user account cannot log-profile not loaded

[Guest]

When I try to log on to admin account I'm succesful. When I try to log on to
guest account I get the following message:
Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be loaded. Check that
you are connected to the network, or that your network is functioning
correctly. If this problem persists contact your network administrator.

I use Windows xp home edition. I am not on a network.

 

[Iceman]

When I try to log on to admin account I'm succesful. When I try to log on to
guest account I get the following message:
Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be loaded. Check that
you are connected to the network, or that your network is functioning
correctly. If this problem persists contact your network administrator.

I use Windows xp home edition. I am not on a network.

Try to log on as administrator and change the guest account into an
"administrator" one. Then change it back into a limited account.

If that doesn't work, you can try deleting the guest account and create a
new one. It may have become corrupt.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help. I created a new account and made it an administrator
one. This did not solve the problem. I can turn the guest account off, but do
not know how to delete the guest account.

 

[NewScience]

Check the following Registry key:

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

Under this key you should see a series of S-1-5-.................. entries.

Click on each one and read the ProfileImagePath in the right panel. See if
you have anything related to 'Guest', e.g.,

C:\Documents and Settings\Guest

See if anything reflects 'Guest'

 

[Guest]

TY NewScience. How do I check the registry key. I cannot locate the file. I
am not very savy regarding computers. I tried a search for it but was not
successful.

 

[NewScience]

1. Start Menu | regedit
2. Under My Computer, you will see branches (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,
HKEY_CURRENT_USER, ...)
Each branch has a '+' next to the name (just like Windows Explorer)
3. Open each branch (by left clicking on the '+') that is in the registry
key I told you.
4. Once you open the branch key 'ProfileList', you will see what I was
talking about.
5. To see what is in each key, just left click on the name associated with
the '+' you left-clicked.

 

[Guest]

TY NewScience. I followed your instructions and did not find anything like
C:\Documents and Settings\Guest or anything related to guest.

 

[NewScience]

Ok ... that means no one has tried to logon as Guest.

Open Control Panel | User Accounts
Check to see if Guest account shows up and the caption states that the
account is turned on or off.
If it's off, click on the account and turn the account on.

Now the next time you reboot, Guest account should appear. When you login,
the profile will be created under
C:\Documents and Settings\Guest.

 

[Guest]

TY NewScience for your continuing help. I turned on the guest account and
rebooted. I cannot locate C:\Documents and Settings\Guest. Logging into the
guest account still does not work.

 

[NewScience]

Check the status of the Guest account:

1. Start Menu | Run
2. Type: C:\Windows\system32\lusrmgr.msc
3. Click on Users in left panel
4. Double-click on Guest in right panel
5. Check and see if the Account is marked as disabled

 

[Guest]

TY NewScience. When I run C:\Windows\system32\lusrmgr.msc
the following message appears in the right panel:
This computer is running Windows xp Home Edition. This snapin may not be
used with that version of windows. To manage user accounts for this computer,
use the user accounts tool in the control panel.

 

[NewScience]

What fodlers show up under:

C:\Documents and Settings (other than your username)?

Do you have a Default User? Administrator? LocalService? NetworkService?

Do you have a C:\Windows\System32\Config\systemprofile folder?

Make sure that you have turned on Show Hidden and System folders in Folder
Options | View.
Make sure you have turned off Hide protected operating system files.

 

[Paul Greeff]

Hi Jerry

From your post, I gather you only have the Administrator and Guest
accounts... I agree with "NewScience" - the profile may have become
corrupt. However, deleting the account doesn't delete the profile...

You say you created a new account with admin rights, but it didn't solve
your problem - could you be more specific? Do you mean that you got the
same error message when logging on using the newly created account? Or was
that successful, but the Guest account still didn't work?

If the new account works, you can then duplicate your Guest account profile
(which would include your My Documents, Favorites, Start Menu and other
folders) onto the new account. Right-click My Computer, click User
Profiles, select the Guest account profile and click Copy To... You can
then browse to the C:\Documents and Settings folder and select the new user
account name. Otherwise, you can manually copy My Documents, Favorites,
etc.

PG

 

[NewScience]

If the new account works, you can then duplicate your Guest account

profile
(which would include your My Documents, Favorites, Start Menu and other
folders) onto the new account.

Jerry stated that there is no Guest account to Copy from. No C:\Documents
and Settings\Guest\....
And the Registry ProfileList does not reflect the Guest SID.

 

[Paul Greeff]

I thought I may have missed that, but I've just read through the entire
correspondence that is still visible here and I can't find where Jerry says
there's no guest account... In fact, he says: "This did not solve the
problem. I can turn the guest account off, but do not know how to delete the
guest account." Clearly this implies that there IS a guest account??

 

[NewScience]

Not if there is NO C:\Documents and Settings\Guest folder and no record in
the registry for the Guest 501 SID.
When doing a Copy, you need the ntuser.dat file and subsequent support
folders under C:\Documents and Settings\Guest.

 

[Guest]

Hi Newscience and Paul. TY for your help. Just returned from a trip. I have
only one account that works, the administrator account. I have tried to open
a guest account, but without success, despite attemps to remedy with the
assistance of NewScience. If there is something further to try please
describe not only what's to be done, but also how to do it as I am a novice
user.