Users lost in Palm Desktop 4.1.4

Question

A few days ago, I set about dealing with a critical space shortage on my data partition. My Palm Desktop data files are stored on that partition, in D:\Palm. The Desktop program files are stored in the default location, i.e., C:\Program Files\PalmOne.
I copied the entire contents of my D: partition to a new drive, then used Windows Disk Management to rename both the old partition and the new drive so that the new drive (now containing all my data files including the Palm Desktop data files) became D:. The volume name for the new drive was slightly different so that I could keep track of which partition I was looking at. The end result was that the folder names and path for the Palm Desktop dataset did not change.
When I started Palm Desktop after the drive installation, the "choose user" dialogue box displayed no user names at all. Then Desktop closed after briefly displaying an error message about the lack of available users that I didn't record.
I looked to see what had happened to the Desktop dataset in D:\Palm. It was still there, apparently unchanged. Knowing of Desktop's default locations for its datasets, I looked in my C: drive. I found that a new folder had been created: C:\Palm OS Desktop. I went back to Desktop, and created a new user: "Dummy". A sub-folder with that name promptly appeared in C:\Palm OS Desktop.
I started Desktop again, and tried to set D:\Palm as the folder in which the dataset should reside. I got an error message to the effect "that folder is in use by another user".
So I moved the entire contents of D:\Palm to another drive, leaving D:\Palm present but empty, and went back into Desktop to tell it to use D:\Palm as the location for its dataset. It refused to do so, this time giving the error message The Palm Desktop could not move your data to D:\Palm. Nothing appeared in D:\Palm.
I then tried to create a new user in Desktop in its current storage location. I used the name that I have used for years for my Palm, i.e., "Rob". Again, Desktop refused to accommodate me, giving me the error message Could not add user "Rob". "Rob" is an illegal user name, or the directory could not be created.
So now I'm stumped. How do I get Palm Desktop to use my existing dataset again? Or recognize me as a Palm user?
Some additional info:
Of course, my T-E2's user name is "Rob". I'd really prefer not to have to change it. And if it matters, I'm running Palm Desktop 4.1.4 on WinXP Pro SP2. There is ample space on both C: and D: and in RAM, and more than sufficient horsepower in the my desktop machine's CPU. I have no difficulty manually creating a folder in D:\Palm or in C:\Palm OS Desktop.
Post relates to: Tungsten E2 and Desktop 4.1.4 for Windows
Message Edited by Rob_M on 09-29-2008 12:44 PM

Answer 1

Well, nobody had any better ideas, so I adapted the logic that was developed in the thread at <http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?t=234272>. It was successful. 
For those who want to know lest they be afflicted with a similar problem:
I backed up the dataset and moved it to another location, leaving D:\Palm as an empty folder;
I uninstalled Palm Desktop;
I cleaned up the Registry with CCleaner after the Palm Desktop uninstall failed to complete and forced a re-boot;
I re-installed Palm Desktop to the same folder in C:\Program Files (it didn't give me an opportunity to set a data folder)
I opened Desktop and re-set the data file location to D:\Palm using the Tools/Options menu;
I backed up the structure Desktop then created in D:\Palm in case of need;
I copied my original dataset back into place in D:\Palm;
I backed up the contents of my T-E2 to a SD card (just in case), and
I ran a Hotsync.
Voila -- all is well. My data files are now in D:\Palm, my software is (re-)installed in C:\Program Files\PalmOne, and I now have the current version of Palm Desktop 4.1.4e installed. In other words, things are back the way they were, except that I have a slightly later version of Palm Desktop running on my machine.
However, I still have absolutely no idea why copying the data structures to a new hard drive would have triggered the problem.
Post relates to: Tungsten E2