Deleting and adding user accounts

[tcwinont]

Thanks in advance for anyhelp.

Scenerio:

Windows SBS 2000, Windows XP Professional pc's.

When deleting accounts and adding accounts with the same user name with Windows 2000 Server, does it trigger something on the original user's computer that it will start a new profile for them on their computer going to the 'default' settings the next time they log on? For some reason, on the user's computer they will be a 'username' folder under 'Documents and Settings' and a new user folder called 'username.domainname'. I've done this to two user accounts on my server and the first person to reboot and log in had this happen to him where now his installed programs will not run with WinXP giving an error message indicating they should reinstall their programs.

I've read threads where a user with their settings already the way they want it on their computer needs to 'join' a domain but still retain their settings. I've had mixed success with this.

Can somebody provide some comments or insight?

 

[Tekmazter]

Answer: NO

It doesn't trigger anything. Even if you recreate a username that is the same as one previously on your network, the account will have a different SID. When a user logs in, this is referenced to his acct, not just the username so to speak. This is what would cause the username.domain folders.

 

[dholbrook]

SIDs are critical and all are unique. Deleating a user account and then re-using the same user name always creats a NEW user account with a new SID. When the "re-created user" logs now on to a system they had been on before as the "old username", they are a "new" user, and a new user account is created under the Documents area. The same user logging in locally will creat one account, and then logging in as a Domain user he will creat a different account, because he is using two different users accounts (local, then Domain) to do this (ALL SIDS ARE UNIQUE, as This is the law of Gates!)

However, all is not lost. Simply go to that system, and copy the old profile to the new user. Go to control panel, system icon, user profiles, and use the tool there to copy the "old" profile to the "new" user account. This is the ONLY way to copy a profile correctly and completely, and this should fix the installed application issues.

The real fix for the install issue is to be sure that all installed applications are done by the admiistrator for all users to use.

HTH

David