Sudden switch from Local User to MS account - can not switch back

I am thinking there is some sort of corruption in the existing account that we just can't seem to overcome.
My suggestion would be to make sure the new local account has admin rights, copy all your user data over from the corrupt account to the new account, and then delete the old account. You will, of course, need to re-do all your customizations.

lrw said:

Funny thing is, though, the old local account does not show up in settings for accounts. It only flinched when I tried to add the old account with command prompt.

It does not show up in settings for accounts, when you are in the corrupt account?

lrw said:

Any chance that I could rename the C:/Users/NewAcctName to C:/Users/JunkName and the old name to my C:/Users/NewAcctName, to save copying everything and still get all my customizations back?

Unfortunately, no, I am pretty sure it can't be done. The old local account took on the new MS account - once an account has been made on the machine, it can't be made again later.

lrw said:

Or if that is just a stupid idea, what's the best way to copy the data over? Is there a cmd prompt way to do it or best choice on how to do it tutorial?

Well, one way is to delete the corrupt account, telling windows to save the data. This would put a folder on the desktop of the new local account of the old account's data. Then you could move it all to the proper locations. BUT, seeing as how this account is corrupt, I wouldn't trust it to work properly....so I would open two File Explorer windows side-by-side and copy/paste from old to new account.
How much data are we talking about?

lrw said:

So how do I delete the old account and save the data? Windows does not show it in the settings or control panel.

When you go into Control Panel>User Accounts> (from the new local account you created), you have the option to "manage other accounts". You can then select to delete the corrupt account, and when you click on delete you *should* get an option to "save user data". Normally, this would take all user files and save them to a folder on the desktop of the user account you are currently logged in to. I've done it many times, and it works fine. But, the fact that the account you'd be deleting is corrupted, makes me cautious. Who knows what else is wrong with it? Enough that saving the data to a folder doesn't work properly? Then some or all of your data could be lost.

Your answer here is to use an external hard drive. You should have one anyway for backup.

lrw said:

It is quite a bit of data ... 475GB and about 254,000 files and assuming that I need at least that amount of space to copy to, I'm out of luck. I only have 380GB free.

Yes, you most certainly should have a backup method in place, especially if you have that much data to protect!

lrw said:

Let's assume it is possible to copy all the data that I need to the new local account ... How do I get any of the following stuff copied to the new account:

1. Scheduled Tasks

Compare the current scheduled tasks in the corrupted account. Make a note of any that are not present in the new account and create them again.

lrw said:

2. Email accounts

Email needs to be re-setup in the new account (same way you did it in the corrupted account).

lrw said:

3. Dropbox settings

Dropbox will need to be setup again (same way you did it in the corrupted account).

lrw said:

4. Browser favourites, etc.

Favorites/bookmarks can be exported from the corrupted account browser(s) and imported into the new account browser(s). The method depends on which browsers you are using. This is easily found by googling. We can walk you through that if you need help.

lrw said:

5. Does software need to be reinstalled? Ie Office products, other such as Filmora.

All software installed on the system is available to all users on the system *unless* you installed a particular program to be available *only* to the corrupted user account. (I'm not even sure you would get this option if you installed with only one account existing at the time.)

lrw said:

of course all my recent files will be pointing at the wrong /User/OldLocal ...

In the new account, you will have no MRUs (Most Recently Used). As you open documents, they will populate an MRU list.

lrw said:

Any suggestions on smoothing the transition?

Thanks.

Number One Suggestion: get yourself an external hard drive. With that amount of data, it's crazy not to have a backup system in place.

Based on your post here, I would not take the chance of deleting the corrupt user account and letting Windows save your data to a folder. It's too risky. Buy an external hard drive. Get at least a 2TB size drive for this transfer of user accounts, and when you're all done, we'll show you how to setup a proper backup scheme using Macrium Reflect Free. :)