User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded.

Fix "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded." Error in Windows 7​

   Information

A user profile is a collection of settings that make the computer look and work the way you want it to for a user account. It contains the account's settings for desktop backgrounds, screen savers, pointer preferences, sound settings, and other features. User profiles ensure that your personal preferences are used whenever you sign in to Windows.

A user profile is different from a user account, which you use to sign in to Windows. Each user account has at least one user profile associated with it.

This tutorial will show you how to fix when you log on to Windows 7 using a temporary profile, and get the following error message:

The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded.

This tutorial was updated from our Vista Forums tutorial created 02-10-2008:
The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded. - Vista Forums

For additional details on this user profile error, see also:
Error message: "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded

   Note

Known Causes:

• The C:\Users\(user-name) user profile folder was manually deleted instead of properly deleting the user account through User Accounts in the Control Panel. A user profile that is manually deleted does not remove the security identifier (SID) from the profile list in the registry. Since the SID is still present, Windows 7 will still try to load the profile by using the ProfileImagePath that points to a nonexistent path. Therefore, the profile cannot be loaded.
• The C:\Users\(user-name) user profile folder itself was manually renamed, instead of using the proper method in this tutorial.
• An unknown issue with the user profile entering into a backup state occurred.
• Corrupted user profile.
• Occasionally, Windows 7 might not read your user profile correctly, for example, if your antivirus software is scanning your computer while you try to log on. Try restarting your computer and logging on with your user account again to resolve the issue before following the options below.

In Preparation:

Log On to an Administrator Account

NOTE: You must be logged on to another administrator account using either step below before you will be able to move on to either OPTION ONEor OPTION TWO below.
1. To Log on to another Administrator account.
NOTE: If you do not have another Administrator account, then proceed to step 2.
A) Log off, and log on to an available administrator account that doesn't have this error.

B) Go to either OPTION ONEor OPTION TWO below for what you would like to do.
OR

2. To Boot into "Safe Mode" and Use the built-in Administrator account
A) Using your "retail" Windows 7 installation disc or a created system repair disc, boot into Safe Mode.

B) Do either step C or D below depending if Safe Mode booted into the built-in Administrator account by default or not.
NOTE: If this user account with the user profile error was the only administrator account you had created or enabled, then Safe Mode may automatically boot into the built-in Administrator account.

C) If Safe Mode did not boot into the built-in Administrator account by default, then enable the built-in Administrator account, log off in Safe Mode, and log on to the built-in Administrator account to logon to that account in Safe Mode.

D) If Safe Mode did boot into the built-in Administrator account by default, then go to either OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO below for what you would like to do.
OR

3. To Enable the Built-in Administrator account at Boot
A) For how, see: How to Enable the Built-in Elevated "Administrator" Account from WinRE

B) When enabled, log in to the built-in Administrator account, and go to either OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO below for what you would like to do

OPTION ONE

To Fix the User Account Profile

1. Before starting, it is highly recommended that you create a system restore point in case you make a mistake while in the registry. This way you will easily be able to do a system restore to use the created restore point to undo the mistake.

2. Open the Start Menu, type regedit in the search box, and press Enter.

3. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

4. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below step 5A)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

5. In the left pane, click on a S-1-5 (SID) key with a long number.
A) In the right pane of the selected S-1-5 (SID) key, look at the Data value of ProfileImagePath to see if it is the user account (ex: Moderator) with the error.

B) If not, then repeat steps 5 and 5A until you have the correct S-1-5 (SID) key with a long number selected.

C) If it is, then continue on to step 6 or step 7 depending on if you have either one or two S-1-5 (SID) keys listed with the exact same long number. One without .bak, and one with .bak at the end.
6. If you have Two S-1-5 (SID) keys with the Same Long Numbers
NOTE: This is if you have two S-1-5 folders (SID key) with the exact same long numbers, but the second one has .bak at the end of the long numbers and the first one doesn't.
A) In the left pane, right click on the first (top) S-1-5..... folder (SID key) that does not have .bak at the end of the numbers and click Rename. (see screenshot below)

B) Add .bk to the end of the numbers. (see screenshot below)

C) In the left pane, right click on the second S-1-5..... folder (SID key) with .bak at the end of the numbers and click Rename. (see screenshot below step 6B)

D) Remove only .bak from the end of the numbers and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 6B)

E) Now go back and Rename the first one with .bk to .bak now at the end of the numbers and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

F) Go to step 8.
7. If you have Only One S-1-5 (SID) key with .bak
NOTE: This is if you have only one S-1-5 folder (SID key) with long numbers and ended with .bak.
A) In the left pane, right click on the S-1-5..... folder (SID key) with .bak at the end of the numbers and click Rename. (see screenshot below step 7B)

B) Remove only .bak at the end of the numbers and press Enter. (see screenshot below and below step 10)

