Removed HDD now taskbar/windows problems

[petedread]

I removed a HDD from a laptop to scan it for virus and HDD errors from my more powerful pc. Put the drive back in the laptop and now I can not access start, cortana or notifications (windows 10) in fact very little works.
The laptop required a password and I thought I had turned it off before removing the hard drive. But I think I may not have done this properly and that this may have something to do with the problem.
The laptop starts and I can sign in But I can not create a new user account, (I thought this mite help).

Anybody got any ideas?

 

[Derek12]

I had those symptoms and was caused by a bad/corrupt user profile

 

[petedread]

Microsoft Edge won't open, windows media player opens but will not play a file, get this message;
Windows media player cannot access the file. The file might be in use, you might not have access the computer where the file is stored, or your proxy settings might not be correct

I had those symptoms and was caused by a bad/corrupt user profile

I think that might be what is going on here

 

[Kursah]

That's an option, you can usually repair Cortana and W10 Start Menu issues by using a PowerShell command. At worst an OS refresh (like a reinstall but you keep your profile and installed programs and data).

I have some info on what you need to do here.

 

[zsolt_93]

If it was a windows PC you scanned it on, it might have set the owner of some files to an invalid user, and that would cause such a freakout when the installed os tries to access those files on its own. I do not know what could possibly solve this besides a sfc /scannow or a repair.

 

[petedread]

I did a sfc /scannow but it came back with "no problems".
I get the feeling that I won't be able to do a OS refresh but I will give it a try.
might I be able to save the photos by hooking the drive up to my pc again?

 

[Kursah]

Dude check out the link I shared in my last post (if you missed it the bold word here is a link to another thread with a possible solution), did you attempt to perform the PowerShell command repair? I would definitely try that BEFORE performing an OS Refresh.

 

[petedread]

@Kursah nice post (link)
just did, my reply was a bit late

 

[petedread]

Yeah tried that earlier

 

[Kursah]

Yeah tried that earlier

Well let's find out better what all you've attempted, this well greatly help so we can better recommend you try what you have not, or catch something that needs modified to work better for you.

Please answer these:

Did you reboot after the PowerShell command?
What happened when you tried to run the command initially?
Did you try to use it more than once?
Do you have another profile you can logon to and test?
How about system restore, some folks have their setup...have you considered rolling back to a date before this issue occurred?
Have you checked your System Event Logs for reported errors, possibly something else causing issues here and this could be a piece of the puzzle. Hopefully not though!

Sorry that part I linked didn't prove helpful for you, in most cases I've seen, which are few...that fixed it.

All but the worst case...which an OS refresh was successful on. I have directions for how to do it and access the advanced menu in that same thread.

 

[petedread]

@Kursah Will try Get-AppXPackage and down loading the w10 start menu troubleshooter. Can not add account. might also try repair. I'm just coppying all files on to my pc at the mo.

 

[Kursah]

Sounds good, keep us posted.

 

[Jetster]

What did you scan it with? Just do a repair

 

[Guakamolly2]

I would try a repair using the windows 10 usb tool.