Windows cannot create a temporary profile directory

[coupleojars]

I have a W2000 laptop that has been logging on a WINNT network happily for 6 mths. Now when you try to logon "Windows cannot create a temporary profile directory" error comes up on screen and "CTRL-ALT-DEL" message is returned to the screen. All users have read and modify rights to WINNT and WINNT\SYTEM32 directory. Any contributions gratefully accepted

 

[johncurtis]

Are you running service pack 2?

 

[coupleojars]

Yes, service pack 2 was installed last week but didn't weem to change anything.

 

[johncurtis]

In that case, check that the drive is not low on space and that the max registry size hasn't been reached.

 

[coupleojars]

Hadn't thought of that but checked it and it wasn't so. Even increased the registry size by a large amount to definitely rule it out. Thanks for the idea though, it's the best so far !!

 

[johncurtis]

Are there any errors in the event log?

 

[LOB]

This is an NT4 TechNet Response. It does sound like the same problem so resolution should be the same.
Note: W2K doesn't use \winnt\profiles. It uses <root>\Documents and Settings. So the permissions on \winnt & \system32 are irrelevant.

This problem has several common causes. The following are the most relevant causal scenarios.

- Permissions on the local %system root%\Profiles have been modified. The EVERYONE group needs Full Control to load the profile.

- Lack of resources. If the system partition is low on space, or the registry size limit has been exceeded, the profile can fail to load.

- The profile is corrupted. Either the local Ntuser.dat (or .man) or the roaming copy of Ntuser.dat is corrupted. When this occurs, there is usually an event indicating a RegLoadKey failure.

Hope this helps