System automatically reboots after update and lost profile

Changing the scheduled time and telling Windows Update to notify me will take
care of the reboot problem, assuming it gives a prompt before rebooting.
Since it has always done it in the middle of the night, I have never seen
one. Of course, this is a barely acceptable solution because that means I am
downloading updates during my work day and on a satellite Internet connection
that is not a great idea. But thanks for that tip anyway, I am going to
follow it because there's not much else I can do.

But it gets worse.

I thought all my documents and downloaded files were gone (of course I have
backups but restoring backups is more lost billable time).

If I open Documents, the folder is empty.

If I open Desktop->Dale->Documents, it is still empty - the same folder.
Yet if I open C:\Documents and Settings\Users\Dale\Documents, my files are
still there.

If I open Desktop->Dale->Downloads, it is empty. Yet if I open C:\Documents
and Settings\Users\Dale\Downloads, my files are still there.

In the update, Windows has lost track of all my special folders. If I click
Edit Address on the Documents folder, it shows the path to my Documents
folder as being C:\Temp\Documents.

Now it looks like I am going to have to delete the profile including folders
and files and then recreate it just to fix all the screwed up things from
Windows Update. Thank goodness for backups.

What is the best way to fix those paths?

Dale

"MrSlartybartfast" wrote:

> I changed the update settings to 9:00am so that Windows would'nt interupt my
> scheduled overnight programs. This way at least I know that I will be in
> front of the computer and I can stop it from restarting if need be. Else you
> could set the option "Download updates but let me choose whether to install
> them"
> --
>
>
>
> "Dale" wrote:
>
> > I have been very frustrated many times when Vista automatically reboots after
> > installing updates. My backups or other scheduled tasks or long running
> > tasks don't complete because of this. It is very annoying.
> >
> > Now, today, not only do I find that my backup did not complete but also my
> > entire profile was lost. I got up to a rebooted PC and when I logged in, my
> > desktop settings, my IE settings, my application settings, recent files were
> > all gone. I had a default profile as if I had just created a new account and
> > logged in for the first time.
> >
> > Now I have lost an hour's billable time getting things to work again.
> > Though I have been a big supporter of Vista, if I can't find a solution to
> > this, I will have to go back to XP or W2K3 for my desktop - no matter how I
> > try, I just can't get into using Ubuntu. Does anyone have any suggestions on
> > how to configure Windows Update to prevent these problems?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Dale
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dale Preston
> > MCAD C#
> > MCSE, MCDBA

If you do not want to download updates during the peak time then do not
change the scheduled time and simply set "Download updates but let me choose
whether to install them". Windows will download the updates overnight and
you can install them in the morning.

As for your other worries I'm a bit confused because you shouldn't have
"c:\documents and settings" in Vista. Your files should be stored in
"c:\users\dale\documents". This is where you should be saving your files and
also where your programs should be saving to. Copy your files from
"C:\Documents and Settings\Users\Dale\Documents" into
"c:\users\dale\documents" and you should be ok from now on.

Another workaround could be to create a shortcut to the folder which
contains the files so at least it is only an extra click to get to the place
you want.
--


"Dale" wrote:

