Windows 10: What is the cause of this profile corruption?

At one particular organization, we've recently had a rash of profile corruptions. A user will be given a new Dell Latitude running Windows 11, and within a few weeks, the profile seems to be corrupted.For example, in a corrupted profile, when you try to open a native Windows app, you might get this error: "This file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. Please install an app or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Apps Settings page." The title of the error dialogue shows a path like this: c:\users\JohnSmith\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Wi

:)

 

What causes a corrupted profile

Good luck with that.

I have a half dozen machines, plus at least the same again as VMs. I have never yet seen a corrupt profile. My longest serving machine has a profile that was migrated from Windows 7 back in 2015 and has survived every version upgrade since then, up to and including 2004.

While I have yet to experience a corrupt profile, I could suggest looking for a common factor. For example, were they all Microsoft Accounts? Perhaps an error in syncing corrupted them? All my accounts are local accounts, if that's any help.

 

What causes a corrupted profile

The only factor I ever saw suggested was that the computers concerned had been repeatedly turned off without going through the proper close-down procedure [i.e. closing the NTUSER.DAT file].

This might have been because the computer repeatedly crashed or the user repeatedly forced the computer off using the power button
- as a convenient method, or
- the computer locked up so the user had no choice.

I don't think I ever saw any proper analysis of this as a cause of profile corruption. It was just the 'received wisdom' in some places for many years [Win7-era].

Denis

 

CCC Profiles that disappear

id suggest a spyware check