Windows 10: Cannot delete nor change user under C:/Users

My subject accuracy is questionable, so I'll try to explain it as clearly as possible here.


So I just bought a new laptop; the laptop itself isn't an officially distributed device where I live. When I received the laptop, it is quite clear that the seller already turned on and logged into the laptop, he created a local account under the name "Ariel". Probably to check on the specs and install some software or stuff like that.

Pretty disappointed at first, my plan was to immediately log in my Microsoft account into my new laptop, and quickly delete this "Ariel" account off the laptop. The login into the Microsoft part was smooth sailing, but the part after wasn't as quite.


First, I couldn't find this "Ariel" user on the "Family & other users" settings; the place where you normally create and delete local accounts.
p.s. when I booted up the laptop for the first time, it says that "Ariel" is a local account


But then, when I access C:/Users, the folder "Ariel" is in there. All my files and download goes through this "Ariel" folder.


I ran SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe, accessed "Settings" under "User profiles", and there it was.





I'm already and administrator as far as I can tell, but I cannot delete or do anything about this "Ariel". I wanted to start on a clean slate but that means deleting all the things I've installed on the laptop, thus factory reset is my final resort.

Besides, there's no apparent problems so far with having this "Ariel", but it sure is extremely annoying.
If there's a way to delete this "Ariel" off my laptop without the need of factory resetting the entire thing, that would be great.

I think that's all. I hope I explained it well enough.
Looking forwards to some suggestions, thank you.

:)

 

Deleting a user account leaves traces of that user behind in C:\users

1. Enable the built in Administrator account (Win+R->lusrmgr.msc)
   
   
   
2. Reboot and log in as Administrator
3. Delete the folder under C:\users

 

User.000 issue after updating to 1909

I'm one of the many people suffering from issues with user profiles after applying Update 1909 to Windows 10. I've read all the threads I can find on the topic here and have followed the suggestions, all to no avail. Any other thoughts are appreciated.

After applying Update 1909, the ProfileImagePath was changed to c:\users\User.000
One file that was always in use and couldn't be removed was left in c:\users\User (can't recall or find the exact file now), so I could never rename or remove the c:\user\User directory.

I followed the multiple suggestions from Brink and others:

• Rebooted at least 6 times
• Enabled hidden Administrator
• Booted into Safe Mode
• Changed ProfileImagePath
• Tried to rename c:\users\User but couldn't because a file was still in use
• Copied all data from c:\users\User.000 into c:\users\User
• Rebooted and had temporary profile
• Followed steps in Brink tutorial to change ImageProfilePath; rebooted with no change
• Restored using Restore Point from before Update 1909 - returned to single profile state (User.000)
• Removed each update that was installed individually and rebooted after each update removal - profile state never changed
• After all updates were removed, repeated the steps above with hidden Administrator, changing profile, etc. - same issue with file in use in c:\users\User
• Followed all steps above with hidden Administrator but without copying files from User.000 to User - same results

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

Current active users that are friends

The other reason I suggested this is that users can add characters to their username that are not alphanumeric (e.g. user*). This confuses things somewhat when looking at the list.