Windows 10: Disabling "Onboard WLAN" in BIOS temporarily corrupts user profiles???

I have encountered a very strange issue...



I installed a new PCI-e WLAN card when I got a new case because I couldn't use the little antenna cable for the onboard card since the new case is powder coated. In order to prevent Windows from using the onboard card I disabled it via Device Manager. I then proceeded to disable "Onboard WLAN" in my BIOS. This is where I encountered the issue.



When I restarted my PC the lock screen appeared normally with my selected background but when I first tried to sign in I got an error, "Windows could not connect to the user service" or something similar (I'm too paranoid to recreate the issue to get the actual message). The second time I signed in I received another error saying the Recycle Bin on drive C: was corrupted, asking if I wanted to empty it (even though it was already empty). I clicked "no" then the sign in screen showed "Preparing Windows." When I eventually signed in it appeared that my profile had been completely reset to factory settings. Fair to say I nearly cr***ed myself when it happened (excuse my Scots). I immediately rebooted and re-enabled "Onboard WLAN" in the BIOS. This time when I signed in everything had returned to normal with no errors as though nothing had ever happened...


My user profile is linked to my MS account but it is set to use the Local account instead.


What on earth is going on? Why is onboard WLAN is required to access the user service on my SSD??? Can someone please explain?


System specs:
System: Custom built. Mobo & CPU from an old HP Pavilion P6000 (Win10 thinks it's an ASUS -not Acer- Aspire 5750)

Mobo: MSI 2A9C/MS7613/N1996 (too many different names, one will be the right one)
BIOS: American Megatrends/Hewlett-Packard v6.16 (18/03/2011 - never updated)
C: drive: Kingston A400 480GB SSD (brand new)
CPU: i5 650 3.2GHz
OS: Win10 Home x64 1809 build 17763.615 (was originally a clean install)

User profiles: 1 (me, admin)

:)

 

Corrupted User Profile

Hi,

There maybe a couple of reasons behind this misbehavior such as a corrupted system file. However, we would like to be able to verify which process exactly is corrupted.

• When you install, does it give you any form of error message when it fails?
• What other processes doesn't go through on the said User account?

As per troubleshooting, you may refer to
Likhitha V's response on this thread. See if it applies to you. However,
just to give you a heads up. The steps are about creating a new user profile and deleting the current one. I suggest you back up your files so you may be able to transfer it. You can also find information about it on the same thread.

We'll be waiting for your response. If you have any other concerns, don't hesitate to come back to us.

 

Installing Sound Card - need to disable onboard in BIOS?

Nope, it either disables it automatically or you have 2 sound cards installed.

Besides that you could try to use a decent topic title as suggested in the guidelines.

 

Corrupted user profile

Hi Mason,

It is possible that this issue is due to the corrupted user profile. To properly troubleshoot the issue, kindly verify the following:

• Have you tried using another user profile and test the issue?
• Have you tried performing a clean boot to eliminate software conflicts?
• Have you tried running System File Checker to check for any file corruption?
  

We're looking forward to your response.