FIX: Windows 7 Login Error "The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed."

UPDATE: Omg, awesome! Use PowerShell's Reset-ComputerMachinePassword, then reboot. Hat tip: Don't Rejoin to Fix.

Don't do what I did below. Just run Reset-ComputerMachinePassword in PowerShell and reboot.


Recently, my workstation was suddenly unable to logon to my Windows 2008 domain. After entering my domain username and password at startup, I was presented with the error: "The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed."

Ahh, I've experienced something similar before and I knew I'd have to rejoin the domain. I hoped and prayed that my user profile wouldn't be recreated and fortunately, I found a solution that not only worked, but my profile stayed the exact same:

My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Computer Name -> Network ID... -> This is part of a business network... -> My Company uses a network with a domain -> Next -> Enter your domain username and password -> "An Account for this computer ("COMPUTERNAME") has been found on the domain "DOMAIN." Would you like to use this? Yes -> Add the following domain user account (the one you usually logon with) -> Administrator (if that's how you roll) -> Finish -> Restart.

For those of you looking to resolve your trust issues, I hope this works for you as seamlessly as it did for me.