Problem with Administrator account

PS C:\Users\kanen\Desktop> Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders' | Select-Object Desktop, Personal

Desktop Personal
------- --------
C:\Users\kanen\Desktop C:\Users\kanen\Documents

PS C:\Users\kanen\Desktop>

Does anything in your account's registry still point to systemprofile? Run this in a normal Command Prompt and check whether any key it lists belongs to the program:
Drafted with AI.

ET Ducky said:

Does anything in your account's registry still point to systemprofile? Run this in a normal Command Prompt and check whether any key it lists belongs to the program:

Code:

reg query HKCU /s /f systemprofile /d

Drafted with AI.

Click to expand...

End of search: 0 match(es) found.

Nevertheless, regscanner found 2 entries in HKCU in some appcompatlist.

Here's what pops up when:
1. I start the program through PowerRun
2. In the program, I click its 'Open' option so I can go and select some file to load

3. The popup comes up, I close it, and an explorer shows up and let me navigate around.



The popup is an annoyance but not being able to start this program up as an admin, is worse.

I'll try to trace it as it loads normally. At the moment it behaves as if what it expects from the C++ Redistributable is not what it likes (I use the latest version) and that's why it crashes when I run it but not when PowerRun does? Sounds too wrong to be true

That popup only appears under PowerRun, since the SYSTEM account has no Desktop folder, so you can ignore it.

Does the program start when you sign in to the second administrator account you created and run it from there?

Drafted with AI.

I never used the 2nd admin I had created. I could try the built-in admin but I'm afraid it would be the same.
In any case, I think I'm on the right track concerning the inability to get that program work and I just don't know how could PowerRun do this trick.

Before I started tracing the program, I thought of looking at the module (the program's viewport rendering dll of all things) it was crashing on.
And the problem was there. Some dependencies were missing. How could that happen, I've no idea. As I mentioned earlier, a few people crash but the majority don't.
That's probably the result of keeping the system clean .

The problem now is finding where those missing API DLLs come from. Some old C++ redistributable I suppose but I'm not sure.
I located 2 out of 12 of them and now I'm going in circles.
I'll post their names in case somebody has copies in the \Windows\System32 or knows in which installer I can find them.

===>
api-ms-win-core-file-L1-2-1.dll (found it)
api-ms-win-core-file-L1-2-2.dll
api-ms-win-core-file-L1-2-3.dll
api-ms-win-core-file-L1-2-5.dll

api-ms-win-core-namedpipe-L1-2-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-namedpipe-L1-2-2.dll

api-ms-win-security-base-L1-1-0.dll (found it)

api-ms-win-core-console-L1-2-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-console-L1-2-2.dll
api-ms-win-core-console-L2-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-console-L3-2-0.dll

api-ms-win-oobe-query-L1-1-0.dll
<===

And that's them. Tiny little files from before Noah's time probably.

Let's see if those files resolve the problem and we continue with fresh ideas later, if need be.

Whatever comes out of it, thank you very much ET Ducky.
This forum is full of brilliant people but now I see some are also stubborn and don't leave any stones unturned. Which was my hobby too in my working years .

Cheers everybody.

Those `api-ms-win-*` names are API sets that Windows routes to its own system DLLs when a program loads, so there isn't a file by that name to find (Windows API sets - Win32 apps).

Does the program crash the same way if you sign in to the second administrator account once and run it there?

Drafted with AI.

I read about the API Sets. From some Googling, it seems it could be the old Dependency Walker I used.
It didn't ignore these dll/libraries at that time but it might have done so in v2.2 (which I still try to locate).

And now things are getting strange again...

I logged in with the new admin user I had created earlier.
First shock, the ugly Windows default background that I couldn't make the letters out so I fixed that.
After spending time matching the environment to the regular user's, I managed to get past the licensing part of the program.
And the program worked without help from PowerRun !!!
Go figure.. Now it looks as if my regular admin account is corrupted.

I'll tinker with it and google a bit more... I'll update the thread for any changes to the better.

Enjoy the weekend.

Does the program start in your regular account after you rename its settings folder under `%APPDATA%` (and under `%LOCALAPPDATA%`, if it has one there) so it creates new ones on the next launch?

Drafted with AI.

The program was installed inside c::\Program Files\ so no changes to anything, including environment variables.
There was only the preference folder with lots of data in it that was inside the original user's personal part of the disk.
Since I am the user for both accounts, it took only one hard link in the 2nd user's area that pointed to the same place of the first user.

