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

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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
    2013-07-23T09:36:37+00:00

    I have my original profile back. It happened in a sort of magical way, though. 

    First, I did the Windows key + q, and put in cmd in the search space. The command prompt came up, with Users\Temp as it had when I tried to put in the command string recommended above:

    net user administrator /active: yes

    which had never worked.

    but this time, since I had nothing more to lose, I put in:

    net user administrator /active

    and hit enter. BINGO! when I restarted my computer, at the page where I put in my password, besudes my Temp profile there was a left-pointing arrow and when I clicked on it, it showed Administrator as one of the profiles! Miracle of miracles, I had an admin user profile.

    I used that profile to do a scan. Once again, it was simpler than the way it is described above; I did not have to type "Run as administrator". When I tried that, it said it had no idea what I meant by "run" LOL!

    I just typed:

    sfc /scannow

    It performed the scan, and there were no damaged files.

    Then I created a new profile, and began copying and pasting the files from my old profile to the new one.

    Strangely, after I had done that, I tried accessing the original profile and it was exactly as it had been before all the troubles started! I had all my apps, everything on my desktop was as it had been, and I was back to normal.

    I don't know if this will work for everyone, but in my case, it was much simpler than described here.

    i did the same thing as you did and now i m able to access my files in the C drive but in the start menu some thumbnail pics of windows default apps are missing...didn't  you get some sort of problem like this?? here is the screenshot   http://i.imgur.com/tQgrMuQ.png?1

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-07-26T20:09:14+00:00

    this is the WORST work around/resolution... SERIOUSLY!! I can't believe Microsoft! This has happened to me as well and honestly, this makes me HATE windows 8 and Microsoft!

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-07-27T09:10:23+00:00

    At the end of the Day windows 8 is more than disappointing ,it would be the greatest time wasting platform ever.

    I am over it with this control **** by Microsoft

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-07-29T02:18:23+00:00

    Basically, I followed your advice and it worked for my Windows 8 desktop.  Method one didn't cure the problem.  I don't think in my case it was a virus--I am not sure but I think what caused my problem was that I was running Advanced System Pro 6  and Norton 360 antivirus at the same time.  Definitely not a good idea.

    It wasn't a virus, but somehow the conflict ruined my profile.

    In the end I set up the administrator account-- made all the rest of the accounts standard users (as per Microsoft's recommendation) and made a new account for myself.  Instead of copying all the stuff from my old user account,  I copied it in pieces.  I first tried copying the whole user account but even though I didn't copy the NTUSER files, somehow that profile didn't work.

    I then deleted that new profile and made another profile.  First I copied my documents and the new profile was fine.  I then copied appData and that also worked fine.  That directory seemed to have the data that all the programs need to recognize me.  Prior to that very few apps worked, but afterwards it was basically like my old profile.  The rest of the copying was pretty straightforward.  I took the opportunity to sort out and throw out some directories.

    In the end your method #2 worked for me, but it took me the better part of a day and a pretty frustrating day at that.

    Thank you,

    Anton

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