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Get the fix for the error Corrupt user profile on Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.
<h2>About "Corrupt user profile"</h2>
[kbintro]
<h3>Description and Symptoms</h3>
The error messages, alerts, warnings, and symptoms below are tied to this error.
<h3>Symptom 1: "User profile cannot be loaded" error screen on startup</h3>
If you received the error message that your user profile is corrupted, the fix is to create a new user and copy the files from your current user to the new account.

[caption id="attachment_5084" align="alignnone" width="549"]<a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/11/proferror.png"><img class="wp-image-5084 size-full" src="https://neosmart.net/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/11/proferror.png" alt="User Profile Service error screen" width="549" height="281" /></a> User Profile Service error screen[/caption]

The error message is:
<pre>The User Profile Service failed the logon.

User profile cannot be loaded.</pre>
<h2>Causes of this Error</h2>
This error has been known to occur as a result of one of the following causes:
<h3>Cause 1: The user profile is corrupt or missing</h3>
Failed Windows Updates or Automatic Updates to Windows that involve an upgrade of critical system files (especially service pack installations) that update the user profile may result in this error.
<h3>Cause 2: File system integrity compromised</h3>
The hard drive's file system may become damaged because of disk write errors, power outages or virus attacks. If that's the case, the operating system cannot load the user profile to boot properly and the loading process is halted.
<h2>Fix Corrupt User Profile in Windows XP</h2>
To fix a corrupted user profile on a Windows XP computer, follow these steps:
<ol>
 	<li>Boot into your Windows XP computer as an Administrator or any other user (<code>Another_Username</code>.). If you're not able to log in as an Administrator, go to <a href="#Cannot_log_in_No_other_user_account_available">Cannot log in / No other user account available</a>.</li>
 	<li>Go to Control Panel</li>
 	<li>Click User Accounts</li>
 	<li>Click Create A New Account</li>
 	<li>Type a name for this new account (example: <code>New_Username</code>)</li>
 	<li>Click Next</li>
 	<li>Make sure the account is Administrator</li>
 	<li>Click Create Account</li>
 	<li>Restart the computer and logon with the new account you've just created (<code>New_Username</code>)</li>
 	<li>Once logged in and the account is setup, restart the computer</li>
 	<li>Login with the first account you used before you created the new account (<code>Another_Username</code>)</li>
 	<li>Right-click on My Computer</li>
 	<li>Select Properties</li>
 	<li>Go to Advanced</li>
 	<li>Click Settings at the User Profiles section

[caption id="attachment_2783" align="alignnone" width="384"]<img class="size-full wp-image-2783" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/11/windows-xp-user-profiles.png" alt="User Profiles in Windows XP" width="384" height="382" /> User Profiles in Windows XP[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Select the corrupted account</li>
 	<li>Click Copy To</li>
 	<li>Click Browse and browse the Documents and Settings folder of the new account you created just now.

