user profile cannot be located / user profile service failed the logon,

[Gordon Gordonplex]

I hope you can help. My brother is getting a new error:

"user profile service failed the logon, user profile cannot be located"

HP laptop, Windows 7. Probably no file backups, and certainly not with him now, since on a job out of town.

He's out of town, working long hours, so I'm calling repair services near him.

Only guy I've called says probably reinstall Windows. Is that what you guys would do?

I ask, Won't that cost him whatever is in his profile now?

He says those are just Windows settings, and indeed I can says that my brother has probably changed little if anything from when he bought it. When Iwas visiting him, I changed almost nothing. I forget what I changed, maybe one, maybe two little things. Guy also suggests my brother first try opening in Safe mode and create new profile. I'm checking my XP help (I don'thave 7) and it talks more about hardware profiles. Is t hat the kind of profile that isn't working now?

So, does reinstalling the OS cause problems that I don't foresee? Will anyother files be lost? Software he has installed, like TeamViewer, Skype, Are profile files more important than I think?

Guy says he'll retrieve all the keys and files, then reinstall all the software, after he's done. Says about 2 hours required. Says 18 years experience but he has techs working for him with less.

I'm pretty sure this means my brother will lose his Starter Word. That's based on MSWord, but during the recent problem MS took no responsibilty for Starter Word, even when users had uninstalled according to what MS told them, when that was bad advice. If I call HP, will they send him a CD so he can reinstall it?

Is Open Office sufficiently the same as Word 2010 that it won't confuse a guy who really doesn't like computers? (I should tell you about the time with Starter Word he couldn't print a file, apparently because he hadn't saved it. Using Teamviewer, I saved it under a new name and printed it.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Paul]

I hope you can help. My brother is getting a new error:

"user profile service failed the logon, user profile cannot be located"

HP laptop, Windows 7. Probably no file backups, and certainly not with him
now, since on a job out of town.

He's out of town, working long hours, so I'm calling repair services near him.

Only guy I've called says probably reinstall Windows. Is that what you guys would do?
I ask, Won't that cost him whatever is in his profile now?

He says those are just Windows settings, and indeed I can says that my brother has
probably changed little if anything from when he bought it. When I was visiting
him, I changed almost nothing. I forget what I changed, maybe one, maybe two
little things. Guy also suggests my brother first try opening in Safe mode and
create new profile. I'm checking my XP help (I don't have 7) and it talks more
about hardware profiles. Is t hat the kind of profile that isn't working now?

So, does reinstalling the OS cause problems that I don't foresee? Will any
other files be lost? Software he has installed, like TeamViewer, Skype, Are
profile files more important than I think?

Guy says he'll retrieve all the keys and files, then reinstall all the software,
after he's done. Says about 2 hours required. Says 18 years experience but he
has techs working for him with less.

I'm pretty sure this means my brother will lose his Starter Word. That's based
on MSWord, but during the recent problem MS took no responsibilty for
Starter Word, even when users had uninstalled according to what MS told them,
when that was bad advice. If I call HP, will they send him a CD so he can
reinstall it?

Is Open Office sufficiently the same as Word 2010 that it won't confuse a guy
who really doesn't like computers? (I should tell you about the time with

Starter Word he couldn't print a file, apparently because he hadn't saved it.

Using Teamviewer, I saved it under a new name and printed it.

Thanks a lot.

There's an example here of what to do.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...annot-be-located-in-windows-7?forum=w7itproui

"I logged in as another use and looked on help and found
advice to fix a corrupted user profile, which is to create
a new user profile by opening "User Accounts" and clicking
"Manage another account". The thing is, it then asks for
an administrator password, which is my password, but when
I enter it nothing happens, I'm back at the User Accounts
screen.

I thought I'd given another user administrator rights, but
clearly didn't. So I'm stuck.
"

"I booted into safe mode and was able to log in, and was
given a "default profile". However, I had my administrator
status. I looked at the event log, but it didn't mean anything.
So I ran System Restore and restored to the last restore
point which was 17/09/2011. That was good news, as I hadn't
done anything much since then (being on holiday).
"

Things can still go wrong. But that should
fill in some of the details. And there's still
going to be a mess to clean up.

Using a System Restore point, can make the profile minty fresh.

