# lost google desktop info



## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

I had an older Dell with Win-7 for years, it crashed a couple of weeks ago and I got a refurbished "Lenovo" (whatever that is) with Win-10.
anyway, I got Google as my main engine and loaded up a whole bunch of stuff on the desktop.
when logging off last night, I just reached over and hit the power off button instead of actually logging out to turn the power off.
this morning when I logged on, it was totally blank - with Microsoft Edge as the main. (I feel like I was Hi-Jacked)
I want my google stuff BACK the way it was yesterday. I have been at this for the past two hours to no avail.
my computer shop is closed today - and I would like to get all my google settings back.
is there a simple toggle that I am missing ? 
disclaimer: yes, I am totally 100% puterstoopid.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

Edge is the browser and Google is the search engine (I've probably butchered the terms - I'm about as literate as you). Microsoft tells us all what is good for us. I'm on a newer version and use Chrome so I can't walk you through it but if you are ok with Edge, try to find Settings - there should be a tab where you can make Google your homepage.

Lenovo was spun off by IBM several years ago when they got out of the consumer hardware game. I don't know who owns it now but they are decent machines. I've had two that were off-government lease.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

thanks - I just got Google Chrome back to the main browser engine.
I just need to know how to recover the entire desktop from yesterday.

John


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

Did you perhaps log on to Windows as a different user, who might have a different desktop?


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

there were two profiles at first log up - I chose "Lenovo" as I "thought" that was the default.
I will try to log out "correctly" now and see what comes up - if there are two profiles, I will choose the other one.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

nope - that didn't work - still a blank desktop with no icons.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

Is there an option to revert back to a previous restore point, say, a week or so ago?


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

Dave - on my other Win-7 laptop, yes, I could restore.
but, here on Win-10, I've been looking but can't find the option
still looking


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

Use System Restore - Microsoft Support


Use System Restore




support.microsoft.com


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

thanks Dave !!
the restore point was turned off - I turned it on and restored but didn't make a difference.
I logged out for the UMPTEENTH time - let it sit for 5 minutes, logged back in as usual.
and WOOOOO HOOOOO two icons popped up as user options.
this time, I selected "Super" and that worked - it's back to normal now.
yes, Huesmann - I logged in under a different name - I should only use "Super" in the future.
thanks to all - this case is now closed.

John


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

lenaitch said:


> Lenovo was spun off by IBM.......


Actually, Lenovo is a Chinese company. Lenovo _purchased_ IBM's personal computer division in 2005. But IBM does own about 20% of Lenovo as part of that deal.


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## luv2paint (Mar 6, 2018)

While not the same problem, John, I have had to take my computer with Windows 10 to Geek Squad because Windows Updates were corrupted and messed up my normal settings. I’ve been back four times because my monitor stopped working. I bought a new monitor and yesterday the monitor stopped working again. I hate technology. I feel your pain. Painting is not this difficult.😎


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## ShadowTiger (Sep 9, 2019)

It's nice to have another user profile available in Windows as a backup profile because profile corruption can definitely happen, and at the most inopportune moment.

Even still, if a profile does get corrupted or something seems lost, it's very likely that all relevant files are still there and usually in working order. It's just that we can't easily access them. 

If you go into your Hard Drive (Via any folder, or hold [Windows] and tap [E] to open Windows Explorer.) if you go into the "C" drive, then into the "Users" folder, you'll see a list of all of the user profiles there. Even if a profile is corrupt, the files should certainly still be there and can be migrated into another active profile.

The fun thing is, however, _in Windows Explorer,_ if you try to open the user profile of another user, Windows won't always let you. I usually get an external hard drive, and a USB stick with a bootable copy of Linux, and boot into Linux and extract the files from there and copy them into the new user profile. (I know that's a small sentence with tremendous technically implications and steps, but don't worry. This is just a concept so far.) Though don''t overwrite the "AppData" folder because it's got profile-critical items in there and it could render the destination profile unbootable. Ask me how I know that. 

So, my actual advice here is to take stock of what profiles you have and mentally designate one to be a primary and another to be a backup. Make sure each has a password and record them somewhere safe and accessible, (Or use no password at all if you're alone or unconcerned.) and if you really want to be safer, keep all of your commonly used documents in a Dropbox account/folder so they're always accessible no matter where you are or what profile you're on.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jun 15, 2018)

right now I am having a heck of a time with the files that I transferred from Win-7 to Win-10.
the "open with" options are not the same and I am really struggling trying to find which Microsoft program
is needed to open everything like it did with Win-7.
I may have to actually take a college course at UCF in Microsoft Office to figure it all out.


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## ShadowTiger (Sep 9, 2019)

Hm. For one, there's a free Office equivalent called "LibreOffice" that works pretty much the same way and should be very, very inter-compatible with Office. Though it doesn't handle E-mail as far as I know, (Use Thunderbird for that.) it's still pretty good. It can easily be acquired from www.ninite.com - Find it on the page, click the check-box next to it, scroll down to the big blue "Get my Ninite" button, and wait for the automatic installer.

After it's installed, when you right-click on a file and go to "Open With" you can set a default by picking the "Choose another app" option, finding the LibreOffice program, and checking the box to remember the choice.

Otherwise, Windows 10 _can_ come with some Microsoft Office software but it's almost always a trial version.

There are occasionally ways to port an older Office 2007, 2010, or 2013 version (Mostly 2010) to a new Windows 10 computer. You'd need the license key and installation disc. There are ways to extract the key from the registry hive of the old system as long as the hard drive works and the files are all still there, but you'd still need a way to install it.

I know these aren't step-by-step guides. I'm just listing possibilities here. I've done them myself so I know they're possible, but sometimes the easiest thing is the nicest thing.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

You may have find new program or go out and get the old ones. Win 10 drops some programs and now uses "apps" for some things.


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