This morning I tried logging into my account on Windows 7 and have been getting this error message: The User Profile Service service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded. I did not have this problem yesterday or all the days before that. What causes this problem and how would I go about fixing it?
Do You have one or at least two accounts in this computer. Everything depends on it, how to go on. If You have at least one more account and you can log in then is everything much more simple, If have no more accounts, may try to repair, but usually it don't work. Then is only way to keep on (save) files and folders and reinstall Windows. To do this, You must have Windows installation DVD or USB and/or also booting disck, to store Your data somewhere else. Is also one method, it is to use built in administrator account, if it works, You can run Windows and do what ever You want. But is one problem, You must know, how to use this account if it was not still opened and You cannot log in. It is long story to retell everything here again, but usually users are not interested about it before, if is already too late. Here is one recommendation from Microsoft, but I don't think, it helps Your case. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...rofile-service-failed-the-logon-error-message
I've seen this problem once before on a Windows 7 PC back in 2015. The following method fixed it. Restart your computer and as soon as it starts booting hit F8 (you may need to press it frequently rather than just once) to bring up the Windows 7 boot menu. Choose Safe Mode and boot into Windows (don't worry that it doesn't look the same as normal). When you're at the desktop open a Command Prompt window via Start, Accessories. Then type in rstrui<ret> to load System Restore. Click Next and then choose the restore point by date: Pick a date where you know that you computer last worked properly. Click Next and Finish to restore your computer. Reboot and hopefully login as normal. JB
Usually there is no restore points at all or is some damaged and the result is much worse. Only what may also help is Last known good what is in Windows 7 also available. But hope is very low, it is a personal experience.
FYI: https://neosmart.net/wiki/corrupt-user-profile/ . Scroll down to the Windows 7 section. Recommend you try the Fix-It solution first.
To me this was caused by Avira, which for some reason managed to corrupt a freshly-created profile I created to test. https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/getting-tired-of-this.391148/
Still unsure where to begin. Is there like a recommended first step I should take to solve this problem? Are there any proven fail-safe methods?
Dear Internet Addict who is "unsure where to begin". Have you not tried my suggested solution to simply roll back to a previous restore point? Do you not have System Restore switched on? Of course a proven fail-safe method would be to restore the last backup you made of the PC when it was working normally. That would be what I would do if my PC had this problem. The PC I mentioned using the above method to fix was not mine so restoring a good backup was not possible because at that time the PC's owner had no backup. JB
Why not try it and see? If you're apprehensive that this might produce an uncertain outcome then do a full system backup first. This would guarantee you'd be no worse off no matter what the system restore did because you could get back to the current system state by simply restoring the backup. -- JB
Yes. And it is the recommended way to do a system restore since some security software can interfere with system restore.
Excellent and thanks for reporting back. Now make sure you do a full backup so if other problems arise you can easily get back to a good working state. -- JB