Problems with Adobe Lightroom appear to be from corrupted User Account

Thank you again, Denis, for your thoughts. Just to close things out because I like things tidy and I gather you do to, I'll respond to your suggestions as I think I must have said something incorrect along the way.

1 Go back to your post #11, click on Edit post then delete your docx file. It contains data in one part that you deliberately obscured in other parts so it's easier just to delete the file. I'll delete the copy I downloaded once I've dealt with any questions you might have.
Attachment 340941
Use the deletion procedure given for an image [they are handled in the same way in this forum]
How to remove a Screenshot or Image from TenForums.com Post - TenForumsTutorials

I"ll do this as I must have missed something I intended to block out.

2 I suggest you disable the Built-in Admin now that you've finished with it because keeping it enabled is a passwordless back door into your computer. Use the procedure in
Enable or Disable Built-in Elevated Administrator Account - TenForumsTutorials

I'll also do this. I'm not sure I've ever used this one as I used the other Admin accounts during this saga.

3 In your notes, you describe drsto as being a local account but it is an MSAccount [at the time of posting your accounts checks earlier]. That is shown in the Settings, Accounts screenshots.

I definitely misspoke when I said that. It is definitely an MSAccount with the user name "M S" but the email address starts with "drsto". It does have OneDrive since it's a different MS Account but nothing of value since I only use this account when I needed Admin access. It came in handy with these problems because I already had it so didn't need to create a new Admin account.

4 ...........
- Any "link to OneDrive" made in a browser belongs just to that browser. Whilst logged in to a local account, I went online using Edge and logged into my MSAccount and into a GMail account online & I set the Remember me option so I can use that to get straight into those accounts if I want to and can either use a shortcut to get to OneDrive or wade through the MSAccount's online menu system to find it.
- I also use IE & Firefox and they are not logged in to the MSAccount. I can go to MS websites and it does not think I am anybody in particular.

As I said in a previous post, I had tried that but got the message to connect to Windows Hello which I feared would turn my new, clean local account to an MS Account. I included a screen print of that message in that post above. At this point I'm all set with this vrom the other thread where I followed Brink's advice and blocked the MSAccount.

5 In your notes, you describe drsto as being rarely used. If you sometimes need it then keep it. If you do not want it then check for any useful files in C:\Users\drsto before deleting it.

I'll think about deleting it but it did come in handy. Plus you mention below creating new Admin accounts so why not just keep this one I have?

6 Mickey, which I think is now your main user account, has a very strange user folder path. I suggest you put up with it but I really do not know why it came to be named that way.

"Mickey" was the first new local account I set up in the beginning of our discussions. The User Account folder that was connected to it is labeled "Mickey.MICKEY-LAPTOP". I think because the folder for the "bad" account was Mickey also (but no ".MICKEY-LAPTOP") even though the user name itself was longer and the registry used "micke" from the email address. We believed that there was confusion in Windows between these two accounts. I will delete both accounts once I'm sure I have everything I need out of them.

7 In your notes, you describe david as being rarely used and not needed. Since you do not want it then check for any useful files in C:\Users\David before deleting it.

This is the account my husband uses when we travel and he needs to use my laptop so I don't plan on deleting it.

8 So, what to do with Mickey-LR Bad? I suggest that you leave it as it is while you set up your new day-to-day user account and then disable it using the same procedure as in para 2 but with the username, which you'll have to enclose in quotes, "Mickey-LR Bad".

I will delete it once I'm sure I have everything I need. Just to be clear, this one has the User Account folder "Mickey" and when it was an MSAccount it was the "micke" registry entry. A long time ago I changed the name in File Explorer from "micke" to "Mickey".

9 The account micke exists but has no profile in the Registry or folder in C:\Users. That normally merely means that it has never been logged in to. I can also see that micke has been disabled.
- I assume that micke was disabled without ever having been logged in to.
- Wasn't this the account you said you had to create the user folder for? But there is no user folder called that.

See above. This one got orphaned when I changed the bad account from a MS linked Account to a local account.

10 Given what you wrote in that other thread, I assume you have already converted the MSAccount-linked user accounts to be local accounts. I hope I have written these notes in a manner that still makes sense.

I didn't convert anything as I wanted to start fresh with a brand new local account. User Profile is MHS and folder, wmic and registry all match.

11 It can be useful to have a spare, local, Admin, password-protected user account so you have a ready means of getting into the computer even if your day-to-day user account gets corrupted. My procedure for doing this is in my ditty - Create two spare local, password-protected Admin accounts [post #2] - TenForums

I agree that a spare Admin account is helpful which is why I plan to keep the "M S" account I was using even though it is a MSAccount. If I really need a new Admin local account I'll create one then.

Thanks again for all your help and time. All the best,
Mickey

I know and that's why I think there's confusion in Windows. Here's a new copy of net user.



micke - the original user account folder name, actual User Name in the UI was Mickey S************. It doesn't show in File Explorer since I changed it from micke to Mickey. I probably did it wrong several years ago but didn't know since I didn't have problems.
Mickey-LR Bad - was created when I switched micke/Mickey S from an MS Account to a Local Account. I picked this name in the UI while making the switch. It doesn't show in File Explorer. I think it because I never changed the file name once I realized the mess. I'm pretty sure it was still using the "Mickey" from above in the UI based on the Test document I created to see where it got stored.
New local account created a few days ago shows as Mickey.MICKEY-LAPTOP in File Explorer. I have no idea which one it is in net user but I presume it is "Mickey" . It probably doesn't matter at this point as they all will be deleted once I'm confident in my new ID.

New net user screen print shows my new account, MHS so that's all I'm going to worry about now. We've both spent way too much time on this.

I just finished following the instructions for removing/disabling the Administrator account at your suggestion and rebooted so I'm not sure why that is still showing. Is it possible this isn't the hidden Admin account and is instead an Admin account I set up when computer was new without a password? If it is, I'll add a password to it.