How I Saved & Fixed Login Error of my Windows Vista Laptop?

Save money in using your laptop by fixing the error on your windows.

There are times that glitches, errors, problems, etc., suddenly arrive unexpectedly rendering us to stop on whatever we're doing.

When we always think to save money, we always want to be productive.

For me, particularly, I just always want to have something done and finished, which contributes to saving money.

But yesterday, all must stop — to give way for fixing the problem of my computer.

Save money in using your laptop, fix the error immediately.

I supposed to bring the computer to a service center and let the technician fix it.

But I rathered not. That's because I want to save money.

And guess what? I have saved the money which supposed to go to the technician in the repair shop.

I just assiduously and patiently did the fix through trials and errors and through — search.

I thought of sharing to you this because if we have similar computers, then, this might help you if you encounter the same issue.

Yesterday, I went home and opened the laptop that I use there.

Upon logging in, I got shocked that my administrator user icon won't log me in.

Instead, below it, this error message kept showing up every time I hit the icon in the Vista login screen:

“The User Profile Service service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded”

Microsoft

Do you also experience this glitch in your Windows Vista Laptop?

You open the unit, turn it on and when you click a user icon in the login screen, it won't open the desktop screen of your computer.

I know this is an isolated case, and the chance of you experiencing it is slim.

But just the same, it would be a big relief to have a solution at hand when it manifested.

Here are the things that I have done to solve this issue.

Cause of the glitch in my computer

I remember that although I didn't shut it down, I folded the laptop in a hurry while my antivirus was still scanning it.

That planted the seed that caused the problem. Here's how I managed to repair it that eventually allowed the computer to start successfully using the previously affected and now fixed administrator user account profile.

How I fixed error 'The user profile service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded' in Windows Vista?

1. Safe mode login

In the login screen, select another user icon, click it to log in. You can use a guest user account here. Now successfully logged in, restart the computer.

Press F8 while the computer is restarting, making sure that you press the F8 before the welcome windows icon appears at the middle of the screen. The computer will initialize in a few minutes.

In Advance Boot Option, use the arrow in the keyboard to highlight 'Restart' then click enter.

Log in to the administrator account, click the administrator user icon.

You will be successfully logged-in on safe mode, and you will know it because there must be 'Safe Mode' wordings in all four corners of your screen.

2. Search regedit.exe

Click 'Start' and in the search box type regedit.exe then enter.

3. Registry Editor Box

It will appear momentarily on your screen. Look for \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\, click it to expand. Find subfolder named \SOFTWARE\, expand it.

Now locate \Microsoft\ subfolder where \Windows NT\ subfolder is found. Do it repeatedly until you get to subfolder \ProfileList\ in this registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Click ProfileList to open its subfolders.

4. Fix the right User Account Profile

All subfolders of ProfileList are named starting with S-1-5. There might be a folder named only S-1-5, but the rest are named S-1-5 plus extension in numbers and letters. Now, these are the SID key for each user account profile.

Find the SID key with the name of the user that doesn't allow you to log in and only display the error “The User Profile Service service failed the logon.” User profile cannot be loaded.'

To do that you need to click each of those S-1-5 subfolders while looking at the right pane where you will see the user name for each S-1-5 subfolder under ProfileImagePath.

The pane at right will populate data, and you must look only at ProfileImagePath to see the user name.

5. Rename S-1-5 that Ended in .bak

If two of your S-1-5 subfolders have the same extension numbers and one of them has .bak at its end, you need to rename them so that the .bak is removed from its original folder and moved to the other.

Follow these instructions. Right-click the folder without .bak, click 'Rename' and add .ba to its end. Right-click the folder with .bak, click 'Rename' and delete the .bak. Right-click the one with .ba and add k so that it becomes .bak.

6. Stop now backup first

This method of modifying the registry will cause major problems if you don't get it right. You must be extra careful in applying the steps and those that will follow.

Meanwhile, we need to stop the procedure for you to create a backup for your registry.

Follow this. Highlight the subfolder that contains S-1-5 for the affected user account profile, which is the one that won't log in. Click File then Export and save it where you want to save it. After this, you can continue.

7. Edit refcount & state

Here's the recap of where were you before you back-up. The highlighted S-1-5 subfolder is the one that bears the name of the user that can't log in. It is shown at the right pane opposite ProfileImagePath.

TIP: The subfolder name highlighted doesn't have .bak at its end.

Let's continue. If you don't see the user account profile name, double-click the ProfileImagePath. A small dialog box will open and in it is the user account profile name.

Now double-click — RefCount. A small dialog box named 'RefCount' opens. Under Value data, change whatever figure or number you see to 0.

To be clear, the box under Value data must now contain 0, if not enter 0 there, then, click 'OK.' Likewise, double-click State, after which a small dialog box named 'State' will open.

Inside the State dialog box, there's also a Value data, and below it is a box that must contain 0. If it contains another number, delete it and change it to 0. When I say 0, I mean zero.

Is Value data now 0? If yes, click 'OK.'

You are now done. Close the Registry Editor dialog box. Restart your laptop and log in using your user account as you normally do.

Have you experienced computer issues and glitches which are inevitable? Did you spend on fixing it? How do you save money in using your computer? Say what's in your mind in the comments' box below.

Vernie Mallorca

Vernie Mallorca is an entrepreneur and blogger with years of experience in selling to institutional accounts. He gradually shifted to blogging when he found out that it is his calling to write timely and helpful articles online that can help others to save money, make money, and secure their future by handling their income smartly. In this blog, he shares both managing your finances, however small it is and valuable information on running a small business.