Video tutorial gone wrong

[ooboh]

Hi,



Since mid-to-late May, I've had problems with my computer. The most prevalent one, however, is the "Temporary Profile" error. At this point, however, I could still find my personal documents and files on my system. After two months of failed attempts to restore my computer, I found a YouTube tutorial that I thought FOR SURE could fix my computer on July 27. Here's the link. You MUST watch the video, otherwise you will not understand my problem.

I followed literally everything the video did, down to the letter, but when I restarted the computer, the desktop background was still there, but all of my documents were gone -- nowhere to be found. It did not occur to me that I could've used System Restore and then asked this question. Now, it is almost September, and not only have I not recovered my files, but I have also accidentally deleted my audio drivers. I cannot use system restore because because July 27 is no longer on the list of System Restore points. So my question is: Is there a way I can reverse what the video method did, or better yet, is there a way I could restore my computer to BEFORE the "Temporary Profile" error? By the way, is there a way I could do this WITHOUT the use of either:



1. An in-place repair upgrade

2. Creating an installation disk/USB for Windows 10 ISO file



The reason why I do not want these is because I am not the most technologically inclined, and all the procedures I've seen on the Internet to accomplish these are difficult. However, if it is impossible to fix my computer without either method, could you please put the procedures in layman's terms, so it'll be easy to understand. Thank you. Anybody who knows the answer to this complicated problem is welcome to respond. Anyone who is facing the same problems I am may also comment on their experience just in case I left something out, which may lead to a quicker, more efficient solution.



sincerely,

ooboh



P.S. I have two more problems with my computer of lesser importance.

1. Windows Update is continually stuck at 0%. Every time I try to update my Windows 10, which may have started this entire situation, it fails.

2. I also occasionally run into the "raised iqrl" blue screen of death. I have no idea what causes it.

 

[Regedit32]

Hi ooboh,

Welcome to the Forum.

I've taken a look at the Video you posted a link to and unfortunately need to inform you that the instructions given in that video while heading in a possible correct direction are in fact:

1. Not correct, and
2. Not complete either.
   
   It's unfortunate the creator of this video did not take more care with their instructions as they appear to have done selecting that annoying background music to distract you from following the instructions.

The good news though, is that the modifying of this particular Registry Key and its value: ProfileImagePath will not cause the actual folder and its contents, settings, etcetera to be deleted from your computer, so it is possible we can reverse the instructions and so long as the actual User Profile is not actually corrupted itself, get you back to a normal log on. Failing that, there are a couple of other options you can try before the dreaded in-place upgrade you mentioned, although to be honest, its not too awful and I'd be happy to post a simple set of instructions to follow should it come to that.

Let's see though first whether we can rebuild your Registry entries and resolve the whole thing that way first.

Now before I start posting how and what to do I really do need some information from you first in order to ensure the instructions I give you are accurate.

I assume you are able to log on, albeit that you are logging into a Temporary User Account. If that assumption is correct then logging in and opening File Explorer may help you answer the following questions:

• What is the Username of the account that first got the error telling you you are signed into a temporary user account? This Username will be the name of the folder located at C:\Users\ <Username folder>
  
  You may be able to view this by logging into that temporary user account, then opening File Explorer and navigating to the C:\User directory and taking a look at what folders are listed inside the User folder.
  
  If the folder is completely missing, then yes, we will have a problem given this is the folder you were attempting to point your Registry Key to based on that video presentation.
  
  As an example, I log in using the Username: Regedit32, so my Profile path is C:\Users\Regedit32

• The Username you are attempting to get access to; was it a Local Account or did you make it a member of the Administrators Group, meaning it had limited Administrative privileges.
• Based on the video presentation you deleted the following subkey:
  • S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-1000.bak
  • This would be located on this path:
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
      
      Could you confirm please whether you did locate and delete that subkey?

• Based on the video presentation you modified the ProfileImagePath for the subkey:
  • S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-1000
  • This subkey would be located on this path:
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
      
      Could you confirm whether you did locate this subkey, then modify its value: ProfileImagePath by adding the correct path to the User Profile you want working. That would mean for example you made its Data value: C:\Users\ < the username you want >
      
      Could you also confirm whether or not the Data value needed changing or whether in fact it was all ready correct?
      
      Could you take a look at your Registry and let me know whether you see both the
      S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-1000 and also the
      S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-1000.bak subkeys there now
      
      Recall both of these subkeys will be located on this path:
      
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
      
      If you do see one or both these subkeys, can you check their ProfileImagePath Data Values and let me know what they currently say they are too please.

