WIN 10 22 H2 Desktop, no folders/files, no icons on taskbar, no startup apps

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04.26.24

Most recent update to Windows

05.01.24

Updated  Firefox version to 125.0.2

05.02.24

Trouble with Firefox on cold boot

Could only open 1 tab

Running very slow

All icons on my taskbar were missing

Message about error with runtimebroker.exe

Restarted PC  several times, used autorepair to diagnose, advanced options to troubleshoot, nothing helped

Chose option to restore a restore point I manually created before FF update

05.03.24

Restore point succeeds

Login to PC

Windows starts

Desktop looks like it’s from a different user; only several shortcuts to Google apps, printer app,antivirus app

No icons on taskbar, no startup apps working, no folders or files on desktop

Restart PC again; message says problem w/my Microsoft account, tells me to sign in again to fix, did that, message says OK, but nothing changes on desktop

Search with WIN key shows all my normal apps

Search with swiftsearch app shows files that should be on desktop

Check Firefox status, says 125.02 is installed, so WHAT DID SYSTEM RESTORE ACTUALLY RESTORE TO? (another update available)

WHAT’S NEXT?

Restart pc again?

Update Firefox to 125.0.3?

Something else?

Moderator Note: Retrieved from spam bucket and cleaned up formatting codes.

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Replies

Whenever your user profile is gone it’s some software (or sometimes a hardware issue) that is slowing down the boot process so that the system can’t load.

First reboot.

Second – using any third party antivirus program – if so uninstall it and reboot.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Thank you for your reply. Did as you suggested, problem persists. Will try the suggestion below from another forum participant.

 

Would like to know how to back up user profile before attempting repair.

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runtimebroker.exe is normally associated with Microsoft Store Apps.

It sounds like your User Profile is corrupt.

Try downloading and running the free portable app Account Profile Fixer from Carifred.

https://www.carifred.com/apf/

 

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Thanks for your suggestion. Before I try to repair with this app, I’d like to know how to back up the profile.

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Sorry about the formatting, thanks for letting me know & fixing it for me.

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sherylschuff wrote:

I’d like to know how to back up the profile.

Any third-party drive imaging program that has a folders and files backup option will work…

Macrium does.

I personally use Hasleo Backup Suite specifically for that purpose.

Note: To restore a profile using an imaging program, you will need to boot with the vendor’s rescue disk. Be sure to make one beforehand.

1 user thanked author for this post.

sherylschuff

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and update Firefox to version 125.0.3, which was first released April 29 (another but very important non-security bug fix):

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/125.0.3/releasenotes/

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