User Profile Error - Logged on with a Temporary Profile

How to Fix the Error "Your user profile was not loaded correctly! You have been logged on with a temporary profile." in Vista and 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.

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

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.

For more information, see:
A temporary profile is loaded after you log on to a Windows Vista-based system

   Tip

This problem usually occurs if the current user's profile was accidentally deleted from the system or got corrupted.

   Warning

If you have this error message below instead, then see: How to Fix the Error "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded."

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

EXAMPLE: Error Message in Windows 7

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STEP ONE

Log On to the Computer as an Administrator

   Warning

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

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 the STEP TWO section below.​

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OR​

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2. To Boot into Safe Mode for 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 2C.​

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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 the STEP TWO section below.​

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OR​

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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​

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B) When enabled, log in to the built-in Administrator account, and go to the STEP TWO section below for what you would like to do​

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STEP TWO

Delete the User Account Profile's SID Key

1. Backup anything that you do not want to lose in this user account's C:\Users\(user-name) profile folder, if the profile folder still exists, to another location, then delete the (user-name) profile folder.​

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2. Open the Start menu.​

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3. In the Start Menu search box, type regedit and press Enter.​

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4. If prompted by UAC, then 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

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6. In the left pane, click on one of the S-1-5..... folders (SID key) with the long number. (See screenshot below step 7)​

NOTE: It should 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.​

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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 from step 6, 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. Right click on the SID key, from step 6 with bak at the end, and click on Delete. (see screenshot above)​

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

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10. If there is another SID key with the exact same long number from step 6 for this user account without bak at the end, repeat step 7 first, then right click on this same SID key, and click on Delete. (see screenshot below step 7)​

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11. Click on Yes to confirm deletion. (See screenshot below step 9)​

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12. Close regedit.​

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13. Log off and log on.​

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   Note

After you log on to the computer, the profile folder you are having problems with is re-created. If not, then try a System Restore using a restore point dated before you got this error. If this still does not help, then you will need to create a new account and restore the user folder files from the backup created at step 1.

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

 

[ImaNovice]

ohh...
ive ran vista on my computer smoothly for a long time... i just wish i had something to back up all my files in... but i recently lost my flash drive...

and wat if i have a dual boot? can i just delete the partition and completely restart?

 

[Brink]

Sure, you can delete only the Vista partition to only reinstall it. However, it may depend on what OS is installed on the other partition and which one was installed first if you have to repair the boot file for the first OS or not.

Plus, you may be able to also backup your files from within the other OS, and save them to the same partition. This way you can just copy them back over after you finish reinstalling Vista.

 

[ImaNovice]

i have ubuntu on the other partition, but i have nothing important in it
but i have a small partition for it
im thinking about just uninstalling unbuntu and vista, and reinstall vista only
any ideas about how i can backup some of my files? i don't have a external hard drive or dvds

 

[Brink]

I suppose that you could create another partition temporarly using ubuntu or from your Vista installation DVD to use to backup to.

 

[ImaNovice]

one more thing, my vista disk isn't sp1 or sp2, so i will have to reinstall sp1 after reinstalling sp2?

 

[Brink]

You would have to install SP1 first, then SP2.

 

[ImaNovice]

im still gonna have to install a ton of drivers and reinstall like 30gb of games...
this is gonna be a sad week
I fell nervous about reformating my hard drive because this is my first time
at least this website makes me feel more confident for some reason

 

[Brink]

We'll be here for you if you have any problems along the way.

 

[MrVariable]

Hello

I encountered this problem today after my laptop popped up that blue error screen and shut down. As I only have the one account on the laptop, I skipped to step 2. I was happy to see that all of my personal folders are present in C:\Users\(username), but I'm not too sure about the best way of backing them up before I go deleting the user profile. I don't have an external hard drive here at uni :/

Think I read somewhere on this topic that these folders should stay where they are after I've deleted the original user profile and moved to the built-in admin temporarily, but I have a lot of photo's/documents etc. and don't really want to risk them.

Any ideas?

 

[Brink]

Hello MrVariable, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You can just copy them into a new folder on the C: drive itself as a backup. If something should happen, you can create a new administrator account and copy them in to the corresponding folders in the new account.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[MrVariable]

Thanks for the quick reply. Copying now :D

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. Please let us know how it went for you.

 

[MrVariable]

Well, I've got a new folder in C:\Users\(username) called Richard.Richard-PC. Is there meant to be something in this folder? or am I supposed to copy everything across?

 

[Brink]

You should have the default folders in there for a new account. If you wanted to have your old account settings back, then would need to copy the contents of the old accounts C:\Uses\(user-name) folders into the corresponding new account C:\Uses\Richard folders folders.

 

[MrVariable]

Everything is going great now, thanks for all your help.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Richard. I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted.

 

[onejay]

What if this happened while you were inadvertently logged in as the built-in admin account(long story)...is there a fix?

 

[Brink]

Hello Onejay, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Are you able to log on to another administrator account?

If so, then you can use the tutorial to fix the error in that account.

If not, then you can try a System Restore at boot using a restore point dated before you got this error to see if it can fix it for you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[onejay]

First off, thanks for the quick reply. I had to run off to work so my question was brief and full of holes. Here's what’s going on. The account I was using when the problem occurred was the built-in or the so called "secret" administration account. From What I've read "It is highly recommended to not even attempt to delete the built-in Administrator account". So, my question is, can I even use the tutorial to fix the error on that account. As far as system restore, I'm having issues getting it to work. I keep getting it did not complete successfully. And my computer's files and settings were not changed. But, I think Norton might be the problem there. Thanks for your help.

 

[Brink]

See if you can use this tutorial first instead to see if it you can just rename a BAK sid key to fix it. If not, then I would try the System Restore.