There are many reasons why the Windows user profile can fail. One of the most common is by a bad system shutdown. While we are using Windows, there are many system files that are in use, as well as the system’s own files. If the PC suddenly shuts down (because of us, or a power outage), the most likely thing is that the profile will be corrupted and, therefore, we will not be able to log in.
It may also happen that the problem is due to a bug in the operating system itself. We know very well that Windows does not stand out precisely for being a simple and error-free system. It may even be due to a hard drive problem which, if it is failing, can cause us to lose system information.
It is also easy that the corrupt profile is due to the fact that we have some kind of viruses, or malware, on the computer that tries to do his thing. In this case, we will not be able to do much, since if we create another user, it is easy for them to get infected instantly. The best thing, in this case, would be to bet on a Linux distro in Live mode to try to detect and eliminate the virus from the PC. And, if not, we will have no choice but to format the PC completely.
What do I do if Windows doesn’t load my user profile?
Next, we are going to see a series of tricks and recommendations with which we can repair and recover our Windows account in case it is giving us problems.
Delete or repair the NTUSER.dat file
This is something that can occur if there is a problem with some files or services that focus on the said profile. Therefore, we are going to give you a solution so that you can fix the problem as soon as possible. It must be said that this error usually occurs after a Windows 10 or Windows 11 update, or when creating a new user profile. Some have also reported it after completing a system restore.
Whatever the case, then we will see the steps to follow. To begin with and at this point, we will tell you that one of the most common causes of this in Windows is a file called NTUSER.dat, which is corrupted or damaged in the Windows user folder. You have to know that the system stores our profile settings, preferences, configurations, etc; in that file. When we make changes on the PC such as the wallpaper or the language, these are saved in the NTUSER.dat file.
Also, during a process of updating the OSthe file might have been corrupted, resulting in difficulties accessing the profile. Therefore, to solve it, the best thing we can do is replace the computer’s default profile file with a “healthy” one. To do this, the first thing we will do is log in to another profile on the same PC and open File Explorer. Here we are located on drive C: and we go to the Users folder.
It must be said that the Default folder by default is hidden in windows, so we must go to the View tab and activate Hidden elements. That will make the profile folder named Default already visible in the Explorer, so we access it. Here we will have the opportunity to locate the file that interests us, NTUSER.dat, so we can now rename it.
In the same way we can move it to another folder or save it in a pen drive, For example. Next, we go back to the Users folder and copy the NTUSER.dat file from any other working profiles, to the default folder which we visited before. Therefore, the problem we were facing should already be solved. Now try to re-enter your profile that was showing the error, and you should be able to access it.
To access the folder where this file is stored, if we do not have another user account created on the computer with which to access it, we can start the computer with Hiren’s BootCD. it is a bootable drive that is installed on a USB and loaded into the memory of the Windows 10 PE device. Once loaded, we can use the file explorer to go to the unit where Windows is installed and access the Users directory to delete the NTUSER.DAT file. Since we have not started the computer from the operating system, we will not have any problem deleting this file, a problem that we will have to deal with if we try to delete it from the version of Windows installed on the unit.
Check the status of the profile service
Alternatively we can also make sure that the startup type of the profile service It’s on Automatic. Not being able to access the profile, we will do it by starting the PC in Safe Mode to access the Services Manager. We do this on the login page by holding down the Shift and Restart button. This leads us to the boot options menu to Start in Safe Mode. Here we click on the Troubleshooter / Advanced options. Then, in Startup settings, click on Restart.
After that we press F4 or the number 4 on the keyboard to start the pc In Safe Mode, once it has booted like this, we use the Win + R key combination to launch Run. In the box that appears we write the command services.msc where we locate the User Profiles Service where we double click.
Finally, in the Startup Type section, we make sure it is set to Automatic, and you’re all set. Now we just have to restart the computer and check if the problem has been solved.
Enter Safe Mode to create a new profile
If after the previous solutions we have not been able to solve the problems and our profile still does not work, then what we must do now is create a new user profile in Windows. This new profile can be used for two things: either to continue using the computer normally with the new user, or to try to repair our damaged profile in other ways.
The best way to do this is to restart Windows in Safe Mode, so that we avoid other possible problems that may prevent us from accessing the PC. In Safe Mode, what we must do is enter with an Administrator account, and with it we can create the new user on the PC.
We can take advantage, now that we are in Safe Mode, to rescue the data that we have saved within the personal folder of our profile. This way, if something goes wrong, at least our important data will be safe. If we manage to recover our main profile, we can continue using it normally. Otherwise, we can restore the data that we have saved in our new profile and, when everything is perfect, delete the corrupt user to clean Windows and free up their space.
Delete the last update
If we cannot access the main user account of our equipment, another reason that may be affecting the operation of the equipment is found in the latest update that we have installed. Each Windows update is designed to work on millions of completely different computers, so it should not be surprising if our computer, from time to time, does not just sit well with one of them. The solution to this problem is to uninstall the latest update using Windows safe mode.
There should be no problem accessing our user account through safe mode, since this mode is based on the minimum necessary for the equipment to work. Once we have started in safe mode, we access the Windows configuration options, click on Updates and security (if it is Windows 10) or on Windows Update (if the computer is managed by Windows 11). Next, click on View installed updates and write down the most recent update code. Next, click on Uninstall updates and double-click on the update that includes the same code as the last update.
Finally we restart the equipment and check if we can access the equipment in normal mode through our user account. If not, we must follow the rest of the steps that we have compiled in this article.
Repair a corrupt profile by correcting its registry value
In the event that the profile is corrupted, it is possible to try to repair it by running its value in the registry with it. To do this, we are going to press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut, which will open the Run command. Here, we type regedit and press Enter or the OK button.
Once in the Windows Registry Editor and before carrying out any modification, we will make a backup copy, as a preventive measure. And it is that, any unwanted modification can cause damage to the system. To do this, click on “File” and “Export”. We then specify Everything in the export range, give it a name, select the .reg format, and click “Save.”
Next, we navigate to the following route:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/ProfileList
Here, we click on the S-1-5 folder and then double click on the entry “ProfileImagePath” to find out which account it is related to. If it does not have a .bak ending, we double-click on the entry «Status»we change its value data to 0 and click OK.
Next, we double-click on the entry RefCount to open a popup window and change its value to 0. In the event that this value is not available, we must create it by right-clicking on a blank space and selecting New and DWORD (32 bits).
Once finished, we close the Registry Editor and restart the PC for the changes to take effect.
Update Windows (or roll back an update)
Another reason why the profile may fail is due to an update. This has already happened several times in the past, and many users have found that, suddenly, after an update, their user profile is no longer available.
This has two possible solutions. The first one is to try to enter the computer from Safe Mode and check for new updates available on the PC. In this way, if Microsoft has recognized the problem and has fixed it, we can update the computer and correct this error so that everything works normally again.
In case there are no other updates available, then what we must do is uninstall the last update that we have installed, the one that has given us the problem. To do this, what we must do is enter Windows Recovery, or Safe Mode, and proceed to uninstall the update from there. In this way, when going back to the previous version of the operating system, our user profile should work normally again. And we’ll just have to wait for Microsoft to release a fix before reinstalling the patch.
Load a restore point
At this point it is important to know that Windows itself has a function that allows us to go back in time if we have a problem with the system. This means that we have the possibility of loading a point…
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