• Finally, could you please confirm for me the complete subkey name. I've entered the above one using a lot of X's as your one would begin with S-1-5-21 and end with -1000 or -1000.bak, but I will need to know what the other digits are where there are currently X's. If you cannot do that right now, we can address this later, but it would be helpful to know now if you do recall how to get those details.

Right I shall await your reply to my questions and then we can see what can be done to get you back up and running normally.

In the interim what I may do is write a full article on how to actually fix this error, starting with a correct set of instructions which your video did not have, then some other instructions in the event this Registry tweak does not achieve the desired goal, and publish that on our Forum for yours and others benefits.

The other two issues you alluded to re Windows Updates and IRQL errors can also be addressed, but first we need to get you a functioning User Profile, because anything you add to a Temporary User Profile, such as downloads of photos, videos, songs, or other files are automatically deleted when you sign out of a Temporary User Profile, which is why the full error message will suggest you sign out and try to sign in with the usual Profile.

Regards,

Regedit32

 

[ooboh]

Hi, thanks for answering. To answer your questions in order of which you asked them:

1. I login with the username "obohokey", so the path would be C:\Users\obohokey. However, I see folders TEMP and "TEMP.obohokey-PC" with numbers ranging from 000 to 086, which must mean the number of times I logged in with a temporary account. The 086 file is dated July 30, 2016, which is the day I used the video tutorial.
2. The Username I am trying to get access to is the Administrator. It is the only username on my laptop. (while it was functioning normally, at least)
3. I did in fact find S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-1000.bak and delete it. Here is a picture (first picture uploaded)
4. I located this subkey, and modified its value to "obohokey" (which is what I want) during the original video. However, it changed back to obohokey.obohokey-PC.001. I fixed it back to obohokey.
5. Upon modifying the ProfileImagePath's value, the 1000 subkey was still there, but the 1000.bak subkey still wasn't there.
6. The subkey's full name is S1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000. I assume the -1000.bak is the same, but it remains unfound.

By the way, I would like to point that the results of the video led to me signing into what LOOKED like a temporary profile, but what ultimately wasn't, because I did not receive the Temporary Profile error message. Thanks for answering my question. It's very frustrating!

 

[Regedit32]

Hi ooboh,

Thank you for answering my questions.

When Windows encounters a problem signing into a User account you receive the error message you saw telling you it would be logging you into a Temporary Profile, warning you any changes made here will be deleted when you sign out, and thus recommending signing out immediately and attempting to sign in to your usual User account.

When this issue occurs what Windows does is back up your SID key for your real User account. Based on the picture you uploaded, when this error occured Windows would have created the following subkey:

• S-1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000.bak
  
  This backed up SID ought to have had a ProfileImagePath value, which had a Data value: C:\Users\obohokey

• As Windows is creating a Temporary User logon having backed up your SID as above, it then generates the active SID which would be the one you currently can see in your picture:
  
  S-1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000
  
  This Temporary SID will have a Data value pointing to a Temporary UserProfileName, which automatically deletes when you sign out. Based on your response that Data value for the ProfileImagePath currently is: C:\Users\obohokey.obohokey-PC.001 or some variation of your real Username.
  
  It is this Temporary User Profile that you can use to do things on your computer, but any changes you make logged in using this account are deleted when you sign out or turn computer off, thus its not a good situation to be stuck in this state.
  
  Under normal circumstances that second SID without the .bak is the only SID you'd see ending with -1000 and it would point to the Username you log in as.

From what I can tell, the video you followed unfortunately left out some important information, and said to just delete the SID ending with -1000.bak, and correct the path in the other SID that ended with -1000 and did not have .bak on it.

This means you actually deleted the SID key that should have contained the correct ProfileImagePath and left yourself with the Temporary SID key and hence you are logging into Temporary Profile all the time.

What the video omitted to tell you is that you needed to check what Data value there was for the ProfileImagePath that SID ending with -1000.bak pointed to. (i.e. Was it correctly pointing to C:\Users\obohokey or had something corrupted this and it was pointing to a different path). That information is important to know, as this helps to determine what action to take next,and would have helped identify why the System was unable to sign you in normally.

