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Tip

WIN7 log on

Mar 28, 2016 6:18AM PDT

This is so basic I hesitate to post it, however: If you are 'suddenly' faced with an inability to log in to your laptop running WIN7, getting messages such as "password not recognised" or user "profile corrupted/unavailable", start up in safe mode (FCool and try going back to a restore point, say a week earlier. Allow files to be updated, restart and try again. This worked with my wife's Toshiba. Some people will start shouting, but consider whether in your laptop's (perhaps secure) environment you really need a password at all.

Discussion is locked

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That's a decade old issue. Actually prior to 2000.
Mar 28, 2016 7:31AM PDT

The "corrupt profile" is a classic. You'll need to login to your backup admin account (this is not optional and there are long discussions about this) to access the files in that account and move them to a new account.

Now before you say it isn't so. Microsoft has never documented any other fix for this. Here's the link:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix-corrupted-user-profile#1TC=windows-7

If the person forgot or elected not to create the spare administrator account then the news is grim. Almost all of them have to get their files out they didn't have on backups then factory restore the computer.

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Corrupt Profiles Can Occur Even With No Password
Mar 28, 2016 11:19AM PDT

Whether there is a password or not, a profile/user account can go south. As Bob stated, it's why we always create a second, or third admin account, with a password, which can be used in such emergencies.

Hope this helps.

Grif