Note that typically, if you use a System Restore point from
Safe Mode, there is no reversion capability. If you're booted
in the regular OS (which you're not able to do right now),
then a System Restore restoration can be undone if need be.
Safe Mode gives you a lesser option, but still worthwhile
as long as the Restore Point isn't too old and crusty.
In Safe Mode, the rstrui.exe program is what handles
System Restore stuff.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html

If no System Restore points are available (badly configured
or infected machine), then creating a new user account
is better than nothing. You will still have a bit of work
to do, to move the email database, copy user files over,
that sort of thing.

If the installed software was "installed for all users",
then when the new account is created, all the old programs
will be visible. As far as I know, that how I always
install them, as restricting them to one account
seems pointless.

There are certainly plenty of things that can go wrong
along the way. As long as you have two computers,
a good one to post your questions with or search
with Google/Bing/Etc, you'll be fine.

*******

As for the technical assessment you got, that would be
like a doctor saying "I see a scratch on your finger,
therefore I must amputate the whole arm". The shop tech
likes it, because they make $200 for the labor. And a portion
of the process will be automated.

The main problem with shops like that, is the danger
the user's data will be erased. We've read all sorts
of howlers here, where a user takes a computer in
for a new video card, and the hard drive comes back
erased. And when you contact the shop, nobody knows
how the drive got erased. You're screwed out of your
data.

If you must take the machine to a shop, see if you
can back up the contents of the hard drive first.
On my laptop here, I pull the SATA 2.5" drive
from the bottom of the laptop (tray slides away from
connector), then connect it to a desktop computer while
the desktop computer is powered off. I've done backups
several times that way, because the transfer rate is
faster. The interior of the computer, must have a
spare SATA data (7 pin) and SATA power (15 pin) cable
for that to be possible. My computer has several
spare cables hanging there

*******

If this system had Windows 8 on it, the OS has "refresh"
and "reset" options, which gives you other things you
can try (with varying amounts of damage).

On Windows 7, you can download a legit DVD for reinstalling
Windows, and use that. For example, I downloaded X17-24209.iso
and used that recently to reinstall my Windows 7 laptop.
I used the COA off the laptop sticker, and had to
phone Microsoft to get the OS to activate. (You exchange
56 digit numbers with a computer voice on the other
end of the phone line. The laptop prompts you to do
that.) So there are ways to do this for yourself.
You go to Google.com and search for X17-24209.iso
and download it from DigitalRiver. You need to match
the version of OS which is currently on the machine
(like say, Home Premium). DigitalRiver is a distributor
of electronic software, which happens to have open
servers with copies of the OS on it. So that's a thing
to consider for some day in the future. It'll take
several hours for the 3.3GB x64 version of OS to
download.

Articles like this one, tell you how to do a Repair
Install, that preserved much of the user state.
The Windows.old folder holds the old OS, and a new
Windows folder is created. This works if there is
enough room for it. As you can see here, at the
top it mentions doing this, if System Restore didn't
fix you up for some reason. This page also mentions
a web page with links to the DigitalRiver copies
of the ISO9660 installer DVD files.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Paul

 

[Gordon Gordonplex]

Thanks for your speedy, multifaceted reply.

Eternal-September is allowing reading but not posting, so posted via google.groups. But it's harder to reply to your whole post, so I just took one chunk. (I've also deleted the blank lines that gogroups put in. It's been months now and they can't fix this?)

"I booted into safe mode and was able to log in, and was
given a "default profile". However, I had my administrator
status. I looked at the event log, but it didn't mean anything.
So I ran System Restore and restored to the last restore
point which was 17/09/2011. That was good news, as I hadn't
done anything much since then (being on holiday).

So will System Restore revert a Word document back to the text it had when the Restore point was taken? Will it delete the document if it hadn't existed when the Restore point was taken?

Things can still go wrong. But that should
fill in some of the details. And there's still
going to be a mess to clean up.

Once the computer is running, I don't think my brother can do this, and notme either, even ith TeamViewer, since I've never done it before.

I don't think my brother can do the Checkpoint Restore, even with my help on the phone

He might with my help be able to start in Safe Mode and create a new profile, but you didn't say much about that.

Using a System Restore point, can make the profile minty fresh.

Note that typically, if you use a System Restore point from
Safe Mode, there is no reversion capability. If you're booted

Thanks. That is a problem, although less so if a competent tech does it. My brother in 73 and may remember the last time he updated a word file. (Right now he's trying to retrieve his resume) I mentioned it before will talk to him again about backing up his files. He may listen better now.

in the regular OS (which you're not able to do right now),
then a System Restore restoration can be undone if need be.
Safe Mode gives you a lesser option, but still worthwhile
as long as the Restore Point isn't too old and crusty.
In Safe Mode, the rstrui.exe program is what handles
System Restore stuff.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restor
If no System Restore points are available (badly configured
or infected machine), then creating a new user account
is better than nothing. You will still have a bit of work
to do, to move the email database, copy user files over,
that sort of thing.

