It seems that I outsmarted myself and made my old home directory #ecryptfs. Until I have something other than this low-end #Windows box, I locked myself out of my own files.
Found a complicated work-around involving a second computer.
@lordmatt but I bet you enjoyed the challenge.
@jolskykosh I'm not sure I enjoyed it but the end result was extremely satisfying.
@lordmatt would a live boot Linux USB help?
@amino It might have done if the Windows thing could cope. In the end, I dug out an old server I'd not used and let it boot off the drive in question. Otherwise, yes, boot USB would have worked nicely.