In Safe Mode: Can't log back into admin account after doing Win + L for virus s

I have four user accounts on my computer (Dell Optilex 9020 MT, 32GB Ram) and I was doing a BitDefender scan in Safe Mode on the main admin account and decided to lock the computer overnight while I got some sleep. The scan was done already before I did this but I wanted to wait until after I awoke to go over the logs.

When I went back later (still in Safe Mode for the record), the login screen didn't have the password textbook, only the arrow. I clicked it the login screen only displayed two out of for user accounts, neither of which is the main admin account.

I was able to log into a different one and figured I'd hit the windows key and see if I could access switch the login from the start screen. The login dropdown indicated that I was indeed signed into my admin login yet when I click on it, all I get is the arrow, no other options. And since I'm in Safe Mode, only the first monitor of my dual setup is displayed; I tried clicking around offscreen to see if I'd hit anything but so far no luck.

Is there any way to switch accounts in Safe Mode or get the login screen to display everything?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For what it's worth, this is after a Windows repair using a boot DVD (constantly BSoDs in Fruity Loops made go this route after numerous other things).

For what it's worth, I attached two screenshots. One shows me clearly able to get back into one of my other user accounts after locking the computer (the purple screen), whereas trying to get back into my admin login (blue screen), I'm left with no option other than the back arrow. Is there any way to switch the users from within Windows while in safe mode? I'm really hoping to avoid restarting again since I never got the chance to thoroughly go over the virus scan results.

Edited by TheRealJustan, 18 March 2023 - 10:32 PM.

Are you saying when you shutdown and reboot you still only see two out four accounts listed?

Close. Not shutting down and rebooting, but when I've locked the computer while in Safe Mode. When I tried to log back in, the login screen was completely blank sans the back arrow for switching accounts, the input options at the bottom left corner and the power/shut down button. I was able to log into a separate user account and lock the computer without any trouble getting back into that one; I could even go to the start screen and see all four accounts when I clicked the sign in button; it showed my admin account as still logged in but clicking it took me back to the blank login screen.

I should have been more clearer, sorry. This only happens in Safe Mode? When you reboot into normal mode you see all accounts listed?

Correct, all accounts show up as they should in normal mode. It's Safe Mode where things get funky, and due to another issue (which I'll be posting about soon), the computer is only usable in Safe Mode. It's just if I need to step away, I can't get back in without restarting. Strangely just the admin account.

I think taking care of the main issue of only being usable in Safe Mode would fix the issue but I don't know. If you open a command prompt in safe mode and type

 

net user

 

Do you see all accounts? If you do then on one of the accounts that are not listed in Safe Mode type

 

net user <account name> and see if the account is active in the output. If it active then I'm not sure why you can't see the other accounts in Safe Mode.

 

FYI: Windows 8.1 reached end of life in Jan of this year. There have been zero days that have never been patched. You might want to consider the free upgrade to Windows 10. If the computer came pre-installed with Windows 8 or 8.1 the key is embedded in firmware and Windows 10 will autoactivate using the 8.1 key when online.

I'm back in Safe Mode as we speak; I did the net user command and all the users show up as active, complete with relevant last login info and everything. Even when I do a Win + L it works normally. I did recently do an sfc as well as a dism since then. I'm not sure what helped.

I'm definitely aware that support ended for Windows 8.1 in January (which saddened me but I get it) and plan to make the switch the to Windows 10 soon though I'm not too thrilled at the idea, given how slow and poorly it has run on my laptop (refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad) since day one and up until the past five days, 8.1 has worked just fine. I'll still do it, but I want to at least wait and get an SSD first. I don't trust it being a good mix with my HDD setup.

We can actually lock this topic, since I've got a much more pressing issue I'm going to make a post on. Thank you for assisting me. I know this one was rather strange.

Edited by TheRealJustan, 19 March 2023 - 01:22 PM.

FYI. BC does not usually lock topics. Good Luck. 

 

Depending on what you use your computer for you might want to take a look at linux Mint as a replacement. It will run rings around Windows 10. This would depend on if you have any mission critical Windows programs but there are many program alternatives in linux.

 

Check out Mint Cinnamon when you have the time. You can run it in a live session where it will run from RAM and the USB flash drive to see if it meets your needs.

 

https://linuxmint.com/download.php

Oh ok, I wasn't sure. And yes! I love Linux Mint; I've been thinking more and more about switching to that instead.

FL Studio and Vegas Pro are the biggest Windows-exclusive apps so far that I know of. I'm not sure if Unity is compatible. I'll research what all is compatible with it.

Edited by TheRealJustan, 19 March 2023 - 01:39 PM.

For Vegas Pro the alternative is Kdenlive although I have no experience with it

 

https://kdenlive.org/en

 

For FL Studio the alternative is LMMS