Windows: “You’ve been signed in with a temporary profile.” You: “Not again!” Registry Editor: “I can fix this.”

Registry path:

1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Quick Fix Steps

  1. Open Registry Editor (Win+R → regedit)
  2. Navigate to the path above
  3. Look for your user profile (identified by ProfileImagePath showing C:\Users\YourName)
  4. Check for duplicate SID entries - one may end with .bak

Common scenarios:

Scenario 1: Duplicate entries with .bak

  • Delete the SID entry without .bak extension
  • Rename the .bak entry to remove the .bak suffix

Scenario 2: State value issue

  • Find the correct SID entry
  • Double-click State field
  • Change value from 1 to 0

Warning:

  • Backup registry before making changes
  • Create system restore point first
  • Wrong SID modification can cause login issues

Identification: Each SID (S-1-5-xxx) entry contains ProfileImagePath showing the actual username path like C:\Users\John.