[caption id="attachment_2782" align="alignnone" width="390"]<img class="size-full wp-image-2782" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/11/windows-xp-copy-to-user-profiles.png" alt="Copy User Profile in Windows XP" width="390" height="216" /> Copy User Profile in Windows XP[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Click Yes to confirm that the files of this account will be deleted and that the new files will be copied</li>
 	<li>Once this operation is done, restart the computer</li>
 	<li>Login with the new username, <code>New_Username</code></li>
</ol>
If the above method didn't copy the files successfully, you can also copy the files manually:
<ol>
 	<li>Boot into Windows XP as an Administrator or any other user except the corrupted user (<code>CORRUPT_USERNAME</code>). If you're not able to do so, go to <a href="#Cannot_log_in_No_other_user_account_available">Cannot log in / No other user account available</a>.</li>
 	<li>Click Start</li>
 	<li>Click Control Panel</li>
 	<li>Click User Accounts</li>
 	<li>At the Pick a task section, click Create a new account</li>
 	<li>Type a name (example: <code>NEW_USERNAME</code>)</li>
 	<li>Click Next</li>
 	<li>Select an account type (make sure it would be part of Administrator group)</li>
 	<li>Click Create Account</li>
 	<li>Open Windows Explorer or My Computer</li>
 	<li>Click Tools &gt; Folder Options &gt; View</li>
 	<li>Click Show hidden files and folders</li>
 	<li>Uncheck Hide protected operating system files</li>
 	<li>Click OK</li>
 	<li>Go to <code>C:\Documents and Settings\CORRUPT_USERNAME</code>, where <code>CORRUPT_USERNAME</code> is the corrupted username</li>
 	<li>Select all files from this folder, except:
<ul>
 	<li>Ntuser.dat</li>
 	<li>Ntuser.dat.log</li>
 	<li>Ntuser.ini</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>Right-click on these files (make sure the above files aren't being copied), click Copy</li>
 	<li>Go to <code>C:\Documents and Settings\NEW_USERNAME</code>, where <code>NEW_USERNAME</code> is the username you've recently created</li>
 	<li>Find an empty space to right-click and click Paste</li>
 	<li>Restart the computer and logon as the new username (<code>NEW_USERNAME</code>)</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<h2>Fix Corrupt User Profile in Windows Vista</h2>
<h3>Fix #1: Create a new Windows Vista account</h3>
To fix a corrupted user profile on a Windows Vista system, follow these instructions:
<ol>
 	<li>Boot into your system as an Administrator. If you're not able to do so, go to <a href="#Cannot_log_in_No_other_user_account_available">Cannot log in / No other user account available</a>.</li>
 	<li>Go to Control Panel &gt; User Accounts (or Control Panel &gt; Accounts and Family Safety &gt; User Accounts)</li>
 	<li>Click Manage another account</li>
 	<li>Click Create a new account</li>
 	<li>Type a name and choose a type for this account</li>
 	<li>Click Create Account

[caption id="attachment_2781" align="alignnone" width="189"]<img class="size-full wp-image-2781" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/11/manage-another-account.png" alt="Manage another account in Windows Vista/7" width="189" height="44" /> Manage another account in Windows Vista/7[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Click Create a new account to create a new account on your computer

[caption id="attachment_2780" align="alignnone" width="198"]<img class="size-full wp-image-2780" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/11/create-a-new-account.png" alt="Create a new account in Windows Vista/7" width="198" height="135" /> Create a new account in Windows Vista/7[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Type a name and choose an account type</li>
 	<li>Click Create Account

