Blank start screen, failing to load outlook pst file. Cannot copy folders from C:\users\myuser

Something is massively broken with my user profile, and I'm struggling to find a fix!!

When logged in as "myuser" my start screen is completely blank. Clicking the down arrow and it appears as if there are no programs installed. Search cannot find results for any programs or files. I cannot open the "PC Settings" app.

Opening Outlook it cannot read my .pst file.

When I try to copy the contents of the C:\Users\myuser directory to another location, it cannot copy the folders, the destination folder remains empty.

Sounds like something has gone majorly wrong with my profile folder, but I cant figure out what. Antivirus is ESET smart security, if that helps!

Neil P

Posted 2014-12-24T17:06:26.183

Reputation: 258

Sounds annoying. What have you tried to repair it so far? Have you run a disk check to ensure you don't have file-system/disk corruption? If you log in as a different user does it work OK? How about if you reboot into Safe Mode? Why mention ESET, do you suspect a virus for some reason? What's your actual question you'd like an answer to?

– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-12-24T17:25:13.800

In the end the windows "start up repair" fixed it. Thanks for reminding me there was more I could check :) Only mentioned antivirus in case there were any known issues with it accidentally quarantining things it shouldnt! – Neil P – 2014-12-24T19:22:54.397

Answers

I fixed it by doing a "Start up repair" (not sure what the exact issue was, but windows was clever enough it detect and fix it).

Hold down shift and click "restart" in the shutdown menu. Select "advanced options" when prompted. Then select "Start up repair". Wait for windows to restart and do it's thing.

After doing this, my start screen icons returned and I could run Outlook perfectly fine :)

Neil P

Posted 2014-12-24T17:06:26.183

Reputation: 258

you should be able to mark this as the accepted answer and thus effectively mark this question as complete. – Mokubai – 2014-12-27T22:49:39.063

I had to wait 2 days to do it, thanks for the reminder :) – Neil P – 2014-12-29T09:47:14.180

-1

Try to create a new user and verify if the new profile get broken. Than, with administrative privileges, you can copy all needed files from old profile to new one.

maudam

Posted 2014-12-24T17:06:26.183

Reputation: 344