VISTA error - user profile service has stopped working

[wellsimon]

Hi there,

Dear all, I keep getting this error nearly everyday now:
user profile service has stopped working

This is on Windows Vista Ultimate, on a Dell XPS M1330 laptop not older than 3 months.
I have contacted Dell and they blame Microsoft, I have spoken to Microsoft and they blame Dell.

I need help!:(:(

Oh, just to complete the above post:
If I ignore the error box, the system starts getting slower and slower until nothing works at all. (less than 30 min)
If I close the error box as soon as it pops up, the system seems to be fine for a while (approx 4-6 hours) then it starts getting slower little by little and eventually I have to restart it.

[laurentio]

I am still waiting for an answer from Microsoft. I had exactly the same error and I believe that it is something to do with a faulty hardware most probable the hard drive.
In my case the hard drive was faulty and once changed it all stopped. I had no chance to experiment more but I am planning to put the old drive in and run a few special tests.

I have been in touch with Microsoft 3 times now for 45 min each time. Unfortunately Microsoft has no solution to this issue from what I can see, which once again makes me believe that it is a hardware related problem.
Meanwhile I would suggest you try this:

1) Run a HDD check from your system's Bios if you have that option, if not it still can be done from Windows.

2) Remove Norton Antivirus as it was suggested by a Microsoft Support Agent.

3) Turn off DEP (Data Execution Prevention)

Make sure you let us know if any of the above posted solutions applies to your system. Also, post the OS version and the HDD make, the model and capacity.
Thank you.

[liz3tte]

FIXED!
Thank you for the posted solution. I have removed Norton and disabled DEP. It hasn't crashed since.
Thank you!

[Unregistered]

I am still waiting for an answer from Microsoft. I had exactly the same error and I believe that it is something to do with a faulty hardware most probable the hard drive.
In my case the hard drive was faulty and once changed it all stopped. I had no chance to experiment more but I am planning to put the old drive in and run a few special tests.

I have been in touch with Microsoft 3 times now for 45 min each time. Unfortunately Microsoft has no solution to this issue from what I can see, which once again makes me believe that it is a hardware related problem.
Meanwhile I would suggest you try this:

1) Run a HDD check from your system's Bios if you have that option, if not it still can be done from Windows.

2) Remove Norton Antivirus as it was suggested by a Microsoft Support Agent.

3) Turn off DEP (Data Execution Prevention)

Make sure you let us know if any of the above posted solutions applies to your system. Also, post the OS version and the HDD make, the model and capacity.
Thank you.

When I attempt to turn off DEP I am offered a list of programs from which I must choose to apply the "off" setting. There is no option offered that simply turns off DEP. If I am attempting to turn off User account control which program should I select?

[laurentio]

How do you turn off DEP? It looks like you're at the wrong menu :)

[Unregistered]

How do you turn off DEP? It looks like you're at the wrong menu :)

I used the following sequence:

>Right click Computer, select properties
>Advanced system Settings
>Performance
>Settings
>Data Execution Prevention

There are then two options offered:
-Turn on DEP for essential windows programs and services only
-Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select

the second option, if selected, offers me a menu of many system 32 programs as well as many others. Do i want option two and , if so, which program do I then select?

If there is an easier menu to use that disables all DEP please let me know how to locate it.
Thanks

[Unregistered]

BTW - I am running Vista home premium with SP1 on a Dell inspiron 1525

[laurentio]

If a program is failing and you want to disable DEP to see if that is the cause. Here are the steps. (Just disable DEP for the program in question… don’t disable it for your whole system.)

1. Click Start
2. Select Control Panel
3. Select System
4. Click the Advanced tab
5. In the Performance region select Settings
6. Click the Data Execute tab in the dialog box that opens
7. Select Turn on DEP for all programs and services except for those I select
8. Click Add.
9. The open dialog box will open. Browse and select your application.
10. Click Open
11. Click Apply
12. Click OK
13. Reboot

Or, if you want to completely turn DEP off or disable DEP just modifying the Boot.ini file and change the /noexecute policy level to alwaysoff.

NoExecute=AlwaysOff


In detail:


1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Tools > Folder Options > View
3. Uncheck "Hide Protected operating system files (Recommended)" and "Hide extensions for knows file types"
4. Click apply, and OK
5. Go to c:
6. Right click on boot.ini, select properties and ensure the "read-only" tab is unchecked and click OK
7. Double-Click boot.ini
8. Modify /noexecute= for example /noexecute=AlwaysOff to disasble completely
9. File > Save As
10. Filename: "boot.ini" (with the quotes) Save As Type:All Files Encoding: Ansi
11. Click yes to Replace the existing file.
12. After Saving, close file.
13. Right click on boot.ini, select properties and ensure the "read-only" tab is checked and click OK
14. Reboot

[TheSelf]

I have this same problem- at least it occurs every time I boot up my system- ever since I did a scan and quarantined some anomalies that came up from malwarebyte's antimalware and superantispyware -I'm contemplating turning off DEP, but am not clear how to workout which .exe file to turn it off for- how do I verify which program/s and/or service/s I turn off DEP for (there is no indication what's causing the error message that comes up)? what security risks would I be opening my system up to if I turned off/disabled DEP entirely by modifying the Boot.ini file?

thank you for sharing!

With gratitude