Yep.

>

> > In order to

> > reregister the PCs, I've done the following:

> > 1. move the PC from domain to workgroup.

> > 2. move the PC back to domain.

> > 3. add domain user back to PC with "admin" permissions for prep.

>

> Not sure what that means....

> >

> > Now, the user profile on the PC from the original domain is showing as

> > "unknown account", where the same username under the same original

> > domain, but on a new DC is showing as the "domain\username", and of

> > course it's pointing to a different folder in "documents and

> > settings".

> >

> > How can I copy the original profile "unknown account" to the new

> > profile "domain\username" so the user has all the same settings as

> > before?

> >

> > my quick workaround is to edit the registry by going to

> > hklm\software\microsoft\windows nt\current version\profile list,

> > finding the profile for the new user created and pointing the

> > "profile image path" key to the directory of the original user. This

> > does not do a final cleanup as the "account unknown" profile of the

> > original user still exists. If I delete it now, it still deletes all

> > the profile settings for this user.

> >

> > Also, any way to restore an "account unknown" profile after deleting

> > it (accidentally)?

>

>

> If you haven't done *all* the PC yet....wait. You need to join the computers

> to the SBS2003 domain using the wizards, and that will copy local profiles

> to domain profiles.

>

> Create a local user, log in once & back out. Then log in as an account with

> local admin rights, and in control panel | system | advanced | settings,

> copy the account unknown profile to the new one (c:\documents and

> settings\newuser) and make sure "Everyone" is ticked for "allowed to use".

>

> The log back in as the new local user to make sure it worked.

>

> Then disjoin the domain manually, and rejoin it using

> http://servername/connectcomputer. It will prompt you for the domain user

> you wish to use the PC, and which local user account to copy.

>

> In general, not much should *be* in the profile directory - all data belongs

> on the server. You can use folder redirection via group policy to make this

> easier. Try posting in m.p.windows.server.sbs for some friendly help with

> SBS2003.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: copying "account unknown" user profile to good user account.

 

Jeffery Roodhouse <JefferyRoodhouse@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the info.

>

> I was able to copy the x domain user profile to the local local user,

> demote the PC, promote the PC through the server web as mentioned,

> and then copy the profile from the local user back to the domain

> user. This worked great.

 

If you ran /connectcomputer, and chose DomainUser as the one who'd be using

the workstation, and then selected LocalUser (the one you copied the old

domain profile to....) in the dropdown menu, you wouldn't have had to do

anything more, note. Some of those SBS wizards are pretty freakin' handy.

>

> However, I was not able to copy the "account unknown" profiles as the

> "copy to" was disabled on them. Suggestions?

 

You could take ownership of the mysterious documents & settings subfolders,

and open 'em up, copy out what you need to the server.

>

> As well, do you have any, any, any, any advise on restoring the

> profile that was deleted? Any other software to restore the profile

> files? I'm up for any way to do this.

 

Not unless you had backups, really....but you might google.

 

In the future, you might set them up with roaming profiles, which can work

well if you set them up right. It's handy even when users don't roam, as it

makes workstation replacement much easier. You also need to configure folder

redirection. Nothing important should live in a profile folder!

 

Do post in the SBS group for more help setting up this network so disasters

such as you've experienced can't strike again.

>

> Thanks,

> Jeff

>

>

>

>

>> Jeffery Roodhouse <JefferyRoodhouse@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>>> An office had a single Windows 2000 Server acting as a DC. That

>>> server died. We installed a Windows 2003 SBS. Had to create the

>>> users again on SBS,

>>

>> Youch. No backups, I suppose?

>>

>>> no problem,

>>

>> Recreating the entire AD/Exchange environment sounds like a problem

>> to me!

>>

>>> but of course the have different SIDs from

>>> the first DC. the problem is with the PCs. The domain name is the

>>> name for the SBS, but the PCs don't see the domain.

>>

>> Yep.

