cannot load locally stored profile

[Brian]

When I start up, I get this message in a box labeled

"User Environment":
'Windows cannot load the locally stored profile.
Possible causes of this error include insufficient
security rights or a corrupt local profile. If this
problem persists, contact your network administrator.'

"DETAIL":
'The system has attempted to load or restore a file into
the registry, but the specified file is not in a registry
file format.'

This is happening on a home computer, and I'm hooked up
to cable internet. I've only been on XP for about 2
weeks, and can't imagine what I've done wrong. I
tried 'system restore', but didn't lose the message.

Any ideas?

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

It is most likely the case that a file (C:\Documents and
Settings\user\ntuser.dat) is corrupted, so the profile can't load.

You must either create a new account and copy files/folders from the old
profile to the new profile, or copy some other account ntuser.dat over
the corrupted one. You will lose your app settings and other tweaks that
were part of your corrupted profile.

Under normal circumstances, a System Restore will fix this problem. You
should test SR to make sure that it is still creating restore points. It
should make one every 24+ hours or so.

--
Kent W. England, MS MVP for Windows XP
(Please respond only in the newsgroup)