Good evening. I have been having trouble with my Windows XP and it has gotten so bad I rarely use my profile. All other profiles (3 more for the family) work just fine. Only mine is messed up. None of the programs will run and I can't open files. The background is there and the first menu will pop up when asked for but the program list won't populate and any other functions are not working.

I would appreciate any suggestions. I am a novice at fixing computers. Well beginner really. If you need more info I can offer but I don't know what else to say right now.

Thank you for your help.

Todd

Backup your files first!

Delete your profile and create another one from scratch! There's no point in flogging a dead horse unless you have a very good reason to:)

Nice idea Stu, I'd try a repair install this maybe something worse than a corrupt profile.
Here's (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx) the official Micro$oft way of doing a repair install,
And Here's (http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138) one with screen shots.

Basically this installs windows over the top of your current setup.
So you don't loose any information you already have.

Backup your files first!

Delete your profile and create another one from scratch! There's no point in flogging a dead horse unless you have a very good reason to:)


What if my profile is the main "owner" or "administrator" profile?

As long as you can use any profile to create another, you can just create a new user with administrator rights.

There are processes where you can copy the contents of one profile over the top of another, but that's getting a bit more complex!