Creating a new Windows profile on Windows 10 (or Windows 8, Windows 7, or Vista)

This is what I consider best practice for creating a new Windows profile on Windows 10.  Typically, I do this if I think the Windows profile is corrupt in some way and I think a new profile will solve the problem.  All of this assumes that you have the user's log in password.

Step 1: Note the default printer and default browser for the existing profile (or any other things that may be unique to the profile, but those are the two big ones).  You might note which programs have been logged in with credentials you don't have as well - Dropbox, Google Drive, Skype, etc

Step 2: Log in with an account that has local administrator privileges.

Step 3: Edit the registry and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Look at the various keys in there and find the one with the value that you want to delete.  For example, in the screen shot below, the value c:\users\dave is in the key that begins with S-1-15-21.  You delete the entire entry that begins with S-1-15-21.

Step 4: Rename the profile that is going to be deleted.  In this example, I'd rename c:\users\dave to c:\users\dave-old

Step 5: Reboot and then log in as the user.  You'll find a brand new profile is created and you can access all the old data in the renamed profile from step 4.

Step 6: Set up the profile as needed including, but not limited to:
1) set up Outlook
2) move back data from old profile to new profile:
 a) desktop
 b) documents
 c) all the other stuff that is in c:\users\%username%
3) set up backup
4) set up VPN
5) add back signature using old sent items

6) add printers (if necessary) and set correct default printer

7) restore browser settings

8) Remind the user that he/she will need to log in to services you don't have the password to (Dropbox, Skype, Google Drive, etc)

removing Windows 10 notification

Option 1:
I created a file that will adjust four registry entries to disable the Windows 10 Upgrades here:
http://www.t-solve.com/software/Disable-Win10.reg

Save that file and run it.

Option 2:
Manually make the adjustments below (credit to the resources comes from here):

1. Type regedit in RUN or Start search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

3. Create a new key under Windows key and set its name as GWX

So the final key path would be:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX

4. Now select GWX key and in right-side pane create a new DWORD DisableGWX and set its value to 1

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1. Again in Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

2. Create a new key under Windows key and set its name as WindowsUpdate

So the final key path would be:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate

3. Now select WindowsUpdate key and in right-side pane create a new DWORD DisableOSUpgrade and set its value to 1

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1. Again in Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade

2. In right-side pane, look for two DWORDs AllowOSUpgrade and ReservationsAllowed and change their values to 0

removing fake alert malware

Found some good resources for removing some of the fake alert malware out there.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-windows-antivirus-pro

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-windows-police-pro

Who knows why Symantec, McAfee, and Avast are so far behind the ball on dealing with these fake alert things - but at least there's an automated option out there.

Even if there is a new piece of fake alert malware out there, I generally have good success trying a system restore first and then if not (usually because it deleted all the restore points) then you can usually go into safe mode and delete the registry keys, EXEs, DLLs, and stuff.

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.

Increasing the size of the private information store

1. On the computer that is running Exchange Server, open a registry editor such as Regedit.exe or RegEdt32.exe.
2. Navigate to: HKLM\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Services\ MSExchangeIS\ ServerName\ Private-
3. Right-click MailboxStoreGUID, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. For the new DWORD value, type Database Size Limit in Gb.

Double-click Database Size Limit in Gb. In Value data, type an appropriate value for maximum database size in GB (decimal value - less than 75). Click OK.

Also can be seen here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912375