So under user 2, it works and updates what it thinks is its own personal area.
Under user 1, it uses the same area it was using before (maybe updated by user 2), but it crashes on startup.

Does the program start in your regular account after you export its key under `HKCU\Software` (usually named after the vendor), then rename it so the program creates a new one on the next launch?

Drafted with AI.

Sorry for the delay.
I couldn't login because of some 'Oops!...' error. I couldn't even create a new account because of the same 'Oops'.
Then I got hit by a new MsEdge update forcing its workspace thing and spent more time than I wanted to transfer my accounts under it and give them a hand to making it more easy to trace me. (Swear words would follow here... :) )

I still couldn't login here but some hours later it started working. No idea why then, since I was dealing with unrelated stuff.
Anyway, back now, for however long it lasts.

I found only one main key under `HKCU\Software` with some similar entries under it:
Things like 'mkmrkk options' with a value of some 16-digit (hex) number. All the entries start with 'mkm' and the rest varies.
I couldn't tell what's what so I left it alone.

In HKU the results were more clear.
Under Default:
It had 2 options. One like the one mentioned above and other called 'mkmrkk uvs'. With their own hex numbers

Under S-1-5-18 (%systemroot%\system32\config\systemprofile):
Also 2 options as in Default with the exact same hex numbers.

Under S-1-5-19 (%systemroot%\ServiceProfiles\LocalService) and
under S-1-5-20 (%systemroot%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService)
No entries.

S-1-5-21 (kanen)
Same 2 entries as above with its own hex numbers.

And in HKLM
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
there's the profiles list to know where their profile resides.

S-1-5-18 (%systemroot%\system32\config\systemprofile)
S-1-5-19 (%systemroot%\ServiceProfiles\LocalService)
S-1-5-20 (%systemroot%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService)
S-1-5-21-1128827677-68695634-2228981365-1001 (C:\Users\kanen)
S-1-5-21-1128827677-68695634-2228981365-1004 (C:\Users\kanen2)
S-1-5-80-863171341-2975503981-1811344707-3769924460-3995132968 (C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\IntelTelemetryAgent)

To answer your question and recap too:
The kanen user as admin, doesn't work for this program unless I use PowerRun.
The new user kanen2 as admin works fine. It uses a hard link to kanen's (C:\users\kanen).
If I login as kanen2, change the kanen user to a regular one, and restart as kanen, it also works fine with this program.
An annoyance happens when I try to open or look at something in kanen's profile. A popup comes up to approve the access by kanen2 (only administrator in the system with this scenario) which I do.

If I set back kanen to be an admin, it doesn't seem to correct any problems that were in his previous admin profile.
It can't open this program again.

Too bad I can't copy the whole tree c:\users\kanen under kanen2 that might have avoided the popups or I could just keep using the kanen2 user.
But kanen2's area (being a new user) is 1.3 GB, whereas kanen's is 400GB. Too risky to play around with this bulk of data...

Weird case to have a regular user access a program and an admin to need the help of PoweRun.
Ah well...

Signed in as kanen, right-click the key under `HKCU\Software` that holds the `mkm` entries and choose Export to save a backup, then rename the key by adding `.old` to its name and start the program.

If it still won't start, rename the key back to its original name.

Drafted with AI.

The registry key wasn't recreated.
It seems that it does this after the program is loaded successfully and the admin kanen can't run it for some reason.

I don't see a clean way around it unless something can clean and then create a proper admin account.
I was hoping that switching the admin to regular and later on, revert him to admin, would fix it. But that turned to be just wishful thinking :)

I'll update if something changes.

Thank you much again for all this time you spent on this problem.

I spent 2-3 days with an admin account gone crazy (including with the built-in admin).
Not only wouldn't that program work but also anything that needed admin authority (which I had) would misbehave.
Excluding the first few minutes after a restart, opening Windows Settings or an admin CMD prompt was a wait of about 5 minutes. Multiple clicks of frustration would come back 5 minutes later one after the other with what I had asked for. The Task Bar would disappear and wouldn't show up unless I rebooted. Installations would hang up halfway through and such nastiness.

Then last night, after a reboot, I saw that there was an update waiting. 2026-10 Preview Update (KB5127936) (26300.9818).
I installed it, it did its thing rebooting, and the admin account, with the system in general, started responding properly without the help of PowerRun and Windows' annoying peccadillos.

No idea why and how but all's well now.

Cheers.