Posted: 6/2/2017 9:36:20 AM EDT
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Morning guys.
When I sign in to my pc there is 2 accounts that pop up. I would like to delete the one as I no longer need it. I am the administrator on the pc but for some reason not matter what I try I can not find it to delete that account. I've googled and followed multiple tutorials but I cannot get it done. Ideas? |
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https://www.windowscentral.com/manage-user-accounts-windows-10
Look under the "Family and Other Users" section. |
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https://www.windowscentral.com/manage-user-accounts-windows-10 Look under the "Family and Other Users" section. |
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I don't have a 10 machine in front of me at the moment, but this should work.
Press the Win+R key and enter "mmc" File > Add Remove Snap In Select "Local Users and Groups" Select "Finish" then "Ok" Expand Local Users and Groups then select Users You should see the user list on the right. |
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I don't have a 10 machine in front of me at the moment, but this should work. Press the Win+R key and enter "mmc" File > Add Remove Snap In Select "Local Users and Groups" Select "Finish" then "Ok" Expand Local Users and Groups then select Users You should see the user list on the right. |
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Do we know for sure Windows lets you delete the last non-admin user account?
Try making another one and then see if you can delete the first one. Using an admin account for regular stuff on the computer all the time is in the "BAD IDEA" category and gotten MS into reputation problems in the past. |
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Create a Computer Management shortcut with this as the "Target": %windir%\system32\compmgmt.msc /s It's good old Computer Management. Drill into System Tools, Local Users and Groups, Users. OP, I am guessing you did not do a clean windows 10 install, I think your problem is due to an old guest account remnant that made its way to W10. If there is nothing showing under users in the settings app, and nothing showing under users in the control panel: (definitely check BOTH of those places first) right click start, click computer management, on the left pane is a list> click "local users and groups" (it is located underneath system tools)> double click the "users" folder> You might see a few accounts in there that are disabled. There are windows built in accounts that manage your system behind the scenes. There should be one labeled "Guest." Try right clicking on it and making sure that the tick box is checked for "disabled." If by chance you did an upgrade to windows 10, I highly recommend saving what's important and doing a clean install of windows 10 using the windows media creation tool from Microsoft.media creation tool |
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With Windows 10, computer management is accessed directly from the start menu with a right click, so no need for a shortcut. Just FYI for all In the top bar on Windows Explorer, in the System section there is a Manage icon that gets you to Computer Management. I use it often enough that I like having a shortcut to it on my desktop. |
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Do we know for sure Windows lets you delete the last non-admin user account? Try making another one and then see if you can delete the first one. Using an admin account for regular stuff on the computer all the time is in the "BAD IDEA" category and gotten MS into reputation problems in the past. |
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I can't stand the default menu, and installed Classic Menu on mine. In the top bar on Windows Explorer, in the System section there is a Manage icon that gets you to Computer Management. I use it often enough that I like having a shortcut to it on my desktop. |
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With Windows 10, computer management is accessed directly from the start menu with a right click, so no need for a shortcut. Just FYI for all OP, I am guessing you did not do a clean windows 10 install, I think your problem is due to an old guest account remnant that made its way to W10. If there is nothing showing under users in the settings app, and nothing showing under users in the control panel: (definitely check BOTH of those places first) right click start, click computer management, on the left pane is a list> click "local users and groups" (it is located underneath system tools)> double click the "users" folder> You might see a few accounts in there that are disabled. There are windows built in accounts that manage your system behind the scenes. There should be one labeled "Guest." Try right clicking on it and making sure that the tick box is checked for "disabled." If by chance you did an upgrade to windows 10, I highly recommend saving what's important and doing a clean install of windows 10 using the windows media creation tool from Microsoft.media creation tool Task scheduler event viewer Shared folders performance device manager I clicked on all of those and cannot find the users folder. The PC came with windows 8? I updated it to 10 a month or so ago after wiping it clean. It was my dads which he did not like it. |
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Do we know for sure Windows lets you delete the last non-admin user account? Try making another one and then see if you can delete the first one. Using an admin account for regular stuff on the computer all the time is in the "BAD IDEA" category and gotten MS into reputation problems in the past. Good Job! You're an attacker's target demographic. Admin accounts should be used when you're actively performing admin functions. You should switch to a standard user account for general purpose computing. The fact that this is news to you is both alarming and frustrating. |
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Under system tools I have this: Task scheduler event viewer Shared folders performance device manager I clicked on all of those and cannot find the users folder. The PC came with windows 8? I updated it to 10 a month or so ago after wiping it clean. It was my dads which he did not like it. ETA: sorry, that is only in w10 pro and up, not included in home, i'll try to find a workaround |
