User Data Lost on Restart

I purchased the upgrade version of Vista Ultimate the day it came out, and
after a long but painless installation and some driver issues, everything
seems to be running okay with a few exceptions. Primarily, it seems that
anytime my machine is restarted, all of my user data (ie local settings app
settings) is lost. This includes any bookmarks, installed programs (still
installed obviously but no longer on my start menu) settings, gadgets and
possibly most importantly anything found in Documents, Downloads etc.
A couple of points of interest: I log on as a domain user, but I do have
local adminstrative rights. I've done this for years and it was never an
isuue in XP w or w/o sp2. Secondly, I used Firefox profile manager and set a
new profile to save settings data in a folder NOT under my user (ie
C:\firefoxdata) and still on reboot I was welcomed with the Firefox first run
page.
So for right now I'm basically not restarting unless I absolutely have to,
but this can be annoying and difficult with a notebook that i bring
everywhere. So thank you for your time and I hope to hear back.

Heh-heh. When someone says "I more or less am the domain admin" then I know
the poor sap is in the same sort of position as I am. We ain't qualified
(Well, at least I ain't) but no one else wanted the job.

Well, it still sounds like a mandatory profile. It's possible to set one up
locally, too, but I can't imagine that it would happen by accident. I guess
you already checked for that. Anything showing up in the Event Viewer? Any
system problems bad enough to cause loss of your profile should be giving you
popup messages and littering logs with errors.

Was this a clean installation of Vista, or did you do an install-over on top
of Windows XP? I've been seeing some pretty damned strange messages about odd
account and profile issues that seem to result from install-overs.
Install-overs are against my religion. I've never liked them, and I like them
even less now that we've got another MAJOR overhaul in the way drivers work
in the OS. I understand that Vista tries to "grandfather" some types of
drivers when the upgrade installation is performed. The very idea of that,
coupled with the bizarre posts I've been seeing about confusion over accounts
and profiles, is enough to give me the willies.

I'll hang in here and hope that something comes to mind, but, honestly, I'm
not sure where to go if a) you see no errors anywhere, and b) you have no
mandatory profile set on the system.

"Firefox User" wrote:

> Jimmuh,
>
> I more or less am the domain admin, and nothing has changed on the domain
> side since I upgraded to Vista. Yes, I am set up so that I can log on even
> when not connected to the domain, and yes, it is reset when I reboot at home
> or elsewhere. Hope this helps!
>
> Bill
>
> "jimmuh" wrote:
>
> > Wow! Sounds like your user account is set to use a mandatory profile from the
> > domain. You need to talk with the domain admin where you log in. Is the
> > machine set up so that you can log on to it when it is NOT connected to the
> > domain? (I would imagine that it would have to be, under the circumstances.)
> > If so, does your profile also get reset when you reboot or log off / log on
> > whe NOT connected?
> >
> > "Firefox User" wrote:
> >
> > > I purchased the upgrade version of Vista Ultimate the day it came out, and
> > > after a long but painless installation and some driver issues, everything
> > > seems to be running okay with a few exceptions. Primarily, it seems that
> > > anytime my machine is restarted, all of my user data (ie local settings app
> > > settings) is lost. This includes any bookmarks, installed programs (still
> > > installed obviously but no longer on my start menu) settings, gadgets and
> > > possibly most importantly anything found in Documents, Downloads etc.
> > > A couple of points of interest: I log on as a domain user, but I do have
> > > local adminstrative rights. I've done this for years and it was never an
> > > isuue in XP w or w/o sp2. Secondly, I used Firefox profile manager and set a
> > > new profile to save settings data in a folder NOT under my user (ie
> > > C:\firefoxdata) and still on reboot I was welcomed with the Firefox first run
> > > page.
> > > So for right now I'm basically not restarting unless I absolutely have to,
> > > but this can be annoying and difficult with a notebook that i bring
> > > everywhere. So thank you for your time and I hope to hear back.

Jimmuh,

Yes, I just checked and logging off does the same thing. The upgrade did
exactly what you said, moved everything from Doc&Settings to Users. It
essentially rebuilds the whole User profile, goes through the whole 10 minute
log on process (used to be when it said "Apply personal Settings" in XP). The
driver issues were just with my display drivers from nvidia, but that seems
to be cleared up and i cant see where it would have any effect on this
anyway. Any suggestions? I guess it wouldnt hurt to delete everything in
Users and and delete this user and re add it from the built in admin account.
ill give it a whirl.

"jimmuh" wrote:

