SOLVED Ghost Account

[TheFrancisco]

Hi Everyone,

First things first: I went to the Microsoft Help Forum (after all it's their system) and though I got assistance, nobody was able to solve my problem.
This is not a new topic, neither here nor elsewhere if you google it, but my problem is that none of it helped me and this has been going on (to my desperation) for over 5 weeks.

I decided to change (for the first time and after nearly two years) the name of my pc and from that moment on, a second account was created that ONLY appears during login. The nuisance of that is, as I'm the only one using this pc I have no need for a pin or password and thus automatic login was switched on, but now I am directed to the second account and asked for a password; I have then to manually choose my real account and type my pin which I had forgotten cause I had created it during installation but never used it. In order not to get bothered by this ghost account I have turned off automatic login, which makes the system behave "normally" because I am directed (during login) to my real account and asked for my pin.

I'd like to go back to normal by deleting that ghost account, but as I have said, it's impossible as none of the solutions online have worked for me. When I do the "netplwiz" there is only one account there, if I thoroughly seek that account it cannot be found ANYWHERE else in my pc and yet it is there.

Can anyone help me?

Regards,
Francisco.

 

[Snuffy]

You might try boot to a WinPE drive, or you install usb (which is WinPE) then delete all accounts on your system.
then make a Local Admin Account, which you can either make pass or not use a pass.
or

Spoiler

Open the Local Group Policy Editor gpedit.msc in run command

Go to Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options. Find Accounts: Administrator account status policy and edit it by checking Enable.

Reboot into your new administrator account.
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1) Tap on the Windows-key. This should open the start menu or bring you to the Start Screen interface depending on how Windows 10 is configured on the system.
2) Type cmd and wait for the results to be displayed.
3) Right-click no the Command Prompt result and select "run as administrator" from the context menu.Run the command net user to display a list of all user accounts on the system.
4) To activate the inactive administrator account, run the command net user administrator /active:yes
5) If you want to enable the guest account as well run the command net user guest /active:yes
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'This PC' on the desktop and select 'Manage' from the context menu or by [Winkey]+[R] - type lusrmgr.msc. in the box and hit [Enter]

It may be interesting to log on as the built-in Administrator account from time to time, and to enable that you can do this in lusrmgr.msc (The Administrator account is also shown under 'Local Users and Groups' -? 'Users' after selecting 'Manage', just not in control-panel). Right-clicking the Administrator's account and choosing 'Properties' from the context menu will give you the opportunity to activate it.

You can also open an administrative command prompt and type the following command at the terminal:

net user administrator /active:yes

and to deactivate it when not needed:

net user administrator /active:no

or
You can make a New Account Local Admin - pass or no pass, once you log into the new Local Admin Account.
your move to Accounts, change the other accounts to standard user. reboot and your the only Admin Account,
move back to users and delete the unwanted ones.
or
You would have to perform the steps-

a) Login to your default account.

b) Click on the “Windows logo” and type “User Accounts”.

c) Now, select “Settings” and then select the “User Accounts” icon.

d) Click on “Manage another account” and then select the user account that you want to delete.

e) Click on “delete the account”.

f) Depending on whether you want to “Keep the files” or “delete the files” choose the appropriate option.

g) You can delete the other accounts similarly.

Note: Once deleted, the user accounts cannot be recovered. Make sure you back up any data if required.

PS: Not a ghost account due to you made it. it really is a user account,
--------------------------------------------
there are many many more options on how to remove unwanted accounts. some easier and some harder.
Im sure you will find 1 of these to you liking.

 

[TheFrancisco]

Hi Snuffy,

Thanks for taking your time, I appreciate it.

If I create a new account (local or not) won't I lose all the contents (software, programs, games, etc) and have to start from scratch?
The second one (which goes a,b,c,d, etc), I'm not sure if I wrote it clear enough, but that ghost account only exists when login in, it does not exist anywhere else and hence it is impossible to delete it so easily.

 

[TheFrancisco]

Hi Snuffy,

I found this here in this Forum, and it looks good:
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Here is the quick and easy answer. In my case I have 1 user, which is my Microsoft Linked account. I have it set to autologon without a password. I hate passwords.
Solution was.
Go to start, button right click. Left click on Run.
type in netplwiz and press enter.
The box pops up, and you have the 1 entry and all looks good.
However, click on that entry and then click Properties button.
Now you will see that your username is there but without the @Outlook.com (or whatever email you used). Thats how the ghost user got there, if you ever accidentally forgot to put in the full email address. Just fix that.
Now check ON the box that says user must enter password. Click APPLY not OK.
Now Uncheck the box that says user must enter password.
Click OK and it will ask you to enter the password twice.

Now shutdown windows. Then turn on computer, it will now boot past the login screen and right to the desktop.

The problem seems to be when you either Lost your internet during the boot process
Or that you typed in your username without the @Xxxxx,.yyy part.
And or maybe forgot the password. Windows then tries to offer to let you use a local account. Even if you remove the local account, it still seems to remember it. But it never shows up. Maybe someday Microsoft will fiix this. Its still however Today a problem.
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The problem is, when I try to complete the user name by adding "@hotmail.com" I get a pop up windows that says: The user name for FRANCISCO-PC could not be changed.
Can you help me with that as I think this is worth trying.

 

[TheFrancisco]

I've found the solution to my problem and it is as follows:

You have to type in your password (after going to "netplwiz") EVEN if you're using only the pin; in my case I had read somewhere that if you're using the pin you may leave the box of the password empty if you uncross "users must use a password blah blah" that is wrong! I repeat: always write your password EVEN if you're using only the pin. I hope this will help anyone seeking for aid.