I have multiple identical HP ProBok 4520s' running fresh installs of Windows 7 Professional. The problem that we are running into is that the laptops will run fine for a period of time, then without warning all user data and applications dissappear. Now, we know that the OS is creating a second profile and we are able to go into the registry and link the new profile to the old one and recover all of the data. However, all of the installed applications are completely gone and have to be reinstalled.

Since you have a unique situation with multiple ProBooks of the same manufacturer and model, you really need to contact HP Technical Support: http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html The behaviour you site is not normal and there is a very high probability the cause is something unique to your systems. Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi Micah2011, Does this issue happen in Safe Mode? If it doesn’t happen in safe mode, please try Clean Boot to find the culprit. Meanwhile, if all these HP ProBook 4520 encounter this issue, please also contact HP support. Regards, MiyaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. | Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

As the problem does most frequently occur on our ProBooks, an identical problem has also occurred on our desktops from many other makes that we have deployed on the same network (we just have more ProBooks running Windows 7 then any other type of machine due to a push to switch completely to laptops). We are wondering if the problem lies in the fact that the laptops are hooked up to external peripherals and when the user boot them they press the power button and immediately shut the lid to get the external monitor to work. If there is a glitch in network connectivity during boot up, would that cause this issue?

When this happens, are you still able to go to C:\Users folder and see the user's files and documents? If this was helpful, please vote by clicking the green triangle. If it solves the issue, click Propose as Answer. Thanks!

Yes we can. From what we can tell, the OS is creating a duplicate profile for some reason. We can go into the registry and repoint the new profile back to the old one and restore data. However, a couple of times we have also lost all of the applications that were installed i.e. Microsoft Office, Symantec, and our database software. The only way to recover the applications back it to reinstall them.

This sounds like you're being logged into a temporary profile. Check this page: http://www.sysprobs.com/fix-temporary-profile-windows-7 to see if it matches your issue. If so, you can get more information online, it's a fairly common issue but is resolvable. I had it during the beta, although haven't had the problem in the release version of Windows. If this was helpful, please vote by clicking the green triangle. If it solves the issue, click Propose as Answer. Thanks!

The next time do a system disk backup - early perhaps before installing the application. ReneeNot a C officianado