Windows 10: create administrator account to solve problem with start menu

Hello,
I'm trying to set up a second administrator account to solve problems I'm having with my start menu, following the instructions provided here:
How to reset the Start menu layout on Windows 10 | Windows Central
I have created a new local account, but cannot go any further because I have discovered that there is no Local Users and Groups entry in my Computer Management pane (I have Windows 10 Home, version 1709).
Can someone advise me where to go from here?
Many thanks,


:)

 

Windows 10 - Start menu no longer working and getting Critcial Error message.

Thanks. I solved it (for now) by creating another administrator account. I had to however move all my files as well as spend hours redoing my start menu.

 

Windows 10 bug

Thank you for the prompt response.

It is possible that the Start menu issue is caused by a corrupted user account. To help you resolve the issue with the Start menu, we advise creating a new local administrator account. Sign in using the new local administrator account and see if the issue
continues. For the steps on how to create a local administrator account, kindly refer to this

article.

Please respond back with the results.

 

Hi.
Once you created a new account, did you log off the current account and log into the new account, so that Windows could set everything up?

 

That's the bit where they tell you one way to enable the built-in Administrator account? Local Users and Groups is not available in Home, only in Pro and above. Fortunately here on TenForums we know many other ways to enable the built-in Administrator account.

*Arrow Enable or Disable Elevated Administrator account in Windows 10

But you don't have to enable the built-in Administrator, you just need another local administrator account to do the work. They did say you could create another local account and make that an administrator.

*Arrow Change Account Type in Windows 10

 

Thanks for your replies, Bree and simrick.

Before receiving them, I actually found a very good website in Italian (Fix malfunzionamenti del menu Start e Cortana su Windows 10) which gives 6 possible solutions for fixing a faulty start menu. I tried all of these, but it was the last one, involving the creation of another profile via the command prompt, which gave results. I had in fact suspected that this issue was linked to my account/profile.

The newly-created profile features a full start menu with all the envisaged live tiles. My problem now is that I can't merely past this profile over mine, as I have all sorts of documents, music, images and videos associated with my original profile. I just tried copying and pasting those entries in the new profile which would not have written over my files, but this did not change the start menu at all.

Where can I go from here?

 

Hi.
You need to copy over all your data from the corrupted account to the new account you just created. Then delete the corrupted account.

 

Does that include the AppData folder and the NTUSER.DAT file? What will actually be 'new' in the new account folder?

The corrupted account is huge, in that all my documents, music and videos are included (about 260 Gb).

 

NTUSER.DAT (and the associated ntuser.dat.LOG files) are where the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive is stored. That's also one of the places where the account corruption is likely to be, so you certainly don't want/need them (even if you could move them).

All your documents, music and video files can be moved or copied to the new profile's user folder, taking ownership, or at least granting yourself access to the old account's folder will be necessary to complete that. Access is easy using an administrator account, you just click on the folder and it asks 'do you want permanent access?'





%appdata% (that's the C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming folder) is a mixed bag, almost all apps store their working data and settings there. Some parts can be transferred or imported. For example, Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords etc. in your Profile under %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox. You'd need to look at the documentation for each app you use to see if/how their data can be transferred. Here's the one for Firefox. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb...ores-user-data


Edit: I've just spotted this post by VBF on another thread with some links you may fine helpful.

 

Thanks Bree. I have a lot of bookmarks etc. with Firefox, and would like to keep them in my profile.
So am I right in thinking that I can safely copy everything from the corrupted account, with the exception of the NTUSER.DAT file, to the new account? (I guess I'll be told if a particular app won't let me copy its settings).

 

I've never needed to fix a corrupt profile, so have no experience. Others like @Kari may be able to offer advice.

My first instinct would be NOT to copy the whole of the hidden AppData folder across. Rather, I would keep a copy of the old account's AppData folder somewhere safe (on a USB perhaps?) and pick out individual bits (like the Firefox profile) after researching the app's documentation to see if it's safe to do so.

Apart from any risks, there's a lot of junk in AppData you wouldn't want - all the temporary internet files for a start.

 

Just to keep you up to date...

Copying the content of the corrupted account (minus the NTUSER.DAT file) has been successful. My only problem now is how to delete my account (corrupted profile) and make the new one the main account.