[caption id="attachment_2784" align="alignnone" width="405"]<img class="size-full wp-image-2784" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/11/choose-account-type.png" alt="Choose Account Type for New User in Windows Vista/7" width="405" height="208" /> Choose Account Type for New User in Windows Vista/7[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Open File Explorer or My Computer</li>
 	<li>Click Tools. If you don't see the Tools item at the top of the window, press the <kbd>Alt</kbd> key.</li>
 	<li>Click Folder Options</li>
 	<li>Go to the View tab</li>
 	<li>Check the Show hidden files and folders option</li>
 	<li>Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types to see the file extensions</li>
 	<li>Uncheck the Hide protected operating system files option</li>
 	<li>Click Apply</li>
 	<li>Click OK</li>
 	<li>Logout and log in with the new account for the first time. When the setup is finished then log out.</li>
 	<li>Log in with the other administrator account you used to create the new account.</li>
 	<li>Go to <code>C:\Users\OLD_USERNAME</code>, where <code>C:\</code> is where your Windows 7 is installed and <code>OLD_USERNAME</code> is the username that has the corrupted profile error</li>
 	<li>From this folder - <code>OLD_USERNAME</code> - select all files, but except: Ntuser.data, Ntuser.data.log, Ntuser.ini</li>
 	<li>Right-click on these files (except the files mentioned above) and click Copy</li>
 	<li>Go to <code>C:\User\NEW_USERNAME</code>, where <code>NEW_USERNAME</code> is the username you created as new</li>
 	<li>Paste all files in this folder, <code>NEW_USERNAME</code></li>
 	<li>Restart the computer and login with the new username you've created</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<h3>Fix #2: Registry Editor</h3>
&nbsp;
<ol>
 	<li>Login as an Administrator. If you're not able to do so, go to <a href="#Cannot_log_in_No_other_user_account_available">Cannot log in / No other user account available</a>.</li>
 	<li>Open the Registry Editor and navigate to this key:
<pre>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Find the S-1 folder with <code>.bak</code> extension under the ProfileList folder, on the left pane</li>
 	<li>At the ProfileImagePath value, on the right pane, find if the path is correct: <code>C:\Users\MY_USERNAME</code></li>
 	<li>Go to the <code>C:\Users</code> folder and check that the folder name of the corrupted username is the same as the one in the ProfileImagePath: <code>MY_USERNAME</code>. If it's not, rename it.</li>
 	<li>Go back to the Registry Editor and check if the folder name with the <code>.bak</code> extension has a duplicate folder, with the same name but without the <code>.bak</code> extension. Example:
<pre>S-1-5-23232 S-1-5-23232.bak</pre>
If you have 2 folders with the same name (1 without .bak, 1 with .bak), follow these instructions: Rename the folder with <code>.bak</code> extension to be without <code>.bak</code> and vice versa: the without <code>.bak</code> folder to have <code>.bak</code> afterwards. To do that, follow these steps:
<ul>
 	<li>Rename the <code>.bak</code> folder to <code>.backup</code></li>
 	<li>Rename the folder without <code>.bak</code> to <code>.bak</code></li>
 	<li>Rename the <code>.backup</code> folder name to have no extension</li>
</ul>
If you have only 1 folder name with a <code>.bak</code> extension, follow these steps:
<ul>
 	<li>Remove <code>.bak</code> to only leave the folder name: S-1-5-23232</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>Now go to the folder without <code>.bak</code> and find a <code>RefCount</code> item. The RefCount value should be <code>0</code>. To edit it, double click on RefCount and edit the Value data field to be <code>0</code>. If you don't have a RefCount item, create it:
<ul>
 	<li>Right-click on an empty zone on the right and click New</li>
 	<li>Click DWORD (32 bit) Value</li>
 	<li>Type <code>RefCount</code></li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>Click OK</li>
 	<li>Go the same folder without <code>.bak</code> and find a State item</li>
 	<li>The State value should be <code>0</code>. If it's not, edit it:
<ul>
 	<li>Double-click on State</li>
 	<li>Enter <code>0</code> at the Value data field</li>
 	<li>Click OK</li>
</ul>
If you don't have a State item, create it:
<ul>
 	<li>Right-click on an empty zone in the right pane and click New</li>
 	<li>Click DWORD (32 bit) Value</li>
 	<li>Type <code>State</code></li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>Close the Registry Editor</li>
 	<li>Restart the computer</li>
 	<li>Login to your computer with the corrupt user account</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<h3>Fix #3: Download Fix it 50446</h3>
Microsoft released the Fix it # 50446 tool that can automatically fix this type of error without going through the all the steps listed here.
Fix it #50446 is only available for Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Go to <a href="http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9734641">http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9734641</a> to download this file.
<h2>Fix Corrupt User Profile in Windows 8, 8.1 or Windows 10</h2>
&nbsp;
<h3>Fix #1: Registry Editor</h3>
Another method is to attempt a repair of the user profile through the Registry Editor by replacing the profile with a good backup.

