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Unchangable desktop. How to change it?

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7 replies

by jackkorn

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My desktop cannot be permenantly changed. I can add, delete and move icons; but after signoff, and reboot, the icons are as before, in columns on the left side of the sceen. Autoarrange is not set

The present computer has 3 identities: default, and 2 other users. only one desktop is frozen

o/s Windows 98-se; pentium 100;

Can it be unfrozen ?

7 replies

by cg it

if the computer in question is part of a company domain and the domain admin has set your desk top and profile for you, the answer is probably mostly no. (there are always exceptions to the rule).

by cg it

well, ok, rejected that. Yes you can "unfreeze" a desktop by deleting the user profile who's desktop is "frozen" and creating a new user profile, ( default or mandatory). If , again, the computer in question is on a network, and the admin has specified a mandatory profile for you, the user, to use, the answer is no, you can not unfreeze the desktop unless you change the mandatory profile by editing the Ntuser.man file and changing it to Ntuder.dat file. (the .man file extension is a read only file preventing writing changes to that profile when a user logs off.)To be able to acomplish this, you must have administrative rights to the computer and network and change the user profile in Active Directory GPO where the user rights and assignments reside. On a personal computer, logging on locally typically loads the local user profile that the O/S automatically creates when the user first logs on. Any changes during the course of using the computer are saved automatically when the user logs off. Again that profile is stored in the Ntuser.dat file in the registry. To unfreeze a personal computer where the Ntuser.dat file was made mandatory re: the Ntuser.dat file was changed to Ntuser.man file, editing the registry file back to a .dat file will "unfreeze" the desktop.

by jackkorn

1. This is a single computer. Using Windows 98 2nd Edition.
2. One default identity,and Two other identities.
3. It is not on a network.
4. There is no Administrator; no .man files; no Policy Editor installed.
5. User.dat seemed clean.
6. The default identity and one private identity are ok. the other identity is frozen.

what do I do with the files in the frozen identity before I delete that Identity, and ceate a new one?

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