Windows 8 keeps loading with temporary profile

Anonymous
2012-11-22T02:28:10+00:00

I upgraded my Windows 7 to Win 8 Pro. Today my power cable got unplugged and the computer restarted but cannot open my default profile. It keeps logging me to a temporary profile and states that the default profile could not be loaded. I check through the error logs and it states that the Registry may have gotten corrupted. How would a restart of the computer corrupt my registry. The problem is that everytime I restart it keeps taking me to the temporary profile which is new everytime I log in. None of the settings are saved. How do I get back to my original profile. I tried Refreshing the PC and it failed. Is this fixable?

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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2012-11-22T16:59:04+00:00

Hi

We are glad to get your query on Windows Community.

As far as your query is concerned, It seem that you are having a tough time logging to your default account.

I will surely help you with issue. But I still require certain information to get the right resolution:

May I know whether the default account is an Admin account or a standard user account?

I would recommend you to follow the methods below to resolve the issue:

Method 1:

Enable Built Admin account.

a) Press Windows and x key together on your desktop screen.

b) Click on Command Prompt (admin).

c) Type: net user administrator /active: yes

Note: Please follow the same steps and type net user administrator /active: no to disable admin account after the troubleshooting is done

After enabling Built-in admin, please try with the steps below:

Step 1:

Perform SFC Scan

Please follow the steps to perform SFC Scan:

a. Press “Windows Key + Q” to open Charms Bar.

b. Type “cmd” without quotes in the search box.

c. On the left pane, right click on the “cmd” option and select “Run as Administrator”.

d. Type ‘sfc /scannow’ without quotes and hit enter.

Note: It may ask for windows installation DVD to fix and to enable SFC to make more than minor repairs. Some files saved on your computer might get deleted when fixing corrupted files.

Step 2:

Please perform Microsoft Safety Scanner to scan your computer for infections.

To download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner, follow these steps:

a) Go to the Microsoft Safety Scanner site at: Microsoft Safety Scanner

(http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx)

b) Click Download Now.

c) If prompted, click Run. Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the Microsoft Safety Scanner. When prompted, add a shortcut to the Microsoft Safety Scanner to your desktop.

d) From your desktop, double click the Microsoft Safety Scanner icon. When the Microsoft Safety Scanner program launches, click Scan Type, then click Full Scan, then click Next.

e) After the scan is complete, remove all detected malware entries

Note: Any data files that are infected may only be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.

For more information refer:

Microsoft resources and guidance for removal of malware and viruses (Microsoft Safety Scanner).

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2671662

Step 3:

Please restart your PC and check if you are able to log in to your Default Profile.

Method 2:

From Built in administrator account create a new user account and transfer the profile data.

Please follow the steps below to do that:

a) Press Windows and x together and select Windows Explorer.

b) Click on View tab and Click on Options at the top right corner.

c) Click the View tab, and then click Show hidden files, folders, and drives.

d) Uncheck the box which states **Hide protected operating system files.**e) Click Yes to confirm, and then click OK.

f) Locate the C:\Users\Old_Username folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and Old Username is the name of the profile you want to copy files from.

g) Select all of the files and folders in this folder, except the following files:

•Ntuser.dat•Ntuser.dat.log•Ntuser.ini

h) Right click and Select Copy.

i) Locate the C:\Users\New_Username folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and New Username is the name of the new user profile you created.

j) Right click inside the folder and select Paste.

k) Restart your PC and check if you are able to log in to default profile.

Please reply us back if the issue still persists.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-06-02T14:38:54+00:00

    There is a lot of stuff in the press about Windows 8.1 and the Start button.  Is Microsoft going to use the release to address the Profile issue?

    It looks like that that there are quite a few of us saying that upgrading from Windows 7 was a huge mistake.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-05-24T21:05:06+00:00

    Hi!

    I'am having this same problem, but I don't get log in even default user I have to go in safe mode to get it work some how. And when it try's log in as default it just load 10-20 seconds and then it automatically logs out, register seems to be fine. I did what was told above and didn't work. So more help please.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-05-23T09:47:00+00:00

    My computer was installing some updates when this started.  I was unable to access the updates to stop them so I shut my computer down.  When I tried to sign in yesterday, it wouldn't load my profile at all and I was unable to access the shutdown or restart options, so I had to do a hard shutdown.  When I turned my computer back on, it told me that my profile could not be loaded and again, I had to do a hard shutdown.  After numerous attempts, it changed my background color and allowed me login, but once I logged in, my screen just kept blinking on and off.  My account is the administrator account and my husband has a standard account and his worked fine.  We done scans for viruses and found nothing.  We done a reset back to April 29,2013 and it done nothing.  We are planning on deleting my profile tonight to see if this works.

    I upgraded two of my computers and both did this within a week of each other. Scan found virusses on my desktoo but not my laptop and neither fix worjs so far. I wish I wouldve left windows 7 on them and not messed with either now. This has wrecked two perfecrly good computers for no reason that I can see. Im quite disgusted with windows 8.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-05-16T01:46:42+00:00

    Deleting e profile is part of the solution. Suggest you read the first entries in this thread.  In addition to deleting the profile, you must delete a corresponding entry in the registry. Do it right and you will trigger the start up sequence for your user name next time you try to log in.

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