Ideas and Coffee at 3.47 AM

This is not a problem that I feel you would encounter on a regular basis. I think I had a unique problem because of which I encountered this one. When you install an operating system it allows you to create a profile. Now I installed the machine at home. Which means I was not on the corpnet of Microsoft which means I could not log on to the domain. So when I created a profile named after my alias, it was considered as a local profile and not a domain profile. And a folder was created under “C:\Users” with my alias name.

I am not sure if this makes any sense or not, but hey, I am a software program writer not a network administrator. So please excuse my jargon. Anyway, when I actually logged on to the domain with my brand new operating system the next day, a new profile had to be created for the domain. Now since there was a folder already with my alias name in “C:\Users” the brand new operating system create a brand new profile with in the format <alias.domain> so now there was a “.” in my profile directory name.

What happens is this “.” sometimes creates problems in installing certain software. I got the error message saying “There is an invalid character in the directory path of My Documents”. I checked the path and could find only one anomaly. And no points (“.”) for guessing what.

So I decided I will rename the profile directory. I straight away went to the directory and though I would rename it to something else. of course it wouldn’t let you. So I thought I would log on as a local administrator and then do it. Also I made sure that I start windows in safe mode.

After Logging on I backup my documents, and delete the profile and assume that the next time I log on, it will automatically create the new directory for me. Guess what… Not that easy…

So after a long research I found out that there are registry entries out of which windows reads the location of the profile directory. So if it doesn’t find the directory at the specified location, it creates a temporary directory and logs you on with a temporary profile. And after the log on is complete, it gives you that message.

So here is what you do to save your life. Please do this only if you have already deleted your profile and did not take backup. If you are doing your research before you have messed with your machine, please skip these steps and refer below.

1. Log on with local administrator account, preferably in safe mode. To boot the machine in safe mode, Click F8 during boot.
2. Click Start + Run and type in regedit and then Enter.
3. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
4. Open Software
5. Open Microsoft
6. Open Windows NT
7. Open Current Version
8. Open ProfileList
9. Here you will see keys that belong to each profile. To find your problematic profile navigate to each key and refer to the ProfileImagePath entry on the right hand side.
10. Once you find your problematic profile, just delete the key. This means delete the folder on the left hand side tree view that contains your alias in the ProfileImagePath entry.
11. Restart machine.

There is another way you can actually backup your profile and create a new one.

Click on “Start”, Right click “Computer” and go to “properties”

Click on “Change Settings”

Go to the “Advanced” tab and click on User Profiles “Settings” button

“Change type” will allow you to change your profile type between Roaming and Local Profiles

“Delete” will delete that profile. Including the registry entries and everything.

“Copy To” will back up your profile. It is always advisable to backup your profile from here rather than from anywhere else. Your profile contains more than you can see. Hidden Files, System Files, etc. This takes care of everything in a safe manner.

Hope this helps.

1. Internal Logical File (ILF): An internal logical file (ILF) is a user identifiable group of logically related data or control information maintained within the boundary of the application. The primary intent of an ILF is to hold data maintained through one or more elementary processes of the application being counted.
2. External Interface File (EIF): An external interface file (EIF) is a user identifiable group of logically related data or control information referenced by the application, but maintained within the boundary of another application. The primary intent of an EIF is to hold data referenced through one or more elementary processes within the boundary of the application counted. This means an EIF counted for an application must be in an ILF in another application.
3. Data Element Type (DET): A data element type (DET) is a unique, user-recognizable, non-repeated field.
4. Record Element Type (RET): A record element type (RET) is a user-recognizable subgroup of data elements within an ILF or EIF.
5. File Type Referenced (FTR): FTR's are the combined number of Internal Logical Files (ILF's) referenced or updated and External Interface Files referenced
6. External Input (EI): An external input (EI) is an elementary process that processes data or control information that comes from outside the application’s boundary. the primary intent of an EI is to maintain one or more ILFs and/or to alter the behavior of the system.
7. External Output (EO): An external output (EO) is an elementary process that sends data or control information outside the application’s boundary. the primary intent of an external output is to present information to a user through processing logic other than or in addition to the retrieval of data or control information. The processing logic must contain at least one mathematical formula or calculation, or create derived data. An external output may also maintain one or more ILFs and/or alter the behavior of the system.”
8. External Inquiry (EQ): An external inquiry (EQ) is an elementary process that sends data or control information outside the application boundary. The primary intent of an external inquiry is to present information to a user through the retrieval of data or control information. The processing logic contains no mathematical formula or calculation, and creates no derived data. No ILF is maintained during the processing, nor is the behavior of the system altered.
9. General System Characteristics (GSC): The data and transactional functions discussed in earlier chapters together represent the total business functions that are delivered through the application being counted. Truly this is the logical representation of the functionality and does not address the physical implementation of the functions in an IT environment. The FPA method of IFPUG has captured the critical implementation features of typical applications through 14 general system characteristics. These encompass almost all the major implementation complexities that can exist, and through careful evaluation of each of the GSCs, the estimator can arrive at final function point count that includes logical as well as physical implementation properties of the application being counted.
10. Value Adjustment Factor (VAF): Calculated ((Total Degree of Influence * 0.01) + 0.65)
11. Calibration Factor (CF): general buffer depending upon practical environment
12. Delivery Rate (DR): No. of function points a single developer will accomplish every month
13. Days per person month (DPM): The no. of days a person will effectively work in a month. 20 working days in a month and Microsoft generally counts 75% utilization which means around 15 working days in a month.