In Windows 7, my user profile cannot be loaded, how do I fix this?

After uninstalling an HP Vector mouse driver, then rebooting, when Windows tries to auto log me in, I get an error message saying the following.

The User Profile Service failed the Login. User Profile cannot be loaded.

Due to the fact that it is the only account on this PC, I cannot even go into another account.

I rebooted the machine several times, before going into Safe Mode with Networking. For some reason, I cannot create a new account whilst in safe mode (I think it is to do with UAC, nothing with UAC is clickable).

Thus, I am stuck. I cannot get into my account, nor can I create a new one to copy files over to.

How do I fix this problem?

EDIT: System Restore was, for some reason turned off. Thus, I cannot restore to a working point.

Solution 1:

It's possible that your user profile is not corrupted, but that Windows is having trouble loading it (think a bad hard drive). You can boot into the Windows 7 Recovery Console from your Windows 7 DVD. Open the command prompt and start a chkdsk.

If your profile is actual corrupted, you can try a system restore. This will restore your profile back to an earlier date. Again, use the Windows 7 DVD to do this.

You may also be able to rename the user profile using the command prompt (eg

cd \Users

ren UserAccount UserAccount.old

And then try to log in, Windows might complain of a different problem but it should recreate a profile for you.

EDIT: Are you sure you are the only user? Unless you are the local administrator, there should also be an "Administrator" account.

Solution 2:

Here is a fix if you have only one account:

1. Boot into Safe Mode, with the option to use Command Prompt

2. Disable the User Control Account in the registry; use regedit to navigate to the following key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System 
   

3. Change the value of EnableLUA to 0.

4. Reboot and login normally.

Your profile still might not load, but at least you get a temporary one - now you can make a new user.