How to reset the default user account on win 7

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My problem is simple: Something is broken in the default windows user account, meaning that each time I create a new user account, the newly created one is broken too.

I simply want to reset that default account, without formatting if possible.

For information: the problem with the new accounts is that nothing appears on them except the solid BG color and the mouse pointer. No icons, no taskbar, no windows/start menu icon, no reaction to super/windows keypress... Ctrl-alt del and Ctr-Shift-Escape still work though.

EDIT : When a faulty account is logged on (blank desktop as described above), I can Ctrl-Alt-Del to get the task manager and force start explorer.exe. It is launched, then crashes a few seconds after without anything of interest showing on the desktop. Windows log gets the entry below

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7601.17567, time stamp: 0x4d672ee4
Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000000000
Faulting process id: 0x1274
Faulting application start time: 0x01d059aa8fa335c6
Faulting application path: E:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: unknown
Report Id: cddc31d6-c59d-11e4-bbad-d43d7e947541
windows-7
user-accounts
asked on Super User Mar 5, 2015 by PPC • edited Mar 8, 2015 by PPC

1 Answer

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OK, sounds like the problem with the default account is that Windows Explorer is set not to start.

Quick Fix - Method 1

1) Go into Task Manager via CTRL + ALT + DELETE

2) Click File

3) Click 'Run new task

4) Type in 'explorer.exe' and press enter

The icons should appear.

Last Resort - Method 2

1) Go into Start and type 'task sch' - click Schedule tasks (in Windows 8) or Task Scheduler (Windows 7).

2) Click 'Create Task'

3) Follow the wizard, name and description of your choice. The trigger should be 'At log on' and then 'Of any user' underneath.

4) Set the action as 'Start a program', and point it to "C:\Windows\System32\explorer.exe"

5) On the conditions tab, ensure that 'Start the task only if the computer is on AC power' and 'Stop if the computer switches to battery power' are unchecked.

6) Under the settings tab, uncheck 'Allow task to be run on demand', and check 'Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed'. Also uncheck 'Stop the task if it runs longer than:'.

answered on Super User Mar 5, 2015 by TomWebPerson • edited Mar 5, 2015 by DavidPostill

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