8. In the right pane of the one without .bak now, right click on RefCount and click on Modify. (see screenshot below step 10)
NOTE: If you do not have RefCount, then right click on a empty space in the right pane and click New and DWORD (32 bit) Value, then type RefCount and press Enter. This value for this entry will reset and return back to the original value after you have restarted the computer and logged on to the account.
A) Type 0 (number) and click on OK. (see screenshot below)

9. In the right pane of the one without .bak now, right click on State and click on Modify. (see screenshot below step 10)
NOTE: This value for this entry will reset and return back to the original value after you have restarted the computer and logged on to the account.
A) Type 0 (number) and click on OK. (see screenshot below)

10. The registry will now look like this for the one without .bak now. (see screenshot below)

11. Close regedit, and restart the computer.

12. See if you are able to log on to the use account now without getting this error.

   Tip

If this still does not help, then either try:

• Case of the User Service Service Failed The Logon | chentiangemalc
• OPTION TWO below
• System restore at boot using a restore point dated before you got this error

OPTION TWO

To Delete the User Account and Create a New User Account

NOTE: This option is only if you do not care about losing the user account with this error and possibly all contents of it's C:\Users\(user-name) user profile folder. Your programs will still be installed and unaffected.
1. Before starting, it is highly recommended that you create a system restore point in case you make a mistake while in the registry. This way you will easily be able to do a system restore to use the created restore point to undo the mistake.

2. Create a new user account that is the same type (standard or administrator) as the user account with this error.

3. If you are able to, you could copy the contents of the user folders from the old user account's C:\Users\(user-name) user profile folder with the error into the new account's (step 2) C:\Users\(user-name) user profile folder. Be sure to also copy any shortcuts in the Start Menu from the old user account into the new user account as well.

4. In User Accounts from the Control Panel, delete the user account with the error.

5. Open the Start Menu, type regedit in the search box, and press Enter.

6. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

7. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below step 8A)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

8. In the left pane, click on a S-1-5 (SID) key with a long number.
A) In the right pane of the selected S-1-5 (SID) key, look at the Data value of ProfileImagePath to see if it is the user account (ex: Moderator) with the error.

B) If not, then repeat steps 8 and 8A until you have the correct S-1-5 (SID) key with a long number selected.

C) If it is, then continue on to step 9.
9. Right click on the selected SID key with the long number, and click on Delete.

10. Click on Yes to confirm deletion. (see screenshot below)

11. If there is another SID key directly below the selected SID key (step 9) with the exact same long number with .bak at the end, then right click on this same SID key with .bak on it, and click on Delete. (see screenshot below)


A) Click on Yes to confirm deletion. (see screenshot below)

12. When finished, close regedit.

13. Restart the computer, and log on to your new account.




That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Fix the Error "Your user profile was not loaded correctly! You have been logged on with a temporary profile."
• How to Change the User Folder Name of a User Profile in Windows 7
• How to Fix Windows 7 Logon Screen Showing Only "Other User" and Last Logged On User Icon
• How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7
• How to Do a Custom Installation of Windows 7
• How to Open and Use "Troubleshooting" in Windows 7

 

[Brink]

Any advice when getting this error for new users I'm trying to create? My current user works fine. I've tried a bunch of system restore points but no help there, I'm not sure when this error would have started since this is the first time I've tried creating a new user (besides my own)

In regedit the only S-1-5 (SID) key is my current profile which is working, I don't get any other SID for the new profiles I've tried creating (both with the gui and through cmd prompt). Likewise a folder is not created in my Users directory

When I first setup my computer I followed this guide http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/87555-user-profile-change-default-location.html to move my user folder off SSD. Reverting that doesn't resolve my issue for new users

Hello gifpaste,

By default, the new account is not actually fully created until it has been logged on to for the first time. That's why you do not have a SID key for it yet.

If you used OPTION TWO in that tutorial to change the default path for new users when created, then please post back with screenshots showing your registry entries for it. In addition, double check to make that the location (Data) you specified is correct, and that you have access to it.

We'll see if we can't get his fixed for you.

 

[gifpaste]

Ah, thanks for the explanation on SID creation, and thanks for taking the time to read my problem!

I did use OPTION TWO. It's been over a year but IIRC I created a new admin account after I followed option two. After making the registry changes I created a temp account. I logged off and in to the new account, then deleted my original account from the win7 install, then recreated it (so I could have the same name), logged back into that account, and finally deleted my temp admin account.

I'm about 75% certain on this next tidbit... At the time I was upgrading my PC from HDD to a new SSD + HDD for storage. I simply unplugged my old hard drive and installed with just SSD. After install was done I plugged back in the HDD as D: I deleted all the system files from the HDD and moved what used to be HDD \Users to \Users-old. I then followed Option Two and let it create the paths for me. Once everything was done I copied my files from \Users-old\myuser to Users\myuser. Here I can't remember if I just copied all folders (Documents Music Pictures Videos) over top or went into the individual folders, say Documents, and copied directly from \Users-old\myuser\Documents\*

I'm fairly certain I had little lock icons on some of my files in my user folder and had to run a take ownership on those files/folders.

Anywho just sharing in case this has any cause for concern.

