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[Deleted member 117080]

I have a customer unit running Windows 10 home that mysteriously decided to corrupt the user profile during a reboot cycle. I have tried system restores, a "refresh", and data verification scans but was unable to reach any solution to reinstating the profile. I have come to the conclusion that unless there is a relatively quick fix the most efficient option is to just create a new user and copy the data and reinstall the programs.

However, does anyone have any simple suggestions for migrating the data and programs to a new account without having to manually copy the data and reinstall the programs under the new user profile? Else any ideas for dealing with this issue?

 

[SAFCasper]

Have your tried this?

A while back we used to see this error on Windows 7 all the time. Don't recall ever seeing it on Windows 10 though... so might be different

 

[mrapoc]

As above - very common with AVG too

 

[Deleted member 117080]

If you've already done a refresh (reset in Windows 10) then you're committed to reinstalling application software anyway. Your best bet is to do that and then restore the data from the backup you took at the start into a new profile. (You did take a backup before trashing the customer's computer with system restores and refresh, didn't you?)

For backing up and/or moving profiles you could take a look at Fab's Autobackup (http://www.fpnet.fr/), but for something like this I'd probably just copy back the user's documents and desktop, re-import email and set everything else up from scratch. If you don't know what broke the failing user profile, why take a chance on recreating the same problem in the new profile?

The data was backed up.
Are you suggesting I start from scratch reinstall windows or just copy the data into a new profile without trying to do a direct move of account?

 

[Deleted member 117080]

As above - very common with AVG too

I have not checked that avenue. I didn't know AVG could be a cause of these kinds of issues. Any tips?

 

[mrapoc]

Does it say user profile service failed the logon?

 

[Deleted member 117080]

I'd probably burn an extra hour and reinstall everything from scratch - that way you know exactly what you're dealing with. You're already committed to reinstalling applications and setting up a new user account, so the extra time's not a big deal and it buys you a lot of peace of mind.

SAFCasper's suggestion is good, too, but that's something to try before a refresh!

I assumed that would be the correct course but it's usually good to see if there is a better way.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I'm confused, forgive my ignorance here as I don't deal with these issues often as an online tech but whats the big deal here?

So worse case scenario you lose the user registry, this isn't the 90's where tons of settings are stored there so wheres the big loss? If you have something important in there why not just load the hive and export that piece of info? Most user settings for software these days are in appdata.

Not sure I would ever use system restore for a user profile issue but I don't really have as much faith in system restore as others.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I think it's the difference between performing a clean, defensible, professional repair (which is what the client is presumably expecting and paying for) and cobbling it together until it seems to work.

If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.

(And I can't quite believe I'm quoting Donald Rumsfeld.)

You lost me there. Edit: What's wrong with my method?

 

[Deleted member 117080]

In general, nothing!

Fixing the user profile in isolation is a great strategy if there's nothing else wrong (and it's certainly what I would have tried first), but this is happening after several system restores and a Windows Reset so there's now no reliable way of knowing what the cause of the original problem was or what other changes might have been made along the way.

What I was saying in a roundabout way was something like "Try not to have have done that. But since you have, now you get to clean it all up."

There's only so much time and brainpower you can throw at a problem before a nuke-and-pave starts to look like the best option, and I suspect that the original poster is well past that point.

I was already tired of looking at the computer, and a nuke and reinstall would definitely deal with some other small issues the customer was already having from their upgrade to Windows 10. If I had a lot of time or there was a specific reason I couldn't do a reinstall I would have taken the other suggestion.