Editing the Windows 7 Registry Offline

We're going to edit the Windows 7 registry and hopefully it should fix the issue.

1. Boot to the Windows 7 Recovery Partition by pushing F8 when booting up. (before you see the four balls form the Windows 7 flag) Use the arrows keys and select Repair Your Computer by pressing Enter/Return on your keyboard.
2. Wait a bit. A bar should be filling up on the bottom of your screen as the Recovery Partition loads.
3. Select your language and keyboard layout and click Next.
4. Select your user account on the computer and type in your password and click OK.
5. A System Recovery Options window will show up. Click on Command Prompt.
6. Type the following command: (After each line, push Enter/Return.)
regedit
7. A Registry Editor window should open
8. Left click once on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, but don't expand it. (don't click on the plus sign next to it)
9. At the top of the window, click on File -> Load Hive...
10. Browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\SOFTWARE
    • IMPORTANT NOTE: You'll be dropped into an X: drive! Please navigate to your Windows boot drive. (normally C:)
11. A small window will come up. In it, type "abc" for the "Key name" and push Enter/Return on your keyboard
12. In the left window pane, navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\abc\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
13. Click on the Winlogon folder and then look in the right window pane
14. In the left column of the right window pane, look for Shell
15. Make sure it ONLY says "explorer.exe" to the right of it (two columns over)
16. If it does not, change it now by double-clicking on Shell
17. In the left column of the right window pane, look for Userinit
18. Make sure it ONLY says "C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe," to the right of it (two columns over. NO QUOTES. THAT COMMA ON THE END IS IMPORTANT!) Also, make sure that there is nothing after the comma.
    • IMPORTANT NOTE: If you did not install Windows on the C: drive but another drive letter, replace C: above with the letter you use.
19. If it does not, change it now by double-clicking on Userinit
20. In the left window pane, navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\abc\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
21. Under the "Image File Execution Options" folder, (click the plus sign to the left of the folder) there will be other folders in the left window pane. Highlight and delete any of the following folders if they exist:
    alg.exe
    cmd.exe
    csrss.exe
    explorer.exe
    firefox.exe
    iexplore.exe
    logoff.exe
    logonui.exe
    lsass.exe
    regedit.exe
    rundll32.exe
    services.exe
    smss.exe
    spoolsv.exe
    svchost.exe
    taskmgr.exe
    userinit.exe
    winlogon.exe
    wpabaln.exe
    wscntfy.exe
    wuauclt.exe
22. Once all are fixed, unload the hive by going to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\abc and then going to File -> Unload Hive...
23. Confirm unloading
24. Close the Registry Editor
25. Close the Command Prompt.
26. Try restarting your computer in Normal or Safe Mode to see if you can log in.