How to Repair Userinit.exe
System File Checker
1. Turn on the computer. Begin pressing the “F8” key as soon as the BIOS Setup screen disappears. This opens an Advanced Boot Options screen.
2. Press the down-arrow key to select 'Safe Mode with Command Prompt' and press “Enter.”
3. Type “CD C:\” in the Command Prompt and press “Enter.” This changes the Command Prompt’s workspace to the root directory.
4. Type “SFC /Scanfile=C:\Windows\System32\Userinit.exe” at the prompt and press “Enter.” This executes the System File Checker process.
5. Type “Exit” to close the prompt and reboot if you receive a message stating Windows successfully found and repaired a corrupt file. However, if the message states Windows could not find any integrity violations, rename the Userinit.exe file to force System File Checker to replace it.
Rename and Replace
6. Type the following command in the prompt:Rename C:\Windows\System32\Userinit.exe “Userinit.old”
7. Press the “Enter” key to issue the command. This renames the current Userinit executable.
8. Type “SFC /Scanfile=C:\Windows\System32\Userinit.exe” and press “Enter.” The System File Checker sees that the Userinit.exe file is no longer in the System32 directory and rebuilds a new copy for you.
9. Type “Exit” and press “Enter” to close the Command Prompt, then boot into Windows. Once you have successfully logged in without any further Userinit-related errors, you may delete the old file.
Delete the Old File
10. Click “Start.” Type “CMD” in the Search line and press “Enter.”
11. Right-click “CMD.exe” and click “Run as Administrator” to open an elevated prompt.
12. Type “Del C:\Windows\System32\Userinit.old” and press “Enter.” This removes the old file.