Forcefully logging into Guest account on Windows 10 Enterprise 10074

This is not my problem, it is a friend of mine's problem, and he is currently stuck on mobile as he doesn't have access to another computer (as far as I know)

He upgraded from Windows 7 Enterprise to Windows 10 Enterprise Build 10074, he was able to log in the first few reboots, and now every time he reboots, he is forcefully logged into the Guest account.

He cannot open the Start Menu, access Settings app, nor anything else that could solve the issue (from what I know).

He can open programs in administrator.

Just wondering, could this be caused by a new build update that didn't install correctly?

Probably not the new build.

It's a little late to ask, but did your friend create an image of his hard drive before he upgraded? Or, does he have recovery disks he "should have" created when he first got the computer? I haven't had to do it, but he may be able to roll the Windows 10 installation back to Windows 7 Enterprise.

This won't help him out, but if he's running Window 7 Enterprise, I don't think he's eligible for an upgrade to Windows 10. If possible, he should "downgrade" his Windows 7.

Well, there is a Windows.old folder, would he be able to revert using that?

I would imagine Enterprise users that are running the Insider Preview would get upgraded for free, but I'm not sure on that.

That is actually the reason why he upgraded, and he was hyped up about it as he really likes the new features that Windows 10 brings.

I actually just now heard he got back into his account after we managed to get into netplwiz and disabled that users needed a username and password. We will try and upgrade to the new build and see where it takes us.

Though, this is still a problem for people upgrading to this build that is official.

EDIT: We renamed the Windows.old folder to Windows7old so if he does update, it won't get overwritten.

Also, his PC is custom built, so I'm not entirely sure if he could've made a recovery disc.

Arcturus said:

Well, there is a Windows.old folder, would he be able to revert using that?

I'm not sure that can be used. Also, he should be able to roll back to Windows 7, but that's way beyond my knowledge of Windows 10 upgrade. I never installed Win 10 over another OS. So, maybe someone more knowledgeable in this area can help.

Arcturus said:

I would imagine Enterprise users that are running the Insider Preview would get upgraded for free, but I'm not sure on that.

That is actually the reason why he upgraded, and he was hyped up about it as he really likes the new features that Windows 10 brings.

I've heard pro and con that all Insiders will get Windows 10 free, but I haven't read it for myself, so will withhold judgment on that. He can continue to test Windows 10, though. Of course, it will be a beta, but he'll have stuff before the general populace.

Arcturus said:

I actually just now heard he got back into his account after we managed to get into netplwiz and disabled that users needed a username and password. We will try and upgrade to the new build and see where it takes us.

Though, this is still a problem for people upgrading to this build that is official.

EDIT: We renamed the Windows.old folder to Windows7old so if he does update, it won't get overwritten.

Also, his PC is custom built, so I'm not entirely sure if he could've made a recovery disc.

Very good that he got back into his account. Also, since the computer is custom-built, I'm assuming he has a retail Windows 7 DVD. If it were me, and he has the hard drive space, I'd create a dual boot system. Then I'd reinstall Windows 7 on the first partition and Windows 10 on the second one. FYI, always install the older OS first, then the newer one when setting up a dual boot system.

I'm not sure that renaming Windows.old to Windows7old will protect it.

Well, my friend lost his Windows 7 key in the process of moving, and we actually forgot to copy the key off his system page while he was still on Windows 7; which is a massive, and very stupid mistake on our end.

I guess it isn't much of a loss as he was going to purchase a license key anyways, but if you still have a method on how we can retrieve it, that would be perfectly amazing!

Arcturus said:

Well, my friend lost his Windows 7 key in the process of moving, and we actually forgot to copy the key off his system page while he was still on Windows 7; which is a massive, and very stupid mistake on our end.

I guess it isn't much of a loss as he was going to purchase a license key anyways, but if you still have a method on how we can retrieve it, that would be perfectly amazing!

They didn't put the keys into the BIOS on Windows 7, so that's out. You could try Belarc Advisor free version. It should give you the keys for the current OS, but I'm not sure if it would go back to Windows 7. It may also be worth a try to look inside windows.old.

