Windows Server stops responding during the sign-in process of a custom account

This article helps resolve an issue in which Windows Server stops responding when you use a custom account that has an auto-start service to sign in.

When you use a custom account to sign in to Windows Server, the system stops responding:

• During the sign-in process.
• On the Applying user settings screen.
• On the Getting devices ready screen.
• On a gray screen.

This issue occurs when the following conditions are true:

• The Delete user profiles older than a specified number of days on system restart group policy is configured and enabled.
• There are profiles that meet the cleanup requirements of the group policy.
• The system has components that have registered for profile deletion notifications. And at least one component is making a call (direct or indirect) that needs to acquire data from the Service Control Manager (SCM) components. For example, start, stop, or query information about a service.
• A service is configured to start automatically for a custom account but not a built-in account.

This issue is fixed in Windows Server 2016 and later versions.

To work around this issue, disable the Delete user profiles older than a specified number of days on system restart group policy. If you want to clean up profiles, configure a scheduled task or script instead of the group policy.