Sysprep issues. Account disappeared, directory and SID still there

Hello folks (Windows 10 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170)

Dealing with an issue here. I used sysprep to migrate a windows 10 installation to new motherboard and CPU. I used it multiple times on the same installation because it didn't work the first time.

Fast forward, I finally get windows to boot with the new hardware but my original user account disappeared. Everything seems gone but when I took a peek at C:/Users/velloria , all of my files are still there. Seems the account is still there but I'm unable to access it .

When I type in "net user" in command prompt is doesn't list the account. When I look up the SID in the registry, its there.
All of this leads me to believe my account still exists but somehow I can't get to it.

Anyone have any idea how I can bring my old user account back? I'm running out of ideas.
Does the computer name itself have anything to do with it? (like it used to be //Oldname but the new computer is now //DESKTOP-8K0TUA as seen in the screencap)

Thanks!

Welcome to TenForums!

The whole idea behind Sysprep is that it is supposed to generalize the Windows installation, so it is not supposed to bring forward your user accounts.

Sysprep is used to generalize your Windows installation, then the installation is provided specific details such as accounts to be created during installation via the unattend.xml and autounattend.xml answer files.

You may want to take a look at this tutorial for reference:

Create media for automated unattended install of Windows 10

hsehestedt said:

Welcome to TenForums!

The whole idea behind Sysprep is that it is supposed to generalize the Windows installation, so it is not supposed to bring forward your user accounts.

Sysprep is used to generalize your Windows installation, then the installation is provided specific details such as accounts to be created during installation via the unattend.xml and autounattend.xml answer files.

You may want to take a look at this tutorial for reference:

Create media for automated unattended install of Windows 10

Greetings and thanks for the warm welcome.

I realize what you've told me, I used sysprep inappropriately. I was meaning to do one thing but used the wrong tool.

In any case I'm still in the same position and needing to recover my account. I have a feeling some registry trickery is needed but don't know where to start.

Just for clarity, in order to have a complete picture of this scenario, what is the status of the original system? Is it still accessible and available or is it no longer available to work with?

I have two ideas on recovery, but you should make a full image backup before attempting them.

1. You can't recover the old SID for re-use, but it's possible to copy the old user profile to a new user account. Read this article:
Resurrecting "Account Unknown" Profiles from the Dead!

Temporarily rename \Users\velloria folder before recreating the account, so your files don't get clobbered.

2. Don't blindly use takeown/icacls to replace your files' ownership and permissions. That will eventually break something later on because you applied the wrong settings. Use SetACL command, like in this suggestion:
How to bind old user's SID to new user to remain NTFS file ownership and permissions after freshly reinstall of Windows?

Hopefully that works, but if not at least you can try to create a replacement user account, and move the old files back.

garlin said:

I have two ideas on recovery, but you should make a full image backup before attempting them.

1. You can't recover the old SID for re-use, but it's possible to copy the old user profile to a new user account. Read this article:
Resurrecting "Account Unknown" Profiles from the Dead!

Temporarily rename \Users\velloria folder before recreating the account, so your files don't get clobbered.

2. Don't blindly use takeown/icacls to replace your files' ownership and permissions. That will eventually break something later on because you applied the wrong settings. Use SetACL command, like in this suggestion:
How to bind old user's SID to new user to remain NTFS file ownership and permissions after freshly reinstall of Windows?

Hopefully that works, but if not at least you can try to create a replacement user account, and move the old files back.

Hi Garlin

Thank you for your help. I did in fact stumble upon the website you provided last night and I was successful in moving the dormant account to the new user account.

Problem solved! I'm so greatful. Hopefully someone can learn from my mistake. (Don't use sysprep to attempt to migrate windows 10 installation to new hardware, just plug in the harddrive!)
Also thanks for the additional advice. much appreciated.

-velloria

- - - Updated - - -

hsehestedt said:

Just for clarity, in order to have a complete picture of this scenario, what is the status of the original system? Is it still accessible and available or is it no longer available to work with?

Hi hsehestedt

I have since solved my issue by migrating the old account to a newly created account (see garlin's suggestion and link below)
to answer your question though, I did have access to the new OS in my situation but my account was inaccessible. Eventually a few registry tweaks worked out for me.

Thanks once again!

Consider yourself fortunate, and generalize was stopped before it actually deleted the old profile or user data. For normal cases, you're supposed to use USMT tool (from the Windows ADK) to migrate existing users to a new generalize/reinstall image.

Basically it bundles the profile & user files into a giant package, which is extracted to the new system preserving all the metadata. But it presumes the exact same apps have been pre-installed like the old system.