asked on Windows 10 login freezes with "Personalized Settings" error
We have been dealing with an issue related to our Windows 10 computers hanging at login. Sometimes it sits for 10 or 15 minutes before they are logged in fully. The login process sits at a black screen with a box at the top left corner that says "personalized settings".
After some research we have found that if you delete a couple registry keys it temporarily fixes the issue until the next round of Windows updates comes out. And it often happens again even to machines that we deleted the registry keys on. We have a method to temporarily fix this problem for people, but what we really want to know is what is causing this in the first place? I tried creating a new image for our machines from scratch after the Windows 10 1909 update came out but it still seems to happen to some (but not all) of our machines.
Anyone have any thoughts to the root cause? Something is problematic with Windows explorer, but we have no idea what is interacting negatively with it. Not sure if a bad Group Policy Object, or our AV. Not sure at all. All suggestions welcome.
![Personalized-Settings-Error.jpg]()
After some research we have found that if you delete a couple registry keys it temporarily fixes the issue until the next round of Windows updates comes out. And it often happens again even to machines that we deleted the registry keys on. We have a method to temporarily fix this problem for people, but what we really want to know is what is causing this in the first place? I tried creating a new image for our machines from scratch after the Windows 10 1909 update came out but it still seems to happen to some (but not all) of our machines.
Anyone have any thoughts to the root cause? Something is problematic with Windows explorer, but we have no idea what is interacting negatively with it. Not sure if a bad Group Policy Object, or our AV. Not sure at all. All suggestions welcome.
Windows 10Windows OSActive Directory
Last Comment
Josh Rogalski
ASKER
I doubt it is user setup, since if it does happen on a particular machine, it happens to ALL user profiles on the machine. Not every machine though, odd.
The registry entries that fix the issue until the next round of Windows updates are:
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
Those two keys a bunch of different help sites on the web recommend, but never explain why it helps or what causes the issue.
The registry entries that fix the issue until the next round of Windows updates are:
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
Those two keys a bunch of different help sites on the web recommend, but never explain why it helps or what causes the issue.
If it is limited, isolated to one system it is possibly an OS issue, a repair install, might be in order. Update/upgrade to new version .....
ASKER
It is several systems, but with no discernible pattern. We got it before and after the new image we made, and that image was built from scratch using Windows 1909 about a month ago. It happened on 1809 and 1903 also. The issue after some research appears to be related to windows explorer, but it doesn't give any true indication of what is going wrong.
ASKER
*UPDATE*
Some updated information. Getting more granular with the problem now. After some research, the registry key that we delete as a temporary workaround is this:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHIN
That key is related to a DLL file, which functions in the desktop experience, specifically to internet explorer at startup or login. DLL file is: C:\Windows\System32\shell3
The file appears to have been updated the exact same day that the windows patches came out. I am not sure what this means, but I think it is leading me in the right direction.
Some updated information. Getting more granular with the problem now. After some research, the registry key that we delete as a temporary workaround is this:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHIN
That key is related to a DLL file, which functions in the desktop experience, specifically to internet explorer at startup or login. DLL file is: C:\Windows\System32\shell3
The file appears to have been updated the exact same day that the windows patches came out. I am not sure what this means, but I think it is leading me in the right direction.
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Which registry entries? Deleted from where?