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The user profile service failed the logon error appears when you try to access your Windows computer with a particular account. This error occurs because Windows can’t read your user profile in the Windows OS (operating system).
The user profile files might be corrupted during a Windows update process or affected by viruses and malware. Sometimes, you also see this error in another form with another error message, such as “User profile cannot be loaded”.
Normally, your Windows user profile won’t be affected by any reasons, unless if you are updating Windows and something suddenly happens, such as lost power or some kinds of interruptions, or even affected by viruses or malicious programs.
Read Article: How To Fix Windows Was Unable To Complete The Format Error
Ways To Fix The User Profile Service Failed The Logon Error
There are several ways that you can use to solve this problem, such as restore your computer to the previous working point, modify registry entries, or create a new user profile.
Solve User Profile Cannot Be Loaded Error In Safe Mode
The “User profile cannot be loaded” error, or also known as “User profile service failed the logon”, can be fixed by accessing Safe Mode on your Windows computer and then restore Windows OS back to the previous working point.
However, this method only works if “System Protection” was enabled on your Windows OS before getting this error. You can’t restore your computer if this feature is disabled because there is no backup version to restore from.
Step #1
Restart your computer and keep pressing F8 repeatedly, until the “Advanced Boot Menu” appears. Just select “Safe Mode with Networking”, to access your Windows computer in Safe Mode, with an Internet connection.
Step #2
Once you have logged into your Windows PC in Safe Mode, click on the Start logo and type “System Restore” or “rstrui.exe”, and then press Enter.
Step #3
Choose “Show more restore points” option, and click the “Next” button.
Step #4
Next, look at the dates and select the nearest restore point, at the moment that your Windows computer was working fine.
After that, click on the “Next” button, and then “Finish” button.
Step #5
The restore process will start to run, and your computer will automatically reboot (maybe several times). Once your computer has been rebooted and the restore process has been completed, login to your Windows computer in the normal mode, not Safe Mode anymore.
The issue should be fixed for now.
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Related Article: What is CTF Loader and how can you fix Loader Related errors?
Fix The User Profile Service Failed The Logon Error By Modify Registry Entries
You can also modify the Windows registry to fix the “login issue” on your Windows computer. However, if you modify the registry incorrectly, serious issues might occur. So, make sure you follow our instructions carefully.
In order to solve this issue by modifying the registry, reboot your Windows computer, access Safe Mode, and then follow the instruction below:
Step #1
Click on the Start button or press Windows on your keyboard, and then type “regedit” in the search box, and press Enter.
Step #2
The Registry Editor will open and appear on your screen.
In the Registry Editor window, go to this registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
Step #3
In the left pane, find the folder that starts with SID key: S-1-5, but with a long random number.
Step #4
Next, click on each S-1-5 folder, find the “ProfileImagePath” entry in the right pane, double-click on it to make sure that this is your Windows user account profile, which has the error.
If you have found two folders that begin with SID key (S-1-5) with the same random long numbers, but one of them ended with .bak. Then you need to rename the folder with .bak at the end and rename the folder without .bak to be .bak.
To do this, follow our instructions below:
A. You need to right-click the S-1-5 folder without .bak, click “Rename” and add an extra .ba at the end.
B. Next, right-click the S-1-5 folder, which is named .bak, and rename it by removing .bak at the end.
C. The last step, right-click the S-1-5 folder, which is named .ba (in the step #A above), and then rename it by changing .ba to .bak at the end.
If there is only one S-1-5 folder that comes with the long random numbers, but it comes with .bak at the end. Then you have to rename this folder and remove .bak at the end.
Step #5
Click the S-1-5 folder without .bak and then double-click “RefCount” entry, and change “Value data” to be “0”.
Step #6
Click the S-1-5 folder without .bak and then double-click “State” entry, and change “Value data” to be “0”.
Step #7
Close Registry Editor and reboot your computer.
Step #8
You will be able to log on the computer with your account again after rebooting your Windows PC.
If these methods can’t help you to resolve the issue, you can also create a new Windows user from Safe Mode and then use that account to log into your Windows. Then copy data from the old account to the new one.
I hope that two above methods will help you to solve the user profile service failed the logon error on your Windows computer.
If you have any questions or other problems, leave your comment below, I will help you to figure out.