You receive a "The User Profile
Service failed the logon” error message
Symptoms
When you log on to a
Windows 7-based or a Windows Vista-based computer by using a temporary profile,
you receive the following error message:
The User Profile Service failed the logon. User
profile cannot be loaded.
Resolution
Occasionally, Windows
might not read your user profile correctly, such as if your antivirus software
is scanning your computer while you try to log on. Before you follow the
methods here, try restarting your computer and logging on with your user
account again to resolve the issue. If you restart your computer and it does
not resolve this issue, use the following methods to resolve this issue.
Note You must be able to log on to an administrator account to fix your user profile or copy your data to a new account. Before you resolve the issue, log on to Windows by using another account that has administrative permissions, or restart in safe mode to log on with the built-in administrator account.
Note You must be able to log on to an administrator account to fix your user profile or copy your data to a new account. Before you resolve the issue, log on to Windows by using another account that has administrative permissions, or restart in safe mode to log on with the built-in administrator account.
Method 1: Fix the user account profile
To fix the user account
profile, follow these steps:
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 How
to back up and restore the registry in Windows How to back up and restore the
registry in Windows
1. 1.Click Start,
type regedit in the Search box, and then press
ENTER.
2. 2. In Registry
Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
3. 3. In the navigation pane,
locate the folder that begins with S-1-5 (SID key) followed by
a long number.
4.Click each S-1-5 folder,
locate the ProfileImagePath entry in the details pane, and
then double-click to make sure that this is the user account profile that has
the error
·
If you have two folders
starting with S-1-5 followed by some long numbers and one of
them ended with .bak, you have to rename the .bak folder.
To do this, follow these steps:
- A.Right-click the folder without .bak, and then click Rename. Type .ba, and then press ENTER.
- B Right-click the folder that is named .bak, and then click Rename. Remove .bak at the end of the folder name, and then press ENTER
- Right-click the folder that is named .ba, and then click Rename. Change the .ba to .bak at the end of the folder name, and then press ENTER.
- · If you have only one folder starting with S-1-5 that is followed by long numbers and ends with .bak. Right-click the folder, and then click Rename. Remove .bak at the end of the folder name, and then press ENTER.
Click the folder
without .bak in the details pane, double-click RefCount,
type 0, and then click OK.
Click the folder without .bak, in the details pane,
double-click State, type 0, and then click OK.\
1.
Close Registry Editor.
2.
Restart the computer.
3.
Log on again with your
account.
Method 2: Log on to Windows and copy your data to a new account
Create a new account and copy the data from the old account to the new account. For information about how to do this, visit one of the following Microsoft websites:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Method 3: Delete the error SID and create a new profile
To delete the error SID and create a new profile, follow these steps:
- Delete the error SID.Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:322756 How to back up and restore the registry in WindowsTo resolve this problem yourself, follow these steps:
- Delete the profile by using the Computer Properties dialog box. To do this, follow these steps:
- Click Start, right-click Computer, and then click Properties.
- Click Change settings.
In the System
Properties dialog
box, click the Advanced tab.
a.
In the User
Profiles area, click Settings.
b.
In the User
Profiles dialog box, select the profile that you want to delete, click Delete,
and then click OK.
2.
Click Start,
type regedit in the Search box, and then press
ENTER.
3.
Locate and then click
the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
4.
Right-click the SID that
you want to remove, and then click Delete.
2.
Log on to the computer
and create a new profile.