> Forgot to include this thought in my response above. You have said that this
> happens when you reboot, but you haven't specifically said that it does it
> when you log off then log on again. Does it?
>
> Also, you said there were some driver issues with the reinstall. What were
> they? Also, were your profiles redirected or stored in any place other than
> the default under Windows XP or in the new installation? I'm wondering if
> something weird might have happened in the "Documents and Settings" to
> "Users" transition during the upgrade installation -- if, indeed, that was
> the type of installation that was done.
>
> "Firefox User" wrote:
>
> > Jimmuh,
> >
> > I more or less am the domain admin, and nothing has changed on the domain
> > side since I upgraded to Vista. Yes, I am set up so that I can log on even
> > when not connected to the domain, and yes, it is reset when I reboot at home
> > or elsewhere. Hope this helps!
> >
> > Bill
> >
> > "jimmuh" wrote:
> >
> > > Wow! Sounds like your user account is set to use a mandatory profile from the
> > > domain. You need to talk with the domain admin where you log in. Is the
> > > machine set up so that you can log on to it when it is NOT connected to the
> > > domain? (I would imagine that it would have to be, under the circumstances.)
> > > If so, does your profile also get reset when you reboot or log off / log on
> > > whe NOT connected?
> > >
> > > "Firefox User" wrote:
> > >
> > > > I purchased the upgrade version of Vista Ultimate the day it came out, and
> > > > after a long but painless installation and some driver issues, everything
> > > > seems to be running okay with a few exceptions. Primarily, it seems that
> > > > anytime my machine is restarted, all of my user data (ie local settings app
> > > > settings) is lost. This includes any bookmarks, installed programs (still
> > > > installed obviously but no longer on my start menu) settings, gadgets and
> > > > possibly most importantly anything found in Documents, Downloads etc.
> > > > A couple of points of interest: I log on as a domain user, but I do have
> > > > local adminstrative rights. I've done this for years and it was never an
> > > > isuue in XP w or w/o sp2. Secondly, I used Firefox profile manager and set a
> > > > new profile to save settings data in a folder NOT under my user (ie
> > > > C:\firefoxdata) and still on reboot I was welcomed with the Firefox first run
> > > > page.
> > > > So for right now I'm basically not restarting unless I absolutely have to,
> > > > but this can be annoying and difficult with a notebook that i bring
> > > > everywhere. So thank you for your time and I hope to hear back.

When you restart, do you get an error message saying something about Windows
being unable to access your profile, and that it's creating a temporary one
to use?



"Firefox User" wrote:

> I purchased the upgrade version of Vista Ultimate the day it came out, and
> after a long but painless installation and some driver issues, everything
> seems to be running okay with a few exceptions. Primarily, it seems that
> anytime my machine is restarted, all of my user data (ie local settings app
> settings) is lost. This includes any bookmarks, installed programs (still
> installed obviously but no longer on my start menu) settings, gadgets and
> possibly most importantly anything found in Documents, Downloads etc.
> A couple of points of interest: I log on as a domain user, but I do have
> local adminstrative rights. I've done this for years and it was never an
> isuue in XP w or w/o sp2. Secondly, I used Firefox profile manager and set a
> new profile to save settings data in a folder NOT under my user (ie
> C:\firefoxdata) and still on reboot I was welcomed with the Firefox first run
> page.
> So for right now I'm basically not restarting unless I absolutely have to,
> but this can be annoying and difficult with a notebook that i bring
> everywhere. So thank you for your time and I hope to hear back.

I have this and can offer good news and bad news. The good news is I know the
HOW this is happening. It is creating a temporary profile when you log in and
tidying it up again when you log out. Look under the advanced stuff in user
accounts where the profile type /status is to verify this.

The bad news is I have no idea WHY this happening - yet! Still looking for
that.

Cheers,

Durwin

"Firefox User" wrote:

> I purchased the upgrade version of Vista Ultimate the day it came out, and
> after a long but painless installation and some driver issues, everything
> seems to be running okay with a few exceptions. Primarily, it seems that
> anytime my machine is restarted, all of my user data (ie local settings app
> settings) is lost. This includes any bookmarks, installed programs (still
> installed obviously but no longer on my start menu) settings, gadgets and
> possibly most importantly anything found in Documents, Downloads etc.
> A couple of points of interest: I log on as a domain user, but I do have
> local adminstrative rights. I've done this for years and it was never an
> isuue in XP w or w/o sp2. Secondly, I used Firefox profile manager and set a
> new profile to save settings data in a folder NOT under my user (ie
> C:\firefoxdata) and still on reboot I was welcomed with the Firefox first run
> page.
> So for right now I'm basically not restarting unless I absolutely have to,
> but this can be annoying and difficult with a notebook that i bring
> everywhere. So thank you for your time and I hope to hear back.

Well, I think I found out why it was happening in my case. It was a
combination of the Mozy backup software and Windows OneCare, apparently. It
seems the two would fight for control over the profile upon startup, and
weirdness would ensue. Updating to the latest version of Mozy looks to have
solved the problem for me.


"Durwin Brown" wrote:

> I have this and can offer good news and bad news. The good news is I know the
> HOW this is happening. It is creating a temporary profile when you log in and
> tidying it up again when you log out. Look under the advanced stuff in user
> accounts where the profile type /status is to verify this.
>
> The bad news is I have no idea WHY this happening - yet! Still looking for
> that.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Durwin
>
> "Firefox User" wrote:
>
> > I purchased the upgrade version of Vista Ultimate the day it came out, and
> > after a long but painless installation and some driver issues, everything
> > seems to be running okay with a few exceptions. Primarily, it seems that
> > anytime my machine is restarted, all of my user data (ie local settings app
> > settings) is lost. This includes any bookmarks, installed programs (still
> > installed obviously but no longer on my start menu) settings, gadgets and
> > possibly most importantly anything found in Documents, Downloads etc.
> > A couple of points of interest: I log on as a domain user, but I do have
> > local adminstrative rights. I've done this for years and it was never an
> > isuue in XP w or w/o sp2. Secondly, I used Firefox profile manager and set a
> > new profile to save settings data in a folder NOT under my user (ie
> > C:\firefoxdata) and still on reboot I was welcomed with the Firefox first run
> > page.
> > So for right now I'm basically not restarting unless I absolutely have to,
> > but this can be annoying and difficult with a notebook that i bring
> > everywhere. So thank you for your time and I hope to hear back.