Builds 19593 to 20226 User Profile Logon Issue - Workaround Included

Anonymous
2020-10-06T04:41:28+00:00

If you'd like to share a link to this post, we've created a short URL to assist:https://aka.ms/20226profile

*Edit*  This scenario could impact users in the Dev Channel (only) on builds 19593 through 20226.  The same workaround applies to any user in this build range in the Dev Channel who experiences this scenario.

Hello Windows Insiders,

After the launch of build 20226 to the Dev channel, a small number of users have reported not being able to log into their user profile(s) as expected.  This post covers this scenario, including a workaround for those affected who see the following message:

Note: this workaround ONLY applies to builds 19593 through 20226 on the Dev channel.  It does not apply to Retail users, or users in the Beta or Release Preview Channels..

Note:  the included steps assume your Windows installation is defaulted to the C: drive.  If you have installed Windows on a different drive letter, please replace c: with the proper drive letter for your installation.

To bypass this issue, please complete the following steps:

If your account is an Administrator account on the affected device:

  1. When you see the “We can’t sign into your account” dialogue, click the Close button.
  2. Open an elevated Command Prompt window.
  3. Enter and submit the following commands one line at a time:
    • cd c:\users%username%
    • takeown /F ntuser.dat*
    • icacls ntuser.dat* /reset
    • icacls ntuser.dat* /setowner "SYSTEM"
  4. Sign out.
  5. You will stop seeing the above dialog on your next sign-in.

If your account is NOT an Administrator account on the affected device:

  1. When you see the “We can’t sign into your account” dialogue, click the Close button.
  2. Open a standard Command Prompt window.
  3. Enter the following command:
    • Echo %username%
    • (Make note of the returned username, you will use it in step 6)
  4. Close the standard Command Prompt window.
  5. Open an elevated Command Prompt window.
  6. Enter and submit the following commands one line at a time:
    • cd c:\users\username
    • takeown /F ntuser.dat*
    • icacls ntuser.dat* /reset
    • icacls ntuser.dat* /setowner "SYSTEM"
  7. Sign out
  8. You will stop seeing the above dialog on your next sign-in

If these steps don’t resolve the issue for you on build 20226, you may also complete a rollback to your previous build to bypass.  You may then reinstall build 20226 and you will not encounter the issue a second time.

We’ve identified the cause of the bug and a fix is under development thanks to the swift feedback and insights from the Windows Insider community.

Thank you and keep the feedback coming!

  • The Windows Insider Team
Windows Insider program | Windows Insider preview | Security, privacy, and accounts

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-10-06T16:56:06+00:00

    Thank you so much, it worked. It appeared right after a compilation crash.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-10-06T17:19:24+00:00

    The solution given worked perfectly for me.  Thanks to the Windows 10 team for the fix!

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-10-07T00:05:02+00:00

    I have been upgrading insider builds for several months up to build 20226. I have not experienced any Sign-in problem with build 20226. Yesterday I clean-installed build 20226 from the iso which I made from the WU files I downloaded when upgrading from build 20221 to 20226. After clean-installing I did not experience any Sign-in issue, either. 

    For a long time I have been using Windows Hello PIN. I also set up my clean-install with a Windows Hello PIN when still in installation phase before first sign-in. I wonder if those having sign-in issues are using passwords to sign in instead of Windows Hello PIN or some other methods.   

     

    @SuatCini,

    I updated 4 machines from 20221 to 20226 and from 19041.546  to 20226 and did not have this issue either.

    Since MS says they have identified the cause of the bug, if they gave a better description of what they identified, perhaps we could understand better why it failed only for some users and not for others.  :-(

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-10-07T17:25:46+00:00

    I had thia same login peoblem 3 days ago. I saw some videos about going into Regedit ans making Profile changes, but that disnt fix it. As it kept creating a new Temp account on boot. So I did a roll-back to the previous build, and everything worked expect my HP Laser printer, V3 drivers could not be found. Even after removing all drivers ans reinstall them, it would not work. I had to manually change it to V4 print driver. Then yesterday I did the update again to 20226 and login is working.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-10-07T17:29:24+00:00

    Thanks for the fix!

    I'd suggest pasting the error from the event viewer when this happens so google can index this. I tried many alternatives and none worked, what worked was resetting to the previous build of insiders.

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