Windows 7: Preparing your desktop....C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Desktop refers to a location that is unavailable.

Anonymous
2009-11-28T22:05:06+00:00

C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Desktop refers to a location that is unavailable.

This problem occours after a reboot but does not happen with any rhym or rhythm (seems random). Login screen appears, im the only user, my pic and user name appear correctly, i type my password and hit enter, then it gets wierd, it says that it is preparing my desktop; But this is not the first time for logging in. then when i do log in its a new desktop everyting default plus the windows aero is shut off and replaced with the Windows classic theme. then i get the message in the taskbar..... 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 system administrator. Event viewer revals nothing related to this issue that i could find. Only 3 occourances of this so far. I am operaing Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. I have only seen one other mention of this elseware after a google search but was during RC version I have version 6.1.7600 build 7600 and am having this problem rumors are that it happens with Symantec Endpoint Protection installed which i do I have, Version 11.0.5002.333 which is the latest build update and was created for windows 7 compatibility. SEP Logs reveal nothing abnormal besides files that could not be scanned once but did not mention the above file location. Just wanting to see if anyone else has been having this problem.

Also I believe this to happen after a remote desktop connection either to or from the client pc then a reboot or a shut down.

Mentioned here in brief http://www.xiirus.net/articles/article-windows-7-preparing-your-desktop-woe-mbp3t.aspx

and here in vista http://www.xiirus.net/articles/article-vista-your-user-profile-was-not-loaded-correctly-cuu82.aspx < i do notice in the screenshot here that SEP is installed on that computer

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2010-06-28T13:07:16+00:00

I don't know if this is going to be of any help, but here's a situation I ran into recently that I hope gets you closer to the solution.

Brief History

While testing out a new Win 7 image build, I had to make numerous changes to default user profile and default user hive to make the necessary adjustments that should only happen once per user.  However, once I logged on, tested and made any additional adjustment(s), I couldn't just log out and back on because the profile was already created.  I would need to start from scratch.

Like we currently do in Win XP, I deleted my existing profile and left it at that.  On subsequent logons however I noticed that my changes weren't 'coming down' and adjustments I made to the profile weren't sticking.  It was at that point I realized I was logging on with a temporary profile.

SolutionIn my case I not only had to delete (or rename) my user profile, but I also had to go into the registry and remove/rename the profile SID (well I think its the SID, or user GUID of some sort) for the profile I deleted.

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
  • Look at each SID/GUID
  • Check the ProfileImagePath to confirm you've selected the proper SID/GUID
  • Once you have the right one, delete the key or rename it (like append .BAK to the name)

Once I deleted the profile, all worked well again.

Now for you, I know that removing or renaming your profile may not be the most desirable solution, but if you try the suggestion above, or simply create a new account, it should help isolate where the problem lies.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-06-13T17:13:30+00:00

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-06-12T20:19:11+00:00

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-07-18T07:41:37+00:00

    I have managed to resolve this in my environment, I hope what I suggest helps.

    Our users are configured to have a HOMESHARE mapped as a network drive via AD when the user logs on. We were also using folder redirection to point the users' documents to this HOMESHARE using the unc path, \%HOMESHARE%\Data\Documents. I found that re-directing the users folders to be H: (the drive mapped for the user, e.g. H:\Data\Documents) and not HOMESHARE the issue was resolved.

    I can only imagine that due to offline files the cached location is available at all times, and when we were using the HOMESHARE value it was reliant on the network stack being active. By setting it to the cached offline folders value I have not seen the issue since. I performed about 50 tests of quick logons (i.e. before the network was initilaised) and the problem did not occur. If I set the value back to homeshare the issue re-occured everytime I re-ran the test.

    Hope this helps someone.

    John.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-06-20T12:06:26+00:00

    I am experiencing the problem too - and I know what's caused it, but I don't know the solution (yet!).

    If you have disabled the group policy setting "Computer\Admin Templates\System\Logon\Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon" and the user logs on before the network has initialised then the user is prompted with this error message.

    If you wait for about 5 seconds before logging on, the problem does not occur.

    I am going to try and figure out why, and as soon as I have something I'll come back. :)

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