All the programs & the files are gone but the C/: memory is the same.

OmarAladdin · 11 Dec 2013

I was on a rush this afternoon so I removed the battery of my laptop to switch it off instead of doing it through the start menu (the proper way) and when I arrived home and switched my laptop on I find this message while booting
"Preparing Your Desktop"
Notice that I'm using (Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit)
so when it finished and started up I found all my desktop icons and files are gone. All the programs are no where to be found in the start menu, though the C/: driver appears with the same occupied memory space it was before this happens. The Windows now looks like new out of the box. Looks like it's back to the factory setting.
Desktop is empty, Downloads file is empty, programs are all gone but the memory is the same.

so I check the 'ProgramFiles' to find the programs, they were not deleted, but they're not working.
___________________
Well I found out that I'm logging automatically into another user account that the windows automatically boot up to without the option to choose. Where I find this c/:Users/Temp
and C/:Users/Omar so I guess now I'm on the Public account.
HOW TO SOLVE THIS?

What Happened? How can I get back my files and programs?
Please help me with this as all the files on the desktop were extremely important and I got no copies for them.

crafty100 · 12 Dec 2013

just had the same problem, i can access my documents but have to go through C:> users>.
It also still says in the control panel that I am logged in as my account and still the admin, but everything else seems to be as if it is a temporary or public user.
I have spoken to Microsoft and it is not an update problem. But dont worry, my computer is a desktop, tuned off the proper way and I still have the same thing.

What anti-virus software are you using? maybe it was an update for one we have in common

OmarAladdin · 12 Dec 2013

I'm using AVG Antivirus, but I think it has nothing to do with anti-viruses or malicious software.
What happened is it lost registry setting and set my original account to backup status and created a Temp account to boot up directly to.
Here's what I found:

First I saw this link;
User profile status set to backup - Microsoft Community

and then I was directed into this link and used "Option One";
User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded.

Fortunately it worked just fine.
Thank you for replying!

ProstarComputer · 12 Dec 2013

Is your data present anywhere? I think you're going to need to reinstall your programs, but if you have data you need to preserve, you should be able to access it by navigating the C:\Users directory.

In the future, always shutdown from the start menu. If you're in a hurry, you can close the lid and allow the laptop to sleep as long as you have enough battery power to keep the laptop suspended in sleep mode.