Migrating UserData folder breaks Internet Explorer |
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mchristian
Newbie Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Status: Offline Points: 1 |
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Posted: 02 Apr 2008 at 2:50pm |
I recently used the User Profile Wizard (profwiz.exe) to migrate a user profile from an old PC to a new one. I know there is a User Profile Transfer Wizard (transwiz.exe) but I already had copied the profile data to the new PC.
Here are the steps that I took.
1. Setup the new PC (call it B) except the user profile.
2. Copied the profile data from old PC (call it A) to C:\Documents and Settings\user\ .
3. Ran User Profile Wizard to associate the unassigned profile with the user account.
4. Logged into the "user" profile on the new B PC.
What happened next surprised me.
Viewing CNN Video in Internet Explorer did not work on this new PC, specifically only for the user profile that was migrated. Going to http://www.cnn.com/ then any video link (usually several stories linked) caused a script error in Internet Explorer.
The script error "Data is invalid" came from http://www.cnn.com/.element/js/2.0/scripts/IEPersistence.html .
This CNN script seems to be using an Internet Explorer specific technology called "userData Behavior" (persistence). http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms531424.aspx
After much searching around and dead ends, I found...
There is a hidden folder called UserData in the user's profile that stores persistent XML-based data across Internet Explorer browser sessions. Additionally, this UserData Behavior/Persistence is NOT deleted or cleared when emptying Temporary Internet Files, clearing the browser cache, repairing/reinstalling Internet Explorer or other such standard operations. Solution: Delete the files and folders in the hidden folder %HOMEPATH%\UserData\ Once I deleted the files and folders in C:\Documents and Settings\user\UserData\ , then viewing CNN Video via user on B worked. The UserData folder was re-populated with new XML-based data. Note that Internet Explorer was/is version 6 SP1 + patches on both old and new PCs. Also, this problem did not happen on the old (A) PC, only after migrating the profile. |
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Moderator Group Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1860 |
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Thanks very much for the post. This is something we will keep in mind.
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