Had this SID key ending, -1000.bak had the ProfileImagePath correctly pointing to C:\Users\obohokey, then the correct action to take would have been to:

• Right-click on the SID S-1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000 and select Delete and Confirm this action
• Right-click on the SID S-1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000.bak and select Delete then confirm this action
  
  Then Restart computer, and provided your User Profile is not corrupted, Windows would generate a new SID key with its ProfileImagePath correctly pointing to C:\Users\obohokey and you ought to have been able to logon successfully.

Had the SID S-1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000.bak contained the incorrect ImageProfilePath, then the correct action would have been to:

• Right-click the ProfileImagePath and select Modify
• Replace the incorrect path with C:\Users\obohokey then click OK
• Right-click on the SID S-1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000 and select Delete then confirm this action
• Right-click on the SID S-1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000.bak, and select Rename then simply rename to S-1-5-21-1282771389-340113085-2183118845-1000 (i.e. remove the .bak extension)
  
  Then restart computer and provided your User Profile is not corrupted, you ought to have been able to logon successfully.

As you have tried to rename the path in your only available SID ending with -1000 and on restart it changes back to the incorrect C:\Users\obohokey.obohokey-PC.001 that at least gives me a small clue as to what may have been present in your original SID which you deleted.

However, you have me slightly confused because in your answers to my questions you mentioned you login with the username obohokey, but then later you said the only user account on your laptop is Administrator and that is the one you want.

I need to know is your Username: obohokey, or Administrator. The latter normally would only exist if you activated the built-in Administrator at some point.

 

[ooboh]

Thanks for replying! Sorry for the confusion, my username is "obohokey". I never activated the built-in Administrator.

By the way, I signed into my computer while typing this, and I got the "Preparing Windows" on the login screen and the "Temporary profile" error warning when I was logged in. This is because I changed the -1000 key value path back to C:\Users\obohokey. So, if I do what you said in your most recent reply (the .bak key's value path was correct, so I right click the ProfileImagePath, click Delete, then click "confirm this action"), will everything be fixed (back to the way it was before this entire "Temporary Profile" debacle)? I haven't done it yet, I just wanted to ask.

Also, my attentive eye noticed something. Whenever I go into File Explorer, I notice that my Local Disk (C: ), the drive I had when my computer functioned normally, isn't there. It was replaced by OS (C: ). Is that what happens with a Temporary Profile or is that something we should look into?

Thanks,

ooboh

 

[Saltgrass]

Someone is another thread like this stated they initiated a manual search for updates and the system corrected itself. Maybe try that a couple of times and recheck what you have done.

 

[ooboh]

Someone is another thread like this stated they initiated a manual search for updates and the system corrected itself. Maybe try that a couple of times and recheck what you have done.

How does one manually check for updates?

 

[Saltgrass]

Settings-Update, check for updates button at the top of the page. It may take more that once if it works at all.

 

[Regedit32]

:Hi ooboh,

Thank you for clarifying your actual login username.

If the SID ending -1000.bak contains the correct ProfileImagePath C:\Users\obohokey and you also see a second SID ending with -1000 but no extension like .bak then the correct steps to take would be to:

• Right-click on the temporary SID ( the one ending with -1000 and no .bak extension) and choose Delete
• Now, right-click on the SID ending -1000.bak and choose Delete also.
  
  This will leave you with no SID's ending with -1000
  
  Close the Registry editor and restart computer to allow Windows to generate a new SID key which provided your Profile obohokey is not corrupted ought to generate a SID ending -1000 with a ProfileImagePath pointing to C:\Users\obohokey. You will be able to log in to this account and again provided there is no corruption in your User Profile, you ought to be able to access the folders belonging to your User profile and no longer see the error message.

If you C drive is being displayed within File Explorer as OS ( C: ) this is perfectly normal.

 

[ooboh]

Hi,

The -1000.bak had the correct value path, so I did as you said. I restarted my computer and my files STILL weren't there. The dates under C:\Users\obohokey in File Explorer said that they were last modified July 30 (which is when I did the video tutorial). So, is it too early to call my original account corrupted or is it actually corrupted?

Going off on a tangent here, but is there any way I can utilize System Restore (should any other options fail) to go back to before July 30 when I found the video? The furthest it can go back is July 31, even with me increasing the space allotted to System Restore.

 

[Regedit32]

When you right-click the Picture folder and select Properties, what happens if you then click Previous Versions tab?

 

[ooboh]

It says that there are no previous versions available.

Also, on an unrelated note, I accidentally deleted my IDT Audio audio drivers during the start of this problem. Do you know how or where I can redownload them?