User accounts missing, restore points unavailable 0x80070057

Having turned on my Windows 7 Ultimate x64 I found my user accounts to be missing and was left with an Administrator account. It seems that the system has reverted to a very old restore point. I have tried using the restore points (recent ones are displayed, but I get the 0x80070057 error). My data seems to be intact.

I have Windows and all programs stored on an internal SSD-drive and the data on an internal harddrive. I also have a recent Acronis image on a NAS. I am hoping there might be a way to solve the problem without using the image.

I have tried booting in Safe Mode, but the restore points are still not functioning.

Thank you

EDIT: I remembered that I had used a new USB-stick which would not eject correctly, before turning off the computer. I tried reinserting the USB-stick before restarting the system and... everything went back to normal.

This is great, but even though I am now able to eject the USB-stick correctly, the problem comes back when I restart without the USB-stick.

Instead of messing with this, just restore the Acronis image. Just make sure you save any data that was created/updated after the image was made.

I don't think you'll ever find the cause but one way to fix this is to create a new account then copy everything over from the old account, which should still be under C:\Users.

See here: Fix a corrupted user profile

Had another thought on this. Set Folder Options so you are showing all files, including Hidden system files, then look at the content of the USB flash drive. See if there are any system files there of any files you would not expect to be there.

Very strange indeed, but glad you got it working. Thanks for letting me know.