avast antivirus update, computer will not accept logon profile

July 21, 2017 1:54 PM

I accepted an avast update last night. Now the computer does not recognise my logon profile. I can use the guest account, but not my regular account. What should I do?

I can use the "guest" account and seem to have no trouble. (I am using it right now.) I would like to access my account on the computer. Should I use the restore function to reverse my computer to last week? (I can access the control panel from the guest account. I don't think I have ever done this function - is it hard to restore the system? Are there any risks?) Or should I do something else?

I received an avast update. I clicked okay. When it was finished, I postponed restart for 2 hours. Then I click restart icon in the avast window. (I usually restart from the start button.) I entered my password. (The password was not changed recently.) A message says that the logon profile is not recognised. I click okay and then it automatically forces a restart. And then same problem again. I can click on the guest account without problem.

I have all my files on a usb key, but I would like to have access microsoft office and it probably is better to work from the main account. The machine is a an acer desk top pc, windows 7, a few years old. I had a previous question (here), but the computer has been running fine, no trouble at all.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

posted by philfromhavelock to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

Best answer: This feels like an actual Windows issue and not an Avast one. I feel like the Avast update might just be a red herring and coincidental. Have you tried googling the exact error message (you don't list it here) to see how you can recover your logon profile? That's really the issue here.
posted by AppleTurnover at 2:35 PM on July 21, 2017

Response by poster: Thanks! I think you're right.

The message is: "The User Profile Service service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded."

There are search results for this phrase, so it seems to be a thing. The solutions are restore to earlier point; create a new account and copy everything over; and some very technical answers (that I am afraid to try). I will try the restore or creating a new account. Has anyone else here had this problem and solved it?
posted by philfromhavelock at 3:49 PM on July 21, 2017

If you have system restore turned on, that's your easiest bet -- just restore to some point where it was working properly and it should fix it. If you don't have system restore on, I am sure by googling your error message, you will find a Microsoft guide for what to do, a YouTube tutorial to fix it or some threads on message boards explaining it. Wish I could help you myself but I've never had this problem.
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:40 PM on July 21, 2017