Interactive logon process initialization has failed.

Question

Recently my Win 7 (pro 64bit) computer does not start-up properly and stops with the following warning on a black screen:

"Interactive logon process initialization has failed.

Please consult the event log for more details."

I have browsed the internet (for days now!) for solutions (including this site) but none will work. Most will not because I cannot get into the system at all to apply them. No Safe boot, no repair possible, cannot apply that hotfix (437977_intl_x64_zip.exe) and so on... Downloading the Apllication.evtx and viewing it on my Win10 laptop does not help me either; the failure refers to a GUID {DBE9B383-7CF3-4331-91CC-A3CB16A3B538} (??)

The only option seems to be a (clean?) (re)install. I've tried upgrading to Win10 from a USB-stick, because I have installed and activated (legitimate) Adobe programs on the win7 system. But I have to do that also from within the installed system.

It  looks like a dead end to me...

So three questions if I may.

1. Is there anything I can do through the command prompt on the recovery disk to solve this issue? Replace files? Anything?
2. Would an upgrade to Win10 overcome the issue?
3. If not, how can I upgrade to Win10 from a USB stick ONLY? Or is a clean install required then?

Thank you!

Dick Bos

Answer 1

I guess the Microsoft engaged Support Engineer "expert" isn't getting the message that with that error message you will not be booting in any mode - or the fact that Microsoft IS the manufacturer.

It is a long shot but since you seem to be able to get to the Command Prompt from a recovery disk it would not hurt to run a chkdsk with error correction on the volume where Windows is installed, something like:

chkdsk  c:  /r

This disk checking can take a long time (perhaps several to many hours) depending on the size of the volume, the amount of data on the volume and what the disk checking finds to do.  Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find. 

Depending on the the speed of your system, the size of the volume, the amount of data on the volume and what chkdsk finds to do, it may take a long time for chkdsk with error correction to complete (several to many hours) or it may appear to be 'stuck'.  Be patient.  If the HDD light is still flashing, chkdsk is doing something so don't interrupt it.  It will finish eventually one way or the other.  Keep an eye on the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress.  It may even appear to go backwards sometimes.

Back in the good old days of XP some popular startup errors implied that certain critical files were missing or corrupt but the real issue was some minor corruption in the NT File System (NTFS) and Windows just could not find the files.  The chkdsk with error correction would fix the file system so Windows could find the files and all was good.

With your error it sure looks like the LogonUI.exe file is missing, but you verified it is present.

If the file system is slightly corrupted, maybe Windows can't find the file...

Answer 2

Agree with your comments on the MS 'expert' ElderN...

I tried everything I found as a possible solution on the internet, including chkdsk, to no avail.

Ended up reinstalling Windows 7 and all my software; what a pain...

I am now cloning that disk to a spare one in my system..

Thanks all