Vista x64 Error: Profile Service Failed Logon

Logging onto my home network I received the following error this week:

The User Profile Service service failed the logon.
User profile cannot be loaded.

I found the following two solutions online but chose the second because my profile contained a great deal of information (desktop icons, etc.) that I didn't want lost (I do use Windows Live OneCare but I didn't trust that I had current backup)...

1. Delete profile and restore from backup (this is the official Microsoft solution - Article ID: 947215).
   
   
2. In the Windows Registry locate the key for your profile (under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentUser\ProfileList\), delete the one with the .bak extension, and rename the Temp profile.