Windows 10: Windows 8 stuck in recovery loop with no administrator accounts

I'm helping a friend with her laptop that is stuck in recovery mode and all options selected lead to a message saying there are no admin accounts. I've tried about everything I can think of and have had no luck. I found older posts here with a similar problem but none of the solutions is working for me. I've tried booting to usb and it only leads me to the same recovery page that leave me unable to do anything other than restart. I can't get it to safe mode. I can get to the bios and everything seemed fine there. I've tried several usb sticks and a couple different OS's on a life usb drive as

:)

 

stuck in recovery

Hi Alexander,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand that your computer is stuck in Automatic repair loop. In this case, I would suggest you to try the following methods:

Disconnect all external devices connected to the computer except essential devices like keyboard and mouse and then boot the computer and check. Sometimes, issues with external devices could cause issues with Windows startup. If the issue still persists,
try the following methods.

Method 1: Run SFC/SCANNOW command in Windows 10:

• 
  Left click on Start button.
  
• 
  Right click on Command Prompt (Admin) option which will let you run
  'Run as administrator’.
  
• 
  Command Prompt Window pops up.
  
• 
  Type: SFC /SCANNOW and hit Enter.
  

You can also follow the link below for reference:

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files

Try the following steps to run DISM scan to check and restore system file corruption:

• 
  Open command prompt by pressing Windows key + X and selecting “Command prompt admin”.
  
• 
  In command prompt, type the following commands and press Enter after each command:
  
  DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth
  
  DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
  

Check to see if the issue is resolved. If not, restart the PC.

Method 2: If the above steps didn’t fix the issue, then I would suggest you to perform a system restore to an earlier date prior to this issue. Refer to these steps to perform a system restore from within the Windows recovery
environment:

• When you enter the blue screen with advanced options (Windows recovery environment), click on ‘Troubleshoot’.
• Now, click on ‘Advanced options’ and then click on ‘System Restore’.
• Follow the prompts and choose a restore point created before this issue started.

Please let us know how it goes. We will be happy to assist you further.

Thank you.

 

Administrator level User

Use Option Five again, but this time boot from a Windows 10 install usb or recovery drive. You only get asked to select an administrator account if you boot from the system's own Advanced Startup.

 

Settings can't be opened using the built-in administrator account


Hello,
Unfortunately I have the same issue as Dabz from upgrading win7 to win10.
I've tried opening settings using all the suggested methods and it will not load using my account with Administrator access nor the built-in Administrator profile. I also tried other methods not listed such as using Run. Control panel is just a stepping stone to add users in Settings.
I'm also having explorer.exe issues, which I believe is preventing Settings from loading.
Using cmd (Admin) I successfully created a new user profile [and granted admin access also using cmd (Admin)], however win10 will not allow this account to log on. win10 does not list this new user within control panel but it does in the start menu. win10 will not allow to log in or switch to the new account via the start menu either.
I can access settings in Safe Mode but this will not allow me to create a new account.
Any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers