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

How to Fix the Error "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded."​

   Information

When you log on to Vista or Windows 7 using a temporary profile (user account), you receive this error message:

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

For more information, see:
Error message when you log on to a Windows Vista-based or Windows 7-based computer by using a temporary profile: "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded"

   Note

CAUSE:

The jury is still out on the exact cause, but so far :

• This issue may occur if the user profile was manually deleted by using the command prompt or Windows Explorer by a user or by some program. A profile that is manually deleted does not remove the security identifier (SID) from the user profile list in the registry. Since the SID is still present, Vista will still try to load the profile by using the ProfileImagePath that points to a nonexistent path. Therefore, the profile cannot be loaded.
• This can also be a issue with the user profile entering into a backup state.
• Manually renaming the C:\Users\(User Name) user profile folder.

   Warning

If you have this error message below instead, then see: How to Fix the Error "Your user profile was not loaded correctly! You have been logged on with a temporary profile." in Vista

Your user profile was not loaded correctly! You have been logged on with a temporary profile.

Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off. Please see the event log for details or contact your administrator.

   Tip

If the steps in the tutorial below do not help or you wish to try this first, then:

• You could also try doing a System Restore at boot using a restore point dated before the this error to see if it may be able to fix this.
• If you do not want to repair the user profile, you can delete it and create a new user account in OPTION TWO. If this still does not work for you, then you will be left with doing a clean install for your Upgrade or Full version of Vista or Windows 7.
• Try the option at this link: Rob Brooks-Bilson's Blog: Fix for Vista's: The User Profile Service service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded

STEP ONE

Log on to the Computer

   Warning

You must be logged on to an administrator account using either step 1 or 2 below before you can move on to do either the OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO sections.

1. To Log on to another Administrator account.​

NOTE: If you do not have another Administrator account, then proceed to step 2.​

A) Go to OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO.​

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OR​

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2. To Boot into Safe Mode and Use the built-in Administrator account​

NOTE: You may not need to enable the built-in Administrator account. If this was the only normal administrator account you had, then Safe Mode should automatically boot into the built-in Administrator account.​

   Tip

If you cannot boot into Windows and do not have a Windows installation DVD, then you can create and use the boot disc below to boot into Safe Mode with instead.

   Tip

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Windows 7: (Option Two at link)​

How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc​

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Vista: (Option One at link)​

How to Create a Vista Recovery Disc​

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A) Boot into Safe Mode (in Vista) or Safe Mode (in Windows 7).​

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B) If Safe Mode did not boot into the built-in Administrator account, then enable the built-in Administrator account. If it did, then go to step 2D.​

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C) Log off in Safe Mode, and then log on to the built-in Administrator account to logon with that account in Safe Mode.​

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D) Go to OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO.​

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OPTION ONE

To Fix the User Account Profile

1. Open the Start menu.​

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2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.​

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3. If prompted by UAC, either click on Continue (Vista) or Yes (Windows 7).​

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4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)​

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

5. In the left pane, look for the S-1-5..... folder (SID key) with the long number that has .bak at the end of the numbers.​

(See screenshots below steps 6A and 7B)​

NOTE:​

A) In the right pane, look at the ProfileImagePath to verify that this is the user account profile that has the error.​

B) You may have another S-1-5..... folder (SID key) above it with the exact same number without the .bak at the end of it.​

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6. If you have Two S-1-5..... folders (SID key) with the same Number​

NOTE: This is if you have two S-1-5..... folders (SID key) with the exact same numbers, but the second (below) one has the .bak at the end of the numbers.​

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)​

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

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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 above)​

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D) Remove only .bak from the end of the numbers and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

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

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F) Go to step 8.​

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7. If you have Only One S-1-5..... Folder (SID key) with .bak​

NOTE: This is if you only have one S-1-5..... folder (SID key) for your user account with .bak at the end of the numbers.​

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)​

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

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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)​

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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)​

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

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11. Close regedit.​

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12. Restart the computer.​

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13. See if you can logon now.​

NOTE: If this still does not help, then either try OPTION TWO below or see the yellow TIP box at the top of the tutorial.​

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OPTION TWO

To Delete the User Account and Create Another One

   Warning

You can do this option if you do not care about losing the user account and the contents in the user folders. Your programs will still be installed, but you will need to create new shortcuts for them afterwards.

1. Delete the User account profile that this error is for.​

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2. Open the Start menu.​

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3. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.​

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4. If prompted by UAC, click on Continue (Vista) or Yes (Windows 7).​

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5. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 7)​

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

6. In the left pane, click on one of the S-1-5..... folders (SID key) with the long number in it.​

NOTE: It may have .bak at the end of it.​

A) In the right pane, look at the ProfileImagePath to see if this is the same user account that you deleted in step 1 above.​

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B) Repeat step 6 until you find the one that you deleted in step 1 above.​

NOTE: If the user account is not here, then it has already been removed when deleted in step 1. Go to step 9.​

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7. To Backup the Registry SID Key​

WARNING: You should backup this SID key to be safe in case you delete the wrong one in step 8 below.​

A) Right click on the SID key, and click on Export.​

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B) Type in a name and save the REG file to a safe location.​

NOTE: This is your backup. To Restore the Backup, right click on the REG backup file and click on Merge.​

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C) Continue on to step 8.​

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8. To Delete the Registry SID Key​

A) Right click on the SID key, and click on Delete. (See screenshot above)​

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B) Click on Yes to confirm deletion. (See screenshot below)​

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9. Close regedit.​

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10. Now, just create a new normal Administrator account.​

NOTE: See: How to Create a New User Account in Vista​

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

NOTE: If this still does not help, then either try OPTION ONE above or see the yellow TIP box at the top of the tutorial.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How To Perform a Repair Installation For Vista
• How to Do a System Restore in Vista
• How to Do a Startup Repair in Vista
• How to Do a Clean Install of Vista with a Upgrade Version
• How to Do a Clean Install with a Full Version of Vista
• 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

 

[stephanie04]

hi...someone pls help me..! I got the same prob when i entered my password and i cant log in into safe mode..so wad can can do now? I only have 1 user account so im really stuck now.

 

[Brink]

Hello Stephanie, and welcome to Vista Forums.

In this case, you might see if you can do a System Restore using a restore point dated before the error to see if it can fix this for you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[stephanie04]

Hi brink, thanks for the reply..but how to i get to the system restore page? Cos i cant log on to the windows at all...is there any key i have to press to get to the restore page? Thanks. By the way..im using Vista home premium 32 bit OS.

 

[Brink]

Stephanie,

You should be able to boot from your Vista installation dvd to use Method Two in the link above to do a System Restore.

 

[Crav]

CAUSE:
The jury is still out on the exact cause, but so far :

• This issue may occur if the user profile was manually deleted by using the command prompt or Windows Explorer by a user or by some program. A profile that is manually deleted does not remove the security identifier (SID) from the user profile list in the registry. Since the SID is still present, Vista will still try to load the profile by using the ProfileImagePath that points to a nonexistent path. Therefore, the profile cannot be loaded.
• This can also be a issue with the user profile entering into a backup state.
• Manually renamed the C:\Users\(User Name) folder.

I soundly believe Skype is one culprit of the conflict. We installed Skype, had the problem happen immediately on next logon. System Restored to sometime before Skype install the first time because we didn't know it was Skype related. A few days later, installed Skype again and the profile failed to load again. This time, I only uninstalled Skype and the problem went away immediately.

1) I have not changed the numbers to zero in the Regedit. Is it fine if I do this before installing Skype again.
2) If this is an known vista issue, I don't understand why they don't fix it. If I know for a fact it happens upon Skype installing, who should I contact? (because I don't know whose fault it would be)

A huge thanks to you Brink for posting this info. It has been pretty helpful in understanding the issue and resolving our problem. Now that I have a Vistax64 laptop, I'll be visiting this site more often. Thanks again.

 

[Brink]

Hello Crav, and welcome to Vista Forums.

I found this link at Skype you can use to report this issue to them to see what they can come up with about it. It should have a "contact support" button on the next page after submitting the question. Hopefully it's something that they fix soon.

Help for Skype – user guides, FAQs, customer support

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[TechnoTarded1]

ok i really am stuck, i dont even know what my administrator password is, did i create it myself?

I have 3 accounts on my laptop, one is the admin, and one is a guest and the one im using now (standard) is one that i need the admin password for otherwise i cant do anything or fix this, you see my dilema? PLease help im close to tears.

 

[Crav]

ok i really am stuck, i dont even know what my administrator password is, did i create it myself?

I have 3 accounts on my laptop, one is the admin, and one is a guest and the one im using now (standard) is one that i need the admin password for otherwise i cant do anything or fix this, you see my dilema? PLease help im close to tears.

Even thought it's pretty obvious, I have to say it: logout of your "standard" one and into the admin account. If you setup the laptop, and you didn't know what you were really doing, then there probably isn't even a password for the administrator, just leave it blank when it ask for it.

Otherwise, you'll have to follow the instructions as on page 1.

 

[Brink]

ok i really am stuck, i dont even know what my administrator password is, did i create it myself?

I have 3 accounts on my laptop, one is the admin, and one is a guest and the one im using now (standard) is one that i need the admin password for otherwise i cant do anything or fix this, you see my dilema? PLease help im close to tears.

Hello TechnoTarded, and welcome to Vista Forums.

If this is just a password issue and you did not get the error that this tutorial is for then you can use Method Three in the tutorial below instead to reset your password.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/102005-reset-user-account-password.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[RJ Rouge]

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

I can get as far as CurrentVersion before running into a snag here. My registry editor does not have ProfileList (possibly unrelated as only my laptop has Vista, but looking at the images supplied with your initial post, it has neither Ports nor Printer, either).

However, I do believe this is what my problem hinges on as I have already confirmed that my user account/s have been changed to backup.

 

[Brink]

Hello RJ Rouge, and welcome to Vista Forums.

I'm afraid that I am confused. You say that ProfileList is not in the registry, but you cannot confirm that the SID key has a .bak at the end of it unless you do have ProfileList. Are you sure that you are looking at:

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

and not this by mistake:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion


Could you post a screenshot if this registry location to help see what may be wrong?

Shawn

 

[erikb]

First, let me thank you for making this solution available. It saved me!!!! (i.e. Option One worked perfectly as shown described and brought my system back to life). NOTE: I only have one user account so I couldn't even log on before this fix.

Now here's some information that may help someone figure out the cause. Here is what I did just before my User Profile stopped working.

In an attempt to see if I could actually get Vista to remember the login password for my NAS (yes, I checked the remember password box but it never worked), I figured I'd see if running in administrator mode would help. When I googled how to do this, the following advice was presented:

Run the Command prompt as admin and then type in:
net user administrator /active:yes

This created an administrator account for me. However, when I tried switching users back to my normal user, I got the "User Profile Service failed the logon" message.

I then ran the same command with the attribute to "no" and it removed the administrator account, but now I couldn't log in at all.

I hope this helps someone get to the root of the cause for this issue and thanks again for providing me a recovery path!

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Erikb, and welcome to Vista Forums. Thank you for sharing what caused this issue for you.

Shawn

 

[RJ Rouge]

Thank you for making me double-check my path, Brink, although the problem wasn't exactly what you assumed it was. Rather, due to the line break in your initial post, I had missed the "NT" part of that folder and was just looking in Windows. Chalk one up for tunnel vision.

I am now safely logged on to the laptop and any further problems I am having with it can be addressed myself by reinstalling a few programs that I am now being told either "were not designed to run in Windows or have errors."

 

[Brink]

You're welcome RJ. I'm happy to hear that you got that issue sorted. I hope you can get those few programs worked out without to much trouble.

 

[WizardOfRealms]

Dear Brink and to the respected community...

First and foremost "Thank God" This forum exists and that you so kindly provided the most sought out answer for my delema today. I operate Vista Premium Home x64. I had experienced the User profile Service failed logon today!

I had unsuccessfuly restarted my system multiple times unable to logon. I figured that because I didn't have a successful logon, I could go into SAFE MODE and logon via the "LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIGURATION..." THAT DID NOT WORK...

I then tried to do a System's Restore (as I have many times before) to no avail! The reason being... my SYSTEM RESTORE POINTS were destroyed by another event. I assure you - you will appreciate this.

It has been said: It is unknown why Vista x64 would do this - The above: "Re: The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded." And, I can surely give you one reason why it would do this.

I had ran VMWare version 6 (32 bit) with Administrative Privaledges under Programs (x86) on my 64 bit machine successfully installing Windows XP Professional (32 bit); Windows Server 2003 (32 Bit) Domain Controller; Windows Server 2003 (32 Bit) as Server 1 (Back UP); Windows Server 2003 (32 Bit) as a File Server Role - all with their own subsequent VIRTUAL HARDDRIVES established AND you may guess: a VIRTUAL COPY of Vista Business (32 Bit) with 16 Gigs of VIRTUAL HDD as well.

While all these machines are VIRTUAL MACHINES on VIRTUAL DRIVES I am guessing VMWARE (leaked - went out of bounds) and may have corrupted my user profile.

Here's what happened: I opened up VMWARE, started the Vista Business (OS) for the purpose of changing its' COMPUTER NAME... upon desired Virtual System (restart), that VIRTUAL SYSTEM - Vista Business "crashed upon reboot" and within seconds...

I REALIZED that my actual "REAL OS" Vista Premium Home Edition was non responsive and also crashed. I dont' know but, I think that the two differing Vista Programs collided... One Business (32 Bit) - One Premium (64 Bit Actual OS) in confusion of "USER LOGON IDENTITIES" maybe?

ANYWAY, Your solution for OPTION 1 saved me HOURS of recovery work as I was unable to recover any other way and after submitting this greatful response to you... I must say - I need to go and make AN IMMEDIATE RESTORE POINT.

Thank you very much for your service!

Archie Johnson
MCP, MCSA, MCSE

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Archie.

You might give Virtual PC a try to see how it works for you instead. I have been using it for quite some time now and had never had any problems caused by it.

 

[Kafei]

I tried taking ownership of the .bak file as you suggested but My non admin account hasn't got the permissions for it, there's one more un compromised admin account, but it belongs to my dad and he's on holiday and i don't know the password, is this possible using a non privledged account?

 

[Brink]

Hello Kafei, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Sorry, but it must be done within an administrator account. If you cannot wait until your dad gets back, then you may be able to do a System Restore at boot (Method Two at link) using a restore point dated before you got this error.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[beach90]

okay so I've tried everything. so i decided to try the first steps again. i went into the registry editor and found the two S-I-5 folders. the one with the .bak at the end doesn't have the ProfileImagePath on the right side though. It also didn't have the RefCount or State options so I created them and changed them to 0. The one without the .bak does have the ProfileImagePath though. I followed the instructions anyway. Once I change the Refcount and State values to 0, and then log off and then back on, the values go back to what they were before. thanks for all of your help!