In Windows 7, my user profile cannot be loaded, how do I fix this?

After uninstalling an HP Vector mouse driver, then rebooting, when Windows tries to auto log me in, I get an error message saying the following.

The User Profile Service failed the Login. User Profile cannot be loaded.

Due to the fact that it is the only account on this PC, I cannot even go into another account.

I rebooted the machine several times, before going into Safe Mode with Networking. For some reason, I cannot create a new account whilst in safe mode (I think it is to do with UAC, nothing with UAC is clickable).

Thus, I am stuck. I cannot get into my account, nor can I create a new one to copy files over to.

How do I fix this problem?

EDIT: System Restore was, for some reason turned off. Thus, I cannot restore to a working point.

Ryan

Posted 2010-01-06T05:37:12.153

Reputation: 183

Answers

It's possible that your user profile is not corrupted, but that Windows is having trouble loading it (think a bad hard drive). You can boot into the Windows 7 Recovery Console from your Windows 7 DVD. Open the command prompt and start a chkdsk.

If your profile is actual corrupted, you can try a system restore. This will restore your profile back to an earlier date. Again, use the Windows 7 DVD to do this.

You may also be able to rename the user profile using the command prompt (eg

cd \Users

ren UserAccount UserAccount.old

And then try to log in, Windows might complain of a different problem but it should recreate a profile for you.

EDIT: Are you sure you are the only user? Unless you are the local administrator, there should also be an "Administrator" account.

ta.speot.is

Posted 2010-01-06T05:37:12.153

Reputation: 13 727

Any idea why this happens? I've had this same problem happen twice on the same profile – crmpicco – 2015-10-03T17:16:02.777

I forgot to mention that System Restore, for some reason was turned off. So no previous restore points have been created.

I will try chkdsk, then try renaming and let you know how i go. Thanks – Ryan – 2010-01-06T06:04:54.123

also, there is no administrator account that I am aware of. There is no administrator folder in /Users, and I cannot view a list of users in Control Panel > User Accounts because safe mode does not allow it. Can you think of anything else that could solve this issue? – Ryan – 2010-01-06T11:36:31.240

As a last ditch effort, I would try booting into the recovery mode from the DVD and try to create a new user using "net user <username> <password>" and then "net localgroup Administrators <username> /add". You may want to also try this from "Safe Mode With Console". Otherwise get yourself and external hard drive and xcopy/robocopy C:\Users\YourProfile to the external drive plus whatever other data you have. You may also use a Linux LiveCD to accomplish this. Otherwise... best of luck and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help further. – ta.speot.is – 2010-01-06T12:59:38.753

You may also want to try these tricks to see if you can elevate yourself to administrator: http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/vista/vista_administrative_privileges.htm

– ta.speot.is – 2010-01-06T13:01:33.760

Here is a fix if you have only one account:

Boot into Safe Mode, with the option to use Command Prompt
Disable the User Control Account in the registry; use regedit to navigate to the following key:
```
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System 
```
Change the value of EnableLUA to 0.
Reboot and login normally.

Your profile still might not load, but at least you get a temporary one - now you can make a new user.

wilbert

Posted 2010-01-06T05:37:12.153

Reputation: 21

Looking around I found this guide and forum detailing the problem and various solutions. I suggest having a read: there are 81 pages of additional posts after the guide so a working solution for you should be in there somewhere.

Kythos

Posted 2010-01-06T05:37:12.153

Reputation: 341