Go here for Belarc: Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit, for software, hardware and security configuration information on your computer. Software license management, IT asset management, cyber security audits, and more.

Belarc Advisor is a neat program that gives you lots of information with the free version and even more with the paid.

Wynona said:

They didn't put the keys into the BIOS on Windows 7, so that's out. You could try Belarc Advisor free version. It should give you the keys for the current OS, but I'm not sure if it would go back to Windows 7. It may also be worth a try to look inside windows.old.

Go here for Belarc: Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit, for software, hardware and security configuration information on your computer. Software license management, IT asset management, cyber security audits, and more.

Belarc Advisor is a neat program that gives you lots of information with the free version and even more with the paid.

I did use the Belarc Advisor, though I forgot about it as it was so long ago, when I was on Windows 7. I still have the logs and just checked. However, the key was only B's, 20 letters key, in this form: xxxxx-xxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxx, not xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. So that's also out...

I'll try to start looking for DVD somewhere again, have a better look. 2nd time might be a charm and not 3rd. I might have a few places that I just realized I missed. If no luck after some more tries, I'll ask some friends of mine who I can buy off of them...

Thanks for trying to help all the way to now, though.

Apakovtac said:

I did use the Belarc Advisor, though forgot about it as it was so long ago, when I was on Windows 7. I still have the logs and just checked now, unfortunately the key was only B's, 20 letters key, in this form: xxxxx-xxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxx, not xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. So that's also out...

Good to see you here, Apakovtac. Too bad about the Windows 7 key, but if you want to upgrade to Windows 10, an Enterprise key won't qualify you. Microsoft has said that Enterprise systems will not get the free upgrade. I think the reasoning behind this is that Enterprise is commercial (for business use).

Before you do anything else, I believe there's a way to roll back to Windows 7. I haven't personally done it because I dual boot. Let me look around and see if I can find a thread on rolling back.

Back in a bit . . .

Apakovtac said:

I'll try to start looking for DVD somewhere again, have a better look. 2nd time might be a charm and not 3rd. I might have a few places that I just realized I missed. If no luck after some more tries, I'll ask some friends of mine who I can buy off of them...

Thanks for trying to help all the way to now, though.

"I'll ask some friends of mine who I can buy off of them..."

Just be sure that the friend isn't still using Windows 7 on one of his/her computers and/or that it hasn't been upgraded to a later OS. Since Windows has to be activated, Microsoft has a list of every product key that's activated. Also, as far as I know, when an OS is upgraded, there's no way to "unmount" it like is possible with Adobe products. Microsoft can also tie upgrades back to the original OS key. I don't think you can call Microsoft and ask them to look up your key, though.

There are a whole raft of "gotchas" when buying a used copy of Windows 7; not the least of which is that those subscribing to Technet and/or MSDN have illegally sold product keys on Ebay. If you should get one of those by mistake, you will be told that you're running a non-genuine copy of Windows.

No problem with the help . . . I've been helped a lot more than I've helped others. :) We pay it forward when we can.

Wynona said:

Just be sure that the friend isn't still using Windows 7 on one of his/her computers and/or that it hasn't been upgraded to a later OS. Since Windows has to be activated, Microsoft has a list of every product key that's activated. Also, as far as I know, when an OS is upgraded, there's no way to "unmount" it like is possible with Adobe products. Microsoft can also tie upgrades back to the original OS key. I don't think you can call Microsoft and ask them to look up your key, though.

There are a whole raft of "gotchas" when buying a used copy of Windows 7; not the least of which is that those subscribing to Technet and/or MSDN have illegally sold product keys on Ebay. If you should get one of those by mistake, you will be told that you're running a non-genuine copy of Windows.

No problem with the help . . . I've been helped a lot more than I've helped others. :) We pay it forward when we can.

Oh I'm aware of the legal matters of the Windows genuine copy. I'm also aware about the Windows 7 already activated. I'll worry about that myself.