XP Pro: Profiles Retaining Settings

RecievedD Dell workstations preloaded with Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1.

I add/remove software, customize appearance of the desktop under my local user profile.

I have user logon with their credentials to create profile directory.They log off. I restart computer.

I log in to local administrator account. Copy first local profile and overwrite users profile. Profile appears normally BUT if they change the appearance of the desktop, the settings are NOT retained.

No known security settings are in effect.