[Pro] XP unable to save user preferences after format

[NanakiXIII]

My computer is set up to have a Documents folder on the D:\ drive that contains all user profiles. Today I resized and formatted my D:\ drive. I made a backup, but only of the My Documents folder, I figured the rest wasn't all that important and I'd set that all right later. However, after the format, XP seems unable to store any preferences I want to set. I cannot change my desktop background or the theme, or anything of the sort. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the partition, I can write to it normally. XP also recreated the Documents folder and some of its subfolders automatically, so I don't think XP is having any trouble using the partition either. If anyone knows what my problem might be, please let me know.

EDIT: Just some more detail on what I can and cannot perform. I can put shortcuts on the desktop, and in the start menu, so it doesn't appear to have anything to do with writing files to the partition. It is only actual settings of sorts that are having problems, like the ones I mentioned and also the task bar settings and the folder options.

[Steve R Jones]

I cannot change my desktop background or the theme.

What happens/doesn't happen when you try?

[NanakiXIII]

When I try to change the theme, I get an error saying the theme can't be loaded and it gives a path to the theme (WINDOWS\Resources\Themes). The file is actually there. For the most part, however, it just doesn't change anything. No errors, no warnings, the dialogs act as if they're working properly, but nothing changes.

[NanakiXIII]

I apologize for the double post. I feel this warrants a new post rather than an edit.

First off I have to rectify something. I said that when changing settings, the dialogs acted normally and gave no errors. This is not true for things I try to do in the dialog that you get when you right click the desktop and select Properties. I did get an error saying "Visual Style could not be loaded". However, this error does not always appear, and it didn't the first time I tried. Also, sometimes when trying to change something, that blue Please Wait message appears in the middle of the screen. However, this, too, does not happen every time.

One of the things that was wrong, which I didn't mention before, was that my Programs list in the Start Menu was empty except for an empty StartUp folder. There was no Accessories folder, as I would have normally expected. I looked in C:\Documents and Settings (this folder still exists, it is just not used in the setup my computer has), and there the All Users folder still had the Accessories folder and others in the Start Menu folder. I copied them to the D:\ drive and I now have a populated Programs list, but that of course doesn't solve my problem. It does perhaps give some hint as to what's happening. The new D:\Documents folder that XP created automatically after the format did contain an All Users folder, but XP did not recreate those Start Menu entries. Perhaps it has also failed to recreate some essential components that allow one to save preferences? Could I copy those things from another computer, perhaps? I've been fiddling with that, I copied the Local Settings folder, but that had no effect.

I've also discovered one thing I am able to change, which is the look of the start menu. I can toggle it between Classic and the regular menu.