> Changing the scheduled time and telling Windows Update to notify me will take
> care of the reboot problem, assuming it gives a prompt before rebooting.
> Since it has always done it in the middle of the night, I have never seen
> one. Of course, this is a barely acceptable solution because that means I am
> downloading updates during my work day and on a satellite Internet connection
> that is not a great idea. But thanks for that tip anyway, I am going to
> follow it because there's not much else I can do.
>
> But it gets worse.
>
> I thought all my documents and downloaded files were gone (of course I have
> backups but restoring backups is more lost billable time).
>
> If I open Documents, the folder is empty.
>
> If I open Desktop->Dale->Documents, it is still empty - the same folder.
> Yet if I open C:\Documents and Settings\Users\Dale\Documents, my files are
> still there.
>
> If I open Desktop->Dale->Downloads, it is empty. Yet if I open C:\Documents
> and Settings\Users\Dale\Downloads, my files are still there.
>
> In the update, Windows has lost track of all my special folders. If I click
> Edit Address on the Documents folder, it shows the path to my Documents
> folder as being C:\Temp\Documents.
>
> Now it looks like I am going to have to delete the profile including folders
> and files and then recreate it just to fix all the screwed up things from
> Windows Update. Thank goodness for backups.
>
> What is the best way to fix those paths?
>
> Dale
>
> "MrSlartybartfast" wrote:
>
> > I changed the update settings to 9:00am so that Windows would'nt interupt my
> > scheduled overnight programs. This way at least I know that I will be in
> > front of the computer and I can stop it from restarting if need be. Else you
> > could set the option "Download updates but let me choose whether to install
> > them"
> > --
> >
> >
> >
> > "Dale" wrote:
> >
> > > I have been very frustrated many times when Vista automatically reboots after
> > > installing updates. My backups or other scheduled tasks or long running
> > > tasks don't complete because of this. It is very annoying.
> > >
> > > Now, today, not only do I find that my backup did not complete but also my
> > > entire profile was lost. I got up to a rebooted PC and when I logged in, my
> > > desktop settings, my IE settings, my application settings, recent files were
> > > all gone. I had a default profile as if I had just created a new account and
> > > logged in for the first time.
> > >
> > > Now I have lost an hour's billable time getting things to work again.
> > > Though I have been a big supporter of Vista, if I can't find a solution to
> > > this, I will have to go back to XP or W2K3 for my desktop - no matter how I
> > > try, I just can't get into using Ubuntu. Does anyone have any suggestions on
> > > how to configure Windows Update to prevent these problems?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Dale
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Dale Preston
> > > MCAD C#
> > > MCSE, MCDBA

> As for your other worries I'm a bit confused because you shouldn't have
> "c:\documents and settings" in Vista. Your files should be stored in
> "c:\users\dale\documents". This is where you should be saving your files and
> also where your programs should be saving to. Copy your files from
> "C:\Documents and Settings\Users\Dale\Documents" into
> "c:\users\dale\documents" and you should be ok from now on.


I mistyped it before. C:\Users\Dale\Documents has all of my documents - not
C:\Documents and Settings. My mind was stuck in pre-Vista mode.

But when I open "Documents" from the start menu or from
Desktop->Dale->Documents, it now points to C:\Temp\Documents instead of
C:\Users\Dale\Documents where it should point and where it did point when I
went to bed at 1:00 AM this morning.

Oh OK, I get it. Surely it is easier to edit the current shortcuts than to
mess around creating a new profile.

Although I must agree that Windows Update has caused me many a problem in
the past. The most recent time was last month when it installed a forceware
driver which was missing files. Sounds impossible but it happened and I was
getting Blue Screen of Death every 5 minutes. It would be loverly if there
was a way to turn off windows update without having the stupid security
warnings popping up all the time.
--


"Dale" wrote:

>
> > As for your other worries I'm a bit confused because you shouldn't have
> > "c:\documents and settings" in Vista. Your files should be stored in
> > "c:\users\dale\documents". This is where you should be saving your files and
> > also where your programs should be saving to. Copy your files from
> > "C:\Documents and Settings\Users\Dale\Documents" into
> > "c:\users\dale\documents" and you should be ok from now on.
>
>
> I mistyped it before. C:\Users\Dale\Documents has all of my documents - not
> C:\Documents and Settings. My mind was stuck in pre-Vista mode.
>
> But when I open "Documents" from the start menu or from
> Desktop->Dale->Documents, it now points to C:\Temp\Documents instead of
> C:\Users\Dale\Documents where it should point and where it did point when I
> went to bed at 1:00 AM this morning.
>
>

"MrSlartybartfast" wrote
> Oh OK, I get it. Surely it is easier to edit the current shortcuts than
> to
> mess around creating a new profile.
>
> Although I must agree that Windows Update has caused me many a problem in
> the past. The most recent time was last month when it installed a
> forceware
> driver which was missing files. Sounds impossible but it happened and I
> was
> getting Blue Screen of Death every 5 minutes. It would be loverly if
> there
> was a way to turn off windows update without having the stupid security
> warnings popping up all the time.

Yes you can disable the warning. Open the security center and in the left
pane click on Change the Way Security Center Alerts me.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]