Each user account on a Windows machine has a user profile which records settings such as Desktop preferences. One corrupted profile can block the user from logging in and deny access. One of the other sign of a corrupted profile is a very slow load times. Anti-malware software can sometimes do this kind of stuff and corrupt your profile. Also upgrading from one to another version of Windows can corrupt your profile as well.
If you are wondering how you can save your Windows profile, this article will provide you with thew necessary information.
Registry edits
Well in such case, you have two options. Several direct Registry edits or create a new user account and copy all of the old profile settings to this new account.
Registry edits are bit more complex and sensitive, but can be viable if done right. The very first step is to get into the safe mode.
If you get access to the sign-in screen but cannot login. The most quickest and easy way to get into the safe mode is to hold down the shift key and click the power and restart button. This will reboot the computer and give you the options. Go to the startup settings screen and click restart. Now on this startup settings screen you will see the safe mode.
Once you are there, start a command prompt with elevated privilege. The best way to do is to type in cmd the search bar, right click the command prompt and select run as administrator. Now type regedit and hit enter. This will open up the Registry Editor. Navigate to this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
Here, you can manually navigate to the profile list or simply copy this path and paste it in the bar where your path shows and hit enter. Click the ProfileList arrow and see if set of entries are there which starts with S-1-5. Select one that matches the messy profile.on the right pane you will see an entry called state. Double click it and set its value to 0.
Now, on the right, you have an option for RefCount on the right, double-click it and set its value to 0 as well. If you do not have this entry, create one. Go to edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) value. Close the editor and reboot the computer. That profile should work now.
Creating a new user account
If the above procedure did not work, the only option is to create a new user account now. Boot again back to the safe mode and open an elevated command prompt. You need absolute administrator privilege to create a new user. To activate that, type net user administrator /active:yes and you will activate the admin mode.
Now simply reboot the computer and login as local administrator. Create a new user account. Go to settings > Accounts > family & other people > Add some else to this PC. This will open up a form, now proceed on with creating this new user. Don’t give this account the same name as the previous messy profile. Once created, go to the corrupted user profile and copy one folder at a time to the new user to avoid any of those messed up file from being transferred to this new account.
Now on your next boot up you should be able to log on to the newly created account. Once you are verified with your new account, log back on as administrator and delete the corrupted profile and rename the new account as the old one if you want. The processes may seem to much of a work, but hey, it works.