steps on recreating a corrupt profile

When you've got a corrupt profile, often the only thing you can do is recreate it. I've found myself recreating a profile about once a month for this damn x2upbf.dll problem. Anyway, here's a basic list of steps so that you don't miss anything when doing it.

steps for rebuilding a profile

1) take note of: 1) default printer, 2) default browser, 3) any additional mailboxes configured in Outlook
2) reboot
3) log in as administrator
4) rename profile (change c:\users\%username% to c:\users\%username%.old) in profiles folder and alter registry if Vista or 7 (registry change instructions)
5) reboot (if Vista or 7)
6) log in as user
7) set up Outlook (and archiving as applicable)
8) move back data from old profile to new profile:
a) desktop
b) documents
c) favorites
d) Outlook NK2 file
e) Outlook archives (if applicable)
f) restore Firefox bookmarks from bookmarkbackups - if applicable
g) Chrome data from c:\users\username.old\appdata\local\google\chrome\user data\default
9) set up backup
10) set up VPN
11) add Bcc to new Outlook messages

12) make sure VPN exists
13) add back signature using old sent items
14) add printers (if necessary) and set correct default printer

creating new profile for existing user on Vista

Every now and then you want to create a new profile in Vista if the original has become corrupt or you feel it has become problematic. In XP, you just had to rename the folder with the user's name in c:\documents and settings.

With Vista, you also need to alter a registry record. You'll need to alter one of the S-15 entries from here:

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

One of the folders there will be for the user profile in question. You need to reboot after making the registry changes.

Dealing with a corrupt local XP profile

If you find that a local profile is corrupt when trying to open it and it opens a temp profile, try this.

Log in as an administrator (not the user with the problem). Go to My Computer Properties -> Advanced -> User Profile Settings and copy the profile to some folder somewhere on the computer. Then delete the corrupt profile from c:\docs and settings (including the temp profile) and then re-log on as the user with the corrupt profile. Restart the computer. Log in as an administrator and copy the copied profile to the newly created profile in c:\docs and settings.