The following assumes that the machine is an AD domain member:
Connect to the machine remotely with Registry Editor. Open regedit on a remote computer, using alternate credentials if necessary. Such as Domain Admin credentials. In Regedit, click File -> Connect Network Registry...
and connect to the computer with the busted profile.
Since you say that there is only 1 profile on this machine, then it has to be Administrator (SID-500.)
So now that you are connected to the remote machine's registry, navigate to
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
And delete every subkey that looks like S-1-5-21-xxxxxx-500
.
Next, open up a Command Prompt, Cmd.exe, again using alternate credentials such as a Domain Admin, that has privileges on the remote machine. Run the following command:
C:\> rd /s \\computer01\C$\Users\Administrator
Delete the directory. Also delete any other similar directory like
\\computer01\C$\Users\Administrator.Domain
if it exists. If this is Windows XP or 2003, the profiles will be under Documents and Settings
, instead of Users
.
Problem solved.
Now, if this is not a domain-joined computer, then your only options are to do something like
- Hit F12 during boot and use the recovery options, such as
Last Known Good Configuration
, or Repair
, etc.
- Use the Windows installation media (DVD, USB,) if you don't have a recovery partition, and use that to repair, restore from backup, etc. At the very least you can open a command prompt and copy off some files if you need to reimage the thing.
Good luck.