win10 reboot caused new background screen and most desktop icons are gone

[RYoung-Richmond]

Win10 Envy laptop was stuck in long running task.  I rebooted.  Now I have a new/different background screen, and most of my desktop icons have disappeared

[zoey7886]

@RYoung-Richmond, Welcome to the HP Support Community!  

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding your HP Envy laptop! 

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.  

It sounds like your HP ENVY laptop might have signed into a temporary user profile or reset some user settings after the forced reboot. Here are a few troubleshooting steps to help recover your original desktop icons and settings:

Check if You’re in a Temporary Profile

• Click on Start → Settings → Accounts → Your Info
• If you see a message like "You are logged into a temporary profile", restart your laptop and log in again. If the issue persists, try the registry fix below.

Restart the Laptop

• Sometimes, a simple restart can restore your original profile.

Verify Your User Profile Folder

• Press Win + R, type C:\Users, and press Enter.
• Look for a folder with your original username. If there’s another similar folder (e.g., username.000), Windows might have created a new profile.

Restore Desktop Icons Manually

• Right-click on the desktop → View → Ensure Show Desktop Icons is checked.
• If that doesn’t work, navigate to C:\Users\YourUsername\Desktop to see if your files are still there.

Reset Background and Personalization

• Go to Settings → Personalization → Background, and reselect your previous wallpaper.

System Restore (If Needed)

• If the issue started recently, you can use System Restore:
  1. Press Win + R, type rstrui, and press Enter.
  2. Select a restore point before the issue occurred and follow the prompts.

If none of these steps work, let me know, and we can try more advanced troubleshooting!  

Take care, and have an amazing day!  

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Regards,