Do user files include the Word files he has written? I guess I can copy over anything that is not found in the new profile. That shouldn't be too hard, but it's another factor to consider. .

The first guy you quoted said "I booted into safe mode and was able to log in, and was given a "default profile". However, I had my administrator status. " Does this default profile disappear when one exits windows? Anyway to save it and log in with it?


I think I need to shop for a better repair shop**, who will do a Restore ifI ask him to, although to be fair to this guy, he estimated 2 hours at 35 dollars an hour. It's a college town, with more students than permanent residents. What would he end up charging? Maybe a lot more. I have no customer ratings for him, not even his parents', siblings' and cousins'. ;-)

I think I need a repair man who would tell me, without my prompting: First I'll try a restore point, then creating a new profile,

Thanks again.

**local.yahoo.com is good for this. I put in my brother's motel's address,and it shows how far away each Computer Repair place is. It sorts them bydistance.

 

[Paul]

Thanks for your speedy, multifaceted reply.

Eternal-September is allowing reading but not posting, so
posted via google.groups. But it's harder to reply to your
whole post, so I just took one chunk. (I've also deleted
the blank lines that gogroups put in. It's been months now
and they can't fix this?)



So will System Restore revert a Word document back to the text it
had when the Restore point was taken? Will it delete the document
if it hadn't existed when the Restore point was taken?


Once the computer is running, I don't think my brother can do this,
and not me either, even ith TeamViewer, since I've never done it before.

I don't think my brother can do the Checkpoint Restore, even with my
help on the phone

He might with my help be able to start in Safe Mode and create a new
profile, but you didn't say much about that.

Thanks. That is a problem, although less so if a competent tech does
it. My brother in 73 and may remember the last time he updated a word
file. (Right now he's trying to retrieve his resume) I mentioned it
before will talk to him again about backing up his files. He may
listen better now.


Do user files include the Word files he has written? I guess I can
copy over anything that is not found in the new profile. That
shouldn't be too hard, but it's another factor to consider. .

The first guy you quoted said "I booted into safe mode and was
able to log in, and was given a "default profile". However, I had
my administrator status. " Does this default profile disappear
when one exits windows? Anyway to save it and log in with it?

I think I need to shop for a better repair shop**, who will do a
Restore if I ask him to, although to be fair to this guy, he estimated
2 hours at 35 dollars an hour. It's a college town, with more students
than permanent residents. What would he end up charging? Maybe a lot
more. I have no customer ratings for him, not even his parents',
siblings' and cousins'. ;-)

I think I need a repair man who would tell me, without my prompting:
First I'll try a restore point, then creating a new profile,

Thanks again.

**local.yahoo.com is good for this. I put in my brother's motel's
address, and it shows how far away each Computer Repair place is.
It sorts them by distance.

I recommend a backup in any case.

In fact, this is a priority with me. Any time
something dangerous is being done, I back up.

That way, if the contents of a Word file
get modified by a System Restore point,
you're covered via your backup.

Some of the backup software, you can do
backups using their boot CD. You boot
the backup CD that comes with the product,
and then can back up a hard drive to an
external USB hard drive, or to a network share.

For that matter, even if you did a partition
to partition backup, using backup software CD,
that would be good protection for any user
files on the C: partition. For example, my
Windows 7 laptop looked like this.

+------+-----------------+--------+-------------+
| MBR | SYSTEM_RESERVED | C: | R: (data) |
+------+-----------------+--------+-------------+

I could back up from SR and C: to R: if I had to,
as there is room on my R: data partition. While
this does not protect me from a dying hard drive,
it does protect me against making dangerous
changes to the two system partitions (SR and C.
The SYSTEM_RESERVED partition contains boot files.
While C: contains the rest of it.

That would protect me against the ravages of
System Restore

I use Macrium Reflect Free as a backup tool,
and I can show a screenshot of that in a VM.
Here, I've booted a virtual machine (a simulation
of a computer in a way), and this picture shows
what a computer would look like, if the WinPE
version of the boot CD were to be booted.
The software product comes with two boot CDs
possibilities, a small Linux one and a WinPE one
that requires a large download. And this picture
shows you can do backups directly from the WinPE
boot CD (because it has more software on it).

http://oi41.tinypic.com/2uzs7si.jpg

( http://i41.tinypic.com/2uzs7si.gif )

I expect you can also do this from an
Acronis True Image Home (TIH) CD. Everyone
should have backup software, and "be prepared
for days like this" It's a tax on
computing, like AV software. Free versions
of Acronis are available from Seagate and
Western Digital, if you have a Seagate or
Western Digital drive to be used as part
of the backup scenario.