>>

>>> In order to

>>> reregister the PCs, I've done the following:

>>> 1. move the PC from domain to workgroup.

>>> 2. move the PC back to domain.

>>> 3. add domain user back to PC with "admin" permissions for prep.

>>

>> Not sure what that means....

>>>

>>> Now, the user profile on the PC from the original domain is showing

>>> as "unknown account", where the same username under the same

>>> original domain, but on a new DC is showing as the

>>> "domain\username", and of course it's pointing to a different

>>> folder in "documents and settings".

>>>

>>> How can I copy the original profile "unknown account" to the new

>>> profile "domain\username" so the user has all the same settings as

>>> before?

>>>

>>> my quick workaround is to edit the registry by going to

>>> hklm\software\microsoft\windows nt\current version\profile list,

>>> finding the profile for the new user created and pointing the

>>> "profile image path" key to the directory of the original user. This

>>> does not do a final cleanup as the "account unknown" profile of the

>>> original user still exists. If I delete it now, it still deletes all

>>> the profile settings for this user.

>>>

>>> Also, any way to restore an "account unknown" profile after deleting

>>> it (accidentally)?

>>

>>

>> If you haven't done *all* the PC yet....wait. You need to join the

>> computers to the SBS2003 domain using the wizards, and that will

>> copy local profiles to domain profiles.

>>

>> Create a local user, log in once & back out. Then log in as an

>> account with local admin rights, and in control panel | system |

>> advanced | settings, copy the account unknown profile to the new one

>> (c:\documents and settings\newuser) and make sure "Everyone" is

>> ticked for "allowed to use".

>>

>> The log back in as the new local user to make sure it worked.

>>

>> Then disjoin the domain manually, and rejoin it using

>> http://servername/connectcomputer. It will prompt you for the domain

>> user you wish to use the PC, and which local user account to copy.

>>

>> In general, not much should *be* in the profile directory - all data

>> belongs on the server. You can use folder redirection via group

>> policy to make this easier. Try posting in m.p.windows.server.sbs

>> for some friendly help with SBS2003.

[Guest FLIP]

RE: copying "account unknown" user profile to good user account.

 

This worked for me

 

Lo in to the machine as administrator

Run registry editor

Highlight HKEY_USERS

Click File then Load Hive

Select NTUser.dat in the unknown account folder in Documents & Settings

When prompted for Key Name enter anything, it dosen't really matter

Right click on the newly created key then select permissions

Add the new user you want to use this profile and delete the unknown account

Click File then Unload Hive

You should now be able to copy the entire unknown accounts folder contents

to the new accounts folder - you may need to check the NTFS permissions of

the unknown accounts folder if you have any problems

 

Good Luck...

 

"Jeffery Roodhouse" wrote:

> An office had a single Windows 2000 Server acting as a DC. That server died.

> We installed a Windows 2003 SBS. Had to create the users again on SBS, no

> problem, but of course the have different SIDs from the first DC. the problem

> is with the PCs. The domain name is the name for the SBS, but the PCs don't

> see the domain. In order to reregister the PCs, I've done the following:

> 1. move the PC from domain to workgroup.

> 2. move the PC back to domain.

> 3. add domain user back to PC with "admin" permissions for prep.

>

> Now, the user profile on the PC from the original domain is showing as

> "unknown account", where the same username under the same original domain,

> but on a new DC is showing as the "domain\username", and of course it's

> pointing to a different folder in "documents and settings".

>

> How can I copy the original profile "unknown account" to the new profile

> "domain\username" so the user has all the same settings as before?

>

> my quick workaround is to edit the registry by going to

> hklm\software\microsoft\windows nt\current version\profile list, finding the

> profile for the new user created and pointing the "profile image path" key to

> the directory of the original user. This does not do a final cleanup as the

> "account unknown" profile of the original user still exists. If I delete it

> now, it still deletes all the profile settings for this user.

>

> Also, any way to restore an "account unknown" profile after deleting it

> (accidentally)?

> --

> Jeffery Roodhouse