Stuck on loading personal settings

Have a look here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/816873

Also, while is safe mode, try creating a new account and lggoing in normally with it. If successful, the profile may be corrupt and migrating to a new one may be a quick way to fix it.

This may help to diagnose the problem and point you/us in the right direction.

There is a very little known registry addition that is perfect for diagnosing this particular issue. It requires editing the registry to add two keys. Do this in safe mode since you are able to boot up completely.

Once booted, click on start>run and type in:
regedit (enter)

Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

right click on on a blank area of the the right window and select New>REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
name it "verbosestatus" (without the quotes)
Now right-click the new entry and select Modify and change the value to 1

Now add a second entry to the same key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

right click on on a blank area of the the right window and select New>REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
name it "disablestatusmessages" (without the quotes)
Now right-click the new entry and select Modify and change the value to 0 (it probably already is)

Exit regedit and restart normally

Now, instead of seeing the Apllying Personal Settings window, you will see each executable and/or dll that is being loaded. You will see one of them there for a very long time or forever in your case. That execurtable or dll is the culprit. Please post the name if needed to see how to fix the issue or go ahead and fix it yourself if it is obvious.

This is a great way to find what is causing this type of hang or slow loading of personal settings. Once the issue is resolved, you can leave the registry entries in place, and simply change the value of the verbosestatus entry to 0 (zero).

As I stated, there not many people around who know of this little trick.

flubster, thanks for reply, are you sure there are no typos or errors in your reg_words, created both dword value but still have the loading settings window instead of of executables, dll being loaded.

The value are they hex or decimal, also other reg_word with 1 value present in the key are shutdownwithoutlogon
undockwithoutlogon

COuld they be the culprit. Will backup registry and delete those entries to see what happens

Yes, the spelling is correct as I posted them. Make sure that the disablestatusmessages entry is set to a 0 (ZERO), not a 1. It is a hex value of 1 or 0.

Also make sure that verbosestatus is set to a 1 (one), not 0

I have tripple checked and it is correctly created

verbosestatus REG_WORD value 1
disablestatusmessages REG_WORD value 0

path HKLM\Software\microsoft\currentversion\policies\system

WIll try other things but for now, still have the loading personal settings window stuck when booting even with the REG_WORDs

Will let you know how it goes

Think I found the problem. I am seeing Controlset001. 003., 004 and current controlset. I am no registry genious but was under the impression that only controlset001 and 002 should be present.

What do you think

It almost looks like there is something interupting the normal load. Ithink it is not even getting to that point. Can you try booting to safe mode and see what happens with the reg entries being used?

Currentcontrolset is the set used during a normal boot. Controlset1 or 2 is the set used for either safe boot or booting using Last Known Good Confiduration.

Have you tried booting to Last Known Good Confiduration?

Yes, first thing I tried was LKGC. When booting in safe mode, see a few executables loading, maybe 4 but goes too fast to say which and then get the logon box.

When booting normaly, I can see wgalogon really fast before logon box appears. It is after supplying credentials that I get stuck with the loading personal settings.

ok, so the reg hack is working. gimme a minute....

Just a thought... have you tried doing a system restore from safe mode? If not, I would highly recommend it.

Before you do though, try this real quick:

Boot to safe mode and open a command prompt. Type:
netsh winsock reset catalog
and push enter
restart and login

We do not have system restore enable on our machines. Have not tried the netsh command yet, think problem is due to a hardware profile.

When clicking hardware profiles in system properties hardware tab, get an error message that registry is corrupted. Here is the exact message

The registry is corrupted. The structure of one of the files containing registry data is corrupted, or the systems memory image of the file is corrupted, or the file could not be recovered because the alternate copy or log was absent or corrupted.

Will the netch command you provided fix this perticular problem?

Thanks again for your fast replies
 

FOrgot to mention earlier after error message I click OK then this message appears:

Not enough storage is available to process this command.

hmmmm.. run this test pls in normal boot mode:

When the system stops responding during Loading Personal Settings, press ALT-TAB

You should get a Limited Virtual Memory dialogue box. Click ok. See if it completes loading. If so, then there is an issue with the pagefile.

OK, tried what you asked but now have a new problem. Dont know why, did not do any changes.

Now have message when starting PC : windows could not start because the following filoe is missing or corrupt  \windows\system32\config\system.

Guess will need to use recovery console

Thanks for your help, I think I will just backup the data and reimage the PC, will be easier that way.

Thanks again, learned a lit today

You are most welcome. Thank you for the points. Sorry we could not save the system, but any time we learn something, it helps for next time.

Take care...