Lost my profile and can't access files

I hope someone might be able to help me here. Normally I'd simply take the computer to a repair shop and let them work on it. In fact ideally I'd get a new computer and ask them to configure it and copy over the relevant files, as this computer is getting elderly. However we are where we are.

Earlier today I did a restart on the computer and it went through all the updating Windows thing that periodically happens. Usually this is no trouble, but this time it seems to have failed to recover my profile or something. It logged me in with a temporary profile and two more restarts didn't get me back to my normal desktop.

I have managed to reconnect my email, which is something, and I can access the internet, but I can't access any of the files on my hard disc. I think they're there all right, I can't see why they wouldn't be, and the disc usage looks reasonable, but no way can I find them. There is a folder in Windows Explorer with my name, but everything is empty. It isn't my normal "My Documents" folder.

Any idea what I might be able to do about this, at least until I can take the thing to someone who can sort out the problem properly?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2wLjhQ9