Will Not Load My User Profile

Hi NEM2,
next

1. 
   
   • 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:
     
     1. Right-click the folder without .bak, and then click Rename. Type .ba, and then press ENTER.
        
     2. 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.
        
     3. 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.
2. Click the folder without .bak in the details pane, double-click RefCount, type 0, and then click OK.
   
3. Click the folder without .bak, in the details pane, double-click State, type 0, and then click OK.
   
4. Close Registry Editor.
5. Restart the computer.
6. Log on again with your account.

Roy

Hi Steve,
A couple of questions before I follow the steps in the tutorial: Is it worth trying to boot into System Restore? The machine as is has no restore points before the event, but I haven't tried reaching System Restore by booting.
And how would I know in Safe Mode that i'm in the built-in administrator?

Thanks again,
Diana

Sorry, I just saw Torchwood's latest post. So I don't need to log in as another administrator? Just go straight to registry and do as illustrated?

Update: I followed Torchwood's directions meticulously, changing the .bak name in the registry, etc. Restarted, and now the error message is "The user profile failed the logon. Cannot be loaded." Sigh. I guess I follow that tutorial now?

OK, after getting message "Cannot Load Profile," I booted into Safe Mode, followed registry changes outlined in that tutorial. I restarted in normal mode. Got no error messages, BUT--it's still not my user profile. Seems like it's just a temp profile. Below is the registry screenshot.
When I got to safe mode, I still had to sign on with my usual password...after awhile, I got the message that I had been logged in as a default user. So I'm not sure if I was using the Built-In Administrator log on...
In the registry, it seems like the .bak entry is pointing to the right user. But the temp user is loading.
I am determined to fix this dang thing! I certainly appreciate your help.
Diana

Well, that's interesting. When I follow Method 3 on the MS website as suggested, there are three User Profiles: Default; and two labeled Diana-PC/Diana. The first has 60.8 GB under Size, and the second, only 15 MB. Think I should delete the second one? And should I delete Default, too?

Oh oh. I don't think I can delete the Userprofile with the smaller size (15MB). The only UserProfile with an active delete button is the larger one (60.8 GB).

I'm beginning to think it makes sense to try to create a new user profile and transfer from the old profile, as in the following article. But might that just transfer problems from the old user?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/...d-user-profile