So you can find enough free versions of
stuff, to do this for basically the price
of a blank CD (plus enough disk space). On
my laptop above, C: is set to 40GB, and
R: has the remains of the space of a 320GB
hard drive. So there's plenty of room on R:
for a few backups. Normally, I copy the
backup image of R: to an external drive, but
if you don't have an external drive, there may still
be ways to do the backup right on the single
hard drive inside the laptop.

It just doesn't protect you against everything.
If you "accidentally" ran diskpart, and
did the "clean all" command, it would wipe
out your C: and backups and everything. My
suggestion above, is meant to protect you
for the attempted System Restore, not protect
you from World War III.

It all depends on how much time you've got,
how much you trust this $35 per hour dude,
as to what you do next.

If you need Macrium Reflect Free, it's here.

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx (lower left corner)

Seagate Discwizard is an example of Acronis TIH
(lite version) in disguise. This Flash slide show,
gives some idea of how it works. The software only
works, if at least one drive is Seagate branded.
Other disk companies make their own branded version
of this software available as well. I know Western
Digital does. There may be other companies as well.

http://support.seagate.com/kbimg/flash/laptop/laptop.html

Download for Discwizard starts here.

http://www.seagate.com/support/inte...-hard-drives/savvio-15k/discwizard-master-dl/

The Western Digital version of Acronis is here. At one time,
these downloads were easy to do. Now, sometimes they want
a serial number from the hard drive, before allowing
a download.

http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119&wdc_lang=en

Those tools only work, if one of the drives involved,
is that brand (Seagate or Western Digital). I don't
see any clone software on the Toshiba site. And laptop
drives aren't always WD or Seagate ones. Laptops can
come with other brands, which spoils the fun and means
going with Macrium Reflect Free, the WinPE boot CD option,
and a couple hundred megabytes of WAIK-related download
to make the boot CD. Then you burn that to a CD, all
done for you by Macrium.

Paul

 

[micky]

System Restore restores *system files*,

Ooops. That makes sense. (embarrassed look)

not personal documents, like Word
documents. It was never intended for that purpose.

Wonderful. Thanks.

 

[micky]

I hope you can help. My brother is getting a new error:

"user profile service failed the logon, user profile cannot be located"

HP laptop, Windows 7. Probably no file backups, and certainly not with him now, since on a job out of town.

He's out of town, working long hours, so I'm calling repair services near him.

Only guy I've called says probably reinstall Windows. Is that what you guys would do?

........

Thanks again Paul for your detailed answer to my second Gordon
Gordenplex post. Eternal September wasn't allowing posting for a
day, so I had to post via google.groups under my google name.

Follow-up. By the time I reached my brother, yesterday, he told me
he was being moved, only about 50 miles away, but he's not going to
want a repair shop that he has to drive 100 miles round trip for.

The first town was a college town with loads of repair guys, many that
had no shop and picked up and delivered even at night (but not 50
miles I think.) 80,000 residents plus 40,000 students. The only guy
I called wanted to reinstall windows, for 70 dollars.

This new town is only 15,000 (50,000 in the metropolitan area) but
still has 5 shops, all of which close by 6. I called one, and he
too wanted to reinstall windows, this time for 169 dollars.

Fedexing it back and forth overnight would be 77 dollars each way, to
me from the large city near the first town, more from a smal town,
even probably the college town, plus 5 for a box and packing. I said
the laptop weighed 6 pounds, but they would weigh it of course.
Cheaper and I'd follow Paul's instructions and probably do a better
job than either tech. But my brother didn't like the idea of mailing
it.


But instead of his being out there for 2 months as planned, they're
sending him home the day before Thanksgfiving, and will call him again
if he's needed. I think he's going to tell them No. So it will
have been a really bad 17 days and at the rate he's going, he may not
get the computer fixed until he gets home. I hope I'll be able to
instruct whoever does it to do it Paul's way, even though my brother
is saying, "What difference does it make how they fix it as long as
it's fixed". and I try to explain but I think he's stopped
listening. He's my older brother, he's a pain, but I love him anyhow.

One can tell love, imo, when people are a pain and you're willing to
tolerate it for long periods of time.