User Accounts I make are corrupted....

[klerg]

I posted this problem on Annoyances.org here's the link to it. My own account and the admin account, or ANY account i create as part of admin group is fine. But once I turn on the 'Guest' account or make a "limited" acct. things go awry: Icons are missing from the Start Menu/Windows Explorer/ & Control Panel. The Help/Run/Search command is broken, it says: "Windows cannot create a shortcut here. Do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?" I even tried making an admin account and changing it to "Limited" later on, but it still became as screwed up as before. I've been hit with malware/viruses before, but i used almost a dozen programs to get rid of them. A recent scan with Ewido on-line scanner & Trend HouseCall found 2 trojans: Troj_GENERIC & Troj.Agent.cj. Of course, i removed them, but that didn't do anything. . Also, i noticed that in Windows Explorer, the /WINDOWS, /WINDOWS/FONTS, & /SYSTEM32 folder display correctly, yet ONLY in 'large icon' view. I'm posting a picture of how everyhing looks. I'm hoping i can fix this without having to re-format and install XP (for the umpteeth time) of course. Some help would be greatly appreciated.

Edited April 8, 2008 by klerg

[cluberti]

Honestly, if admin accounts always work and user accounts always do not, I'd suggest running Process Monitor when trying to do certain things that always fail - if an admin can do it but a regular (limited) user cannot, it's a permissions issue (and procmon should show you perhaps access denied errors).

[klerg]

Process Explorer will NOT work under a "limited" account. What exactly should i do with it, then? I don't understand how there could be a permissions issue. What is not being permitted? Access to a 'Limited' users OWN account (Desktop, Start menu, Windows Explorer)? Where, besides procmon, can i figure out what's wrong? The fact that Windows Explorer is NOT working seems strangest of all. Now, i did edit shell32.dll, msgina.dll, logonui.exe & winlogon.exe files via Reshack. It just doesn't make sense. I think there's some remnants of malware/virus that is obviously NOT detected by the many scanners i've tried. Could a corrupt registry key(who can find that ) or file cause this?

[PC_LOAD_LETTER]

cluberti is right. it is in fact a permissions issue with the Default User folder. i did a small write up in another post recently about it

http://www.msfn.org/board/Windows-Theme-Account-t114606.html

notice how i point out that the temp user should NOT be in the admin group? if they are then you will see this exact behavior after logging in

this is caused because the file permissions of 'c:\Documents and Settings\Default User' can be accessed by a new admin but not by a limited account which results in the profile not being generated properly.

[cluberti]

Process Explorer will NOT work under a "limited" account. What exactly should i do with it, then? I don't understand how there could be a permissions issue.

Use runas?

[anonymous_user]

BTW klerg, cluberti said Process Monitor not Process Explorer.

[klerg]

i did a small write up in another post recently about it

http://www.msfn.org/board/Windows-Theme-Account-t114606.html

notice how i point out that the temp user should NOT be in the admin group? if they are then you will see this exact behavior after logging in

I followed what was in that link, mind you i already have a "Default User" profile in Documents and Settings. Nonetheless, i ended up replacing it via System Properties > Advanced > User Accounts > Settings> Copy To. I typed in "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User.' There was prompt telling me it already exists and if i wanna replace it, i said yes. I logged off and into the account, and guess what? It did NOTHING to fix my problem, everything is the same as before. Next, i decided to re-create the Default User folder from scratch, i placed my existing one in the Recycle Bin, and made a new folder in Documents and Settings and called it "Default User." Believe it or not, logging in with either the Guest account or a user account, it made NO difference whatsoever....by now you can tell i'm getting a bit frustrated .

cluberti is right. it is in fact a permissions issue with the Default User folder....this is caused because the file permissions of 'c:\Documents and Settings\Default User' can be accessed by a new admin but not by a limited account which results in the profile not being generated properly.

You're probably right. If by 'file permissions' you're referring to NTFS permissions, for the 'Default User' folder "Everyone" has 'Read, Read & Execute, and List Folder Contents' ability. If you meant 'file attributes' they are set: Hidden is checked & Read-only is partially checked. Also, when i re-created the 'Default User' folder; i UNchecked the Read-only & Hidden attributes, yet it did NOT change a thing after i logged on with either the Guest or other user account....Now, here comes the irritating part, The 'Default User' folder my other 2 PCs have the exact SAME NTFS+file attributes settings as this PC has. However, there is ONE small, but probably important, difference i noticed: the check marks for file attributes on my PC are: BLACK or light GREY, while on the other PCs, they're either: GREEN or a green SQUARE What does this mean? I'm beginning to think something is wrong with NTFS permissions and/or file attributes on my system, and i may just re-install XP, IF i can't solve my predicament pretty soon.......