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Fair enough, different strokes for different folks. I'm one of those weirdos that doesn't allow a single icon to be on the desktop The fact that people are still mad that they can no longer go through the hassle of drilling down through the start menu folder system is baffling to me. |
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OP I found this on Microsoft forum (if you haven't tried it)
1. Press Windows Key + R Key. 2. Type "netplwiz" without the quotes and hit on Enter Key. 3. Click on the extra account which is displayed in the list and then click on Remove button. worth a shot The only other thing I would know to do is remove entries in the registry referencing the extra account, but i'm definitely not going to take any responsibility for that one! If the netplwiz option doesn't work I would consider a clean windows install as a solid real option that would work. |
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Using elevated accounts for ordinary activities is a shitty habit. If your system is compromised whilst you are logged on with an admin account, you have taken the MOST DIFFICULT portion of an attack (elevating the attacker's rights) and done it FOR THEM. Good Job! You're an attacker's target demographic. Admin accounts should be used when you're actively performing admin functions. You should switch to a standard user account for general purpose computing. The fact that this is news to you is both alarming and frustrating. |
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OP I found this on Microsoft forum (if you haven't tried it) 1. Press Windows Key + R Key. 2. Type "netplwiz" without the quotes and hit on Enter Key. 3. Click on the extra account which is displayed in the list and then click on Remove button. worth a shot The only other thing I would know to do is remove entries in the registry referencing the extra account, but i'm definitely not going to take any responsibility for that one! |
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I tried that earlier too and it just shows my admin account. I've found that once you start making tons of changes in the registry and other services that things just don't seem to work right, it's often less hassle to just start with a clean slate. |
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How comfortable would you be with doing a fresh windows install? It will fix your problem if nobody else can come up with a simple solution. It is mostly fully automated, however it takes about 30 minutes or so. I've found that once you start making tons of changes in the registry and other services that things just don't seem to work right, it's often less hassle to just start with a clean slate. |
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? If you are using an admin account and buggy software, and get infected then the whole machine is trashed including all the other user accounts, the operating system, and all the data on all the hard drives the operating system can reach. Not using an admin account for everything is like having a fire door between sections of building. It helps compartmentalize damage. If the concept is new to you, you probably should be using a lower permissions regular account for day to day operation when you aren't making changes or installing stuff. |
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Fairly comfortable. Is there a tutorial? First you need the windows 10 media creation tool, click "download tool now" from Microsoft: (it's microsoft's website, you can find it on your own through google if you don't trust my link): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 Plug in a thumb drive first, Run the tool, tell it that you want to make media for another computer and tell it to make a bootable thumb drive. It will make more sense once the tool is running, it walks you through everything you want to do. This will take about 20 minutes. It will download windows, put it on the thumb drive, and then the tool will make the thumb drive bootable, all you have to do is wait. I'd use this time to save everything you want to move to the new install, everything will be wiped out (so to speak). If your stuff is in your onedrive account then you won't have to do much as it will repopulate after the new install. Here is the hardest part, you need to find out how to make the laptop boot from a thumb drive. Most computers, once you power them on you hit the "delete" button and it will take you to your boot settings, just research how to get your computer to boot from a thumb drive. With thumb drive installed, reboot the computer and have it boot from the thumb drive. Once you are here, you are golden. You'll be greeted with the install screen. Do not click the upgrade option, click the custom option. The next screen will show partitions on your hard drive, click each one and hit "remove." (I believe you can also just format the drive here). Let windows have access to your whole hard drive. You should now see just one entry for your whole physical drive, should be labeled "unallocated space" or something similar, hit OK at the bottom. Now just wait for it to install, once it is done the computer will reboot, go ahead and remove your thumb drive. Follow the on screen instructions and you'll be up and running in no time. Here's a good guide that is better than my instructions: https://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/ Note- after the install you may have to wait for a few minutes for drivers, etc, to download before things start working right (for example, monitor resolution), however this should be fairly automatic. |
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The reason behind it is if there is a security hole in software the user uses, or if the user clicks on or is fooled by phishing scam emails, then the damage is limited to that account only because it doesn't have permission to mess up and infect the whole computer. If you are using an admin account and buggy software, and get infected then the whole machine is trashed including all the other user accounts, the operating system, and all the data on all the hard drives the operating system can reach. Not using an admin account for everything is like having a fire door between sections of building. It helps compartmentalize damage. If the concept is new to you, you probably should be using a lower permissions regular account for day to day operation when you aren't making changes or installing stuff. |
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How? |