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
    2014-02-11T01:19:41+00:00

    I tried going with method 1 and another method...

    Here is my response from windows: Any help or advice here? I cant fix the problem

    Thanks

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-02-28T13:02:58+00:00

    Tony,

    Interesting.  Yes, I have HP with AVG.  Let me know if you are able to pinpoint this combination as causing this issue.

    NonaRJ,

    Can't in all honesty say that I have pinpointed it, BUT, so far having removed AVG from a client's troublesome laptop, running Win 8 NOT 8.1, ands replaced it with Avast Free, the problem she tells me has not manifested itself again.  For those who believe this relates to Win 8.1 only, sorry, I refuse to upgrade 8 to 8.1, as its real (poo), but it happens on 8.0 immediately as delivered and setup from the factory as it were.  But as above if ABVG is not used it does not seem to occur,.........so far.  It may be as somebody said in an earlier post the AVG update facility, but that is no good if you can't update your protection, so Avast it is.  Incidentally Avast came out better recently in a test than any other free app.  Found 98 out of 100 infections

    So I will be trying it with some others as well.

    Regards

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-03-03T18:35:29+00:00

    I had this issue this morning and was able to resolve it first shot.

    I followed instructions on page 2 of this post where someone said to point the ProfileImagePath, within the registry, to the proper HDD location (C:\Users\xxxx). This was set properly but I noticed the key for the problem profile had a .bak on the end of it. I made sure I was logged in as a local admin and backed up all data from the problem profile, then deleted this registry key entirely.

    The key I deleted was listed under:

    \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\

    I clicked on all IDs, separately, and took notice of which one had the 'ProfileImagePath' set to the User folder for the affected profile. The key had a .bak at the end 'S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxxxxxx.bak'

    I deleted that entire key which forced Win8 Pro to rebuild it entirely, with a new Security ID. I was able to log into the profile properly from that point forth. Apparently it saw the login and referenced the key with the .bak, which was the temporary profile.

    SOLVED!!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-03-12T21:03:59+00:00

    Pinaki, I'm a bit confused and hoping you can help.  I'm having this same problem (started after a major system freeze and a hard restart), and in the temp profile, some but not all of my programs are accessible.  For example, Open Office is operational, even though it wasn't installed by the factory, and some USB-modem software... but not Office, which I paid to install just a few months ago.  

    Am I to understand that Microsoft considers Office to be an APP?!  I'm working abroad right now, and so fixing the registry and/or creating a new profile is going to be tough, but I'm hoping to get access to all my programs again.  I can understand a Microsoft crash not being liable for a 1.99 app from a games company or similar, but expecting customers to pay 150.00 if Windows 8 corrupts a profile file would be pretty problematic.  Can you clarify this issue for me?

    Does fixing the registry avoid the loss of paid programs?  Should I just work out of a created administrator account until I can get help from someone who will understand how to fix the registry properly?

    Thank you for your help...

    Christine

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