Attached are my screenshots of profilelist entries

What did you mean by "double check to make that the location (Data) you specified is correct, and that you have access to it"? My D:\Users\myusername folder has SYSTEM, MyUserName, and Administrators. All 3 have same permissions which is all checks but 'Special permissions'

 

[Brink]

The location is for the "ProfileImagePath" data value. Is the use folder name the same in the registry here as it is at the actual "D:\Users\(user name)" folder location? If not, then change the registry so that they are.

If you copied the entire folder on top of the other one instead of "copy & paste" the contents, then that could cause issues as well.

If this still doesn't help, then you may need to do a repair install if you don't want to do a clean reinstall.

 

[gifpaste]

Thanks, the ProfileImagePath and my username match already. I want to believe I copied the contents and not copied the main folders, but I cant say for 100% certain.

I'm having separate issue that if I can't figure out I might just do a clean install. Fresh always feels nice I suppose

 

[humpgator]

I also have the user profile service failed logon message.windows 7 home premium.when I went to registry editor in safe mode. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_SOFTWARE_MICROSOFT_WINDOWS_CURRENTVERSION.There was no folder for profile lists. Any ideas on why?

 

[Brink]

Hello humpgator, and welcome to Seven Forums.

No worries, you just got the wrong path in the registry. It's this below instead.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

 

[humpgator]

First thanks for the quick reply.Only have one S-1-5 with long number and there was no error in the edit string window. (ProfileImagePath REG_EXPAND_SZ C:\Users\humpgator)

 

[Brink]

If you are still getting this error, then try doing a system restore at boot using a restore point dated before you got this error to hopefully fix it.

 

[humpgator]

Have already tried system restore did not help.Your thread says the SID number is supposed to have a .bak at the end and to delete it and remame it,mine has no .bak at the end do I still rename it?

 

[Brink]

In that case, back up anything you do not want to lose to be safe. Next use the steps in the tutorial below to delete the profile to reset it and see if that may help.

User Profile Error - Logged on with a Temporary Profile

 

[humpgator]

I hate to be a burden,but I do not know how to backup files.

 

[Brink]

No worries, you could just manually copy and paste the files to another location as backup.

 

[President Pol]

For over a year I had the same problem. Tried everything. Eventually I also found this blog which says something comparable, and it did the trick:

# 9 Posted By Brock Sampson
10/8/09 3:50 AM
After many hours of also fighting this, I have done ALL of the above steps including deleting windows live (since it is not used anyway).....
Also my primary admin and secondary standard user account would log on just fine and when I created another standard user account for my sister it would never log on from the initial creation of it....I really dont know
if the above steps helped or not b/c after doing the above suggestions and deleting the new account and creating it yet again it would still not log on....But what did fnally work for me was to turn off all security,
firewalls and UAC, then creating a new admin acct...SUCCESS! the secondary admin account logged on fine... ( of course I did not want anyone else to have admin access), I then changed it back to a standard user and
reenabled all security, firewalls, and UAC and the account still logs on fine...with proper security/credentials....Hopefully anyone having the same problem will try this and save themselves hours of frustration like I had!

Good Luck!
Go Team Venture!

 

[PhilM99]

Following Windows Updates last night on my Win7 computer, I am receiving the subject message after I try to login with my usual (named) administrator account. I have some less privileged accounts that log in ok, but cannot do anything useful. I have no account called 'administrator'. (The other new thing yesterday is the installation of AVG).
I follwed the instructions above, after going into safe mode, I could log in as my named administrator account. I can't run any of the functions to create a new user account, and as I said, those functions won't work in normal mode with any of my non-admin accounts.
In control panel, 'Manage another account' does ot function whether I am in safe mode or normal mode. In normal mode, I get the UAC prompt, then nothing.
In redit at the spcified location, I have two identical long numbers, one with no suffix (TEMP) and one with .bak (my named admin account).
It looks as though I could rename them and use the named account without the suffix.
Should I try this?

 

[Brink]

Hello Phil,

I would recommend to see if doing a system restore at boot using a restore point dated before this happened may be able to undo and fix this for your without to much pain.

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

 

[PhilM99]

No, pooched on that, don't have a disk or a system restore disk. Can I risk changing the regedit keys as described?

 

[Brink]

If you are logged in an administrator account, then yes you could make the needed changed to in regedit as per the tutorial for the affected account.

 

[PhilM99]

Don't have a system rstore disk.
Update, I was booting and punched the power button briefly. This caused a message to come up and ask me if I wanted to do a system restore! So I did. But it failed, and yet when I rebooted, I could then log in.And I immediately created a new admin user. And now the registry looks the way I would have made it if I renamed the keys. Now I am shutting down and it is re-installing the updates. So It looks like I'm back on the air, and the restore actually worked although it said it didn't. Thanks. Lov u guys.

 

[Brink]

That's great news Phil.

 

[teacat]

Hi ppl
I have the same problem "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded." Error in Windows 7
PLUS my mouse pointer wont move, tried touch pad and mouse... nothing. I have toshiba lap top... What should I do? Can someone help me?