How To Rebuild a Corrupted NT Profile

Classic signs of a corrupt NT profile

In Netscape, you find that the Print... and Print Preview menu options are grayed-out
You are unable to select a default printer
You cannot change the wallpaper

Causes of corrupt NT profiles

You've logged into a PC whose system disk is already too full to download your profile
Your profile has gotten so big that no system disk could possibly hold it all
Random chance -- after all, this is Microsoft ;-)

What to do about it

To force an NT profile to be rebuilt, you must have administrative access to the PC(s) that the user uses, as well as administrative access to the user's home directory (or have the user there to type his password in). The following instructions will assume this is an account in the EECS infrastructure, with roaming profile located in the user's home directory on coeus.

Make sure the user is not logged in on any NT machine (his profile should not be in use).
Delete the user's cached profile on each PC he uses (C:\winnt\profiles\username). It's most important to do this on the PC that he will first login on, but I'd be wary about logging in on any PC that has a cached copy of the corrupt profile. Note that you can do this remotely by mapping the network drive \\computer\c$, if you have admin access.
Gain access to the user's home directory. If the user is within earshot, you can do this by doing Start -> Run... -> \\coeus\username, getting prompted for his username and password.
Rename his profile directory to profile.bak.
Let the user know that when he next logs in, his profile will be recreated. Settings like wallpaper will need to be redone, and items such as files on the desktop can be found in profile.bak in his home directory.