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I have a client machine (XP SP3) which used to be connected to a windows 2003 domain, but the server has since gone down due to a hard drive failure, however the profiles still remain in 'documents and settings'. I have a local admin account on the same machine (in the administrator's group), except when i try to remove the profiles manually from System Properties -> Advanced -> User Profiles -> Settings, the delete button is disabled.

Also, Windows prevents me from deleting or renaming the user's profile folder as well, due to a lock with ntuser.dat

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated,

Cheers!

Steve Rathbone
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4 Answers4

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You may try the delprof.exe utility from Microsoft, with sufficient credentials it may do the job.

Maxwell
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  • Hi Maxwell, the result from running delprof was a little strange, I tried it with the 'p' option as well, it reported no errors both times I ran it. I then rebooted to see if anything had changed, but both the profile directory and profile itself (under System properties) are still there, and nothing i can tell has changed. – Steve Rathbone Jun 14 '10 at 12:46
  • However, i tried doing what Aceth had recommended with the file permissions (i had to use this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308419#4 and http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/07/19/missing-or-no-security-tab-found-in-windows-xp-professional/ to enable the security tab first), but then I tried deleting the folders again manually, and it worked. The profiles are also now not listed in the Profiles list in System properties->advanced etc. Thanks again – Steve Rathbone Jun 14 '10 at 13:09
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if you have a local admin account try changing ownership of the files then edit the permissions and try deleting again?

Rhys Evans
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You can delete the profile directory manually. Then you just need to get rid of the corresponding registry entry so Windows knows it's gone. The registry entry is in:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\[User SID]

Find the registry key with the matching SID (easiest to look at the ProfileImagePath value under the [User SID] keys, it should be C:\Documents & Settings\[User Name]

If you're not very familiar with the Windows Registry, be sure to backup any registry keys before deleting them.

Chris S
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  • You may need to do this in the reverse order. Delete the entry from the `ProfileList` registry key, restart the machine, then delete the user folder. This is to avoid errors with windows having the registry files open in the user's folder. – BeowulfNode42 Jan 24 '19 at 01:34
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When your looking at the User Profiles page click the link at the bottom for user accounts. Should be able to delete or downgrade then delete the user there.

jer.salamon
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  • Hi xjerx, thanks, I tried that too, but unfortunately the associated accounts (to the profiles) aren't available to be modified on that page either (they dont show up). – Steve Rathbone Jun 14 '10 at 12:16