To do so, follow these steps:
<ol>
 	<li>Login as an Administrator on your Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 system. If you're not able to do so, go to <a href="#Cannot_log_in_No_other_user_account_available">Cannot log in / No other user account available</a>.</li>
 	<li>Press the [winkey] and <kbd>R</kbd> keys to open the Registry Editor</li>
 	<li>Click OK</li>
 	<li>Navigate to this key:
<pre>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList</pre>
</li>
 	<li>At the ProfileList folders, you'll see folder names that start with S-1</li>
 	<li>Go to the folder that has a <code>.bak</code> extension</li>
 	<li>Check the ProfileImagePath value from the right side at the Data column. It should be something like this:
<pre>C:\Users\MY_USERNAME</pre>
Where <code>MY_USERNAME</code> is the username of your account.</li>
 	<li>Go to <code>C:\Users</code> and check that the folder name of the corrupted username is the same as the one in the ProfileImagePath: MY_USERNAME. If it's not and the folder name is <code>MYUSERNAME2</code> rather than the value shown in ProfileImagePath, rename it to <code>MY_USERNAME</code>.</li>
 	<li>At the ProfileList folders, check if the folder name with the <code>.bak</code> extension has another folder above it with the same name, but without the <code>.bak</code> extension. Example:
<pre>S-1-5-23232 S-1-5-23232.bak</pre>
If you have 2 folders with the same name (1 without <code>.bak</code>, 1 with <code>.bak</code>), follow these instructions:
<ul>
 	<li>Go to the folder without <code>.bak</code>, right-click and click Rename</li>
 	<li>Add <code>.backup</code> at the end of its name: S-1-5-23232.backup</li>
 	<li>Go to the folder with <code>.bak</code>, right-click and click Rename</li>
 	<li>Remove the <code>.bak</code> and press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
 	<li>Go to the folder with <code>.backup</code>, right-click and click Rename</li>
 	<li>Rename <code>.backup</code> to <code>.bak</code></li>
</ul>
The purpose of these instructions is to move the <code>.bak</code> extension to the folder without <code>.bak</code> and vice versa. You won't be able to do that without a .backup extension so you don't overwrite the folders. If you only have 1 folder name with <code>.bak</code> extension, follow these instructions:
<ul>
 	<li>Right-click on the folder name, S-1-5-23232.bak, click Rename</li>
 	<li>Remove <code>.bak</code> to only leave its name: S-1-5-23232</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>Go to folder without <code>.bak</code>, find a RefCount item. If you don't have a RefCount item, create it by following these steps:
<ul>
 	<li>Right-click on an empty zone on the right</li>
 	<li>Click New</li>
 	<li>Click DWORD (32 bit) Value</li>
 	<li>Type <code>RefCount</code></li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>The RefCount value should be <code>0</code>. To edit it, double click on RefCount and edit the Value data field to be <code>0</code></li>
 	<li>Click OK</li>
 	<li>On the same folder without <code>.bak</code>, find a State item</li>
 	<li>The State value should be <code>0</code>. If it's not, edit it:
<ul>
 	<li>Double-click on State</li>
 	<li>Enter <code>0</code> at the Value data field</li>
 	<li>Click OK</li>
</ul>
If you don't have a State item, create it:
<ul>
 	<li>Right-click on an empty zone in the right pane</li>
 	<li>Click Next</li>
 	<li>Click DWORD (32 bit) Value</li>
 	<li>Type <code>State</code></li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>Close the Registry Editor</li>
 	<li>Restart the computer</li>
</ol>
Once the PC has restarted, continue with these steps:
<ol>
 	<li>Login with the corrupt account</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<h2>Troubleshooting</h2>
<h3>Cannot log in / No other user account available</h3>
If you can't log into your computer because the only user available is the corrupt user profile, you can log in as an Administrator.

If the Administrator user isn't available at the Welcome screen, you can enable it via Command Prompt:
<ol>
 	<li>Restart your computer</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>F8</kbd> before the Windows logo appears</li>
 	<li>Select Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Command Prompt. If you selected Safe Mode and can log into the computer, go to Start and open Command Prompt from there.</li>
 	<li>When Command Prompt loads, type this command:
<pre>net user administrator /active:yes</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
 	<li>Restart the computer with the following:
<pre>shutdown -r -t 0</pre>
</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<h2>More Information</h2>
[partial name="partial_moreinfo" versions="xp,vista,7,8,10,11"]