Unable to create new user on Win 8.1

Question

I have a new laptop running Win 8.1 pro. Using my 'main' account everything is good and the laptop is connected to the internet.

I try to create a new user for my daughter by selecting "change pc settings" from the charms bar, then new account. I enter the email address for my daughter's existing microsoft account - one that works fine when used to login on a different win8.1 laptop.

When I try to login on the new laptop using the new account I get the message "The user profile service failed the sign-in" On checking the event log I can see the following sequence of warnings / errors:

Windows cannot copy file \?\C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VSCommon\12.0\SQM\sqmdata-7204-039-00000.sqm to location \?\C:\Users\georg_000\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VSCommon\12.0\SQM\sqmdata-7204-039-00000.sqm. This error may be caused by network problems or insufficient security rights. DETAIL - Access is denied.

Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off.

The winlogon notification subscriber failed a critical notification event.

Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be loaded. Check that you are connected to the network, and that your network is functioning correctly.

DETAIL - Only part of a ReadProcessMemory or WriteProcessMemory request was completed.

Could anyone please suggest what I can do to fix?

Answer 1

This error is occurring because Windows cannot copy the file referenced in the error message during creation of the user account.

Check the NTFS permissions on the file. I suggest ensuring the Everyone identity has at least Read permissions to the file. It's a good idea to confirm the other files in that same directory, as well as the directory itself, also have the same Read permission.