Windows 10: Deleting second user account that isn't showing in User Accounts

Win 10 Pro 1607, single user desktop PC. Yesterday, I changed the password on my Windows account. After that, when I booted, Windows prompted me for a password. The thing is, though, that it showed two accounts, let's call them Sam and Sam Jones. Sam Jones is the Administrator account and the one I was using and shows in User Accounts; Sam is an extra one I created awhile back to troubleshoot some operating problems. I would like to delete the Sam account, but I can't find it anywhere except on the startup screen and under netplwiz (and that takes a little trickery). It doesn't show under User Accounts or after switching users or logging off. For the moment, I've bypassed the password login on both. My question is, how do I find and get rid of the Sam account? Thanks,

:)

 

How do I delete a family member in my user account

I have two user accounts on my PC now. Windows always boots up asking for the second non-admin user, but it is a mess, I want to delete it, but when I got to accounts it shows this user and it allows more users to installed but I can't find a way to delete
this user, which I find truly strange. When I am looking at this second user I am signed in as the admin, so I should have total access, but it not showing me this. Strange.

 

Persistent issue with logon - shows a duplicate account

"The second one looks like a
Local User Account in Windows 10 located under Account settings for Family and Other Users. "

It is this second account that we wish to be rid of. However it does not show up in Account settings anywhere, not under Family and Other users. So I cannot delete it as suggested.

What would the steps be in this case? To revert to a local account, remove password, and then put back as a Microsoft Account?

JF

 

A screenshot of where 'sam' is shown in netplwiz may give us some clues. Feel free to black out some parts of the name(s) if you want to obscure your identity.

 

In netplwiz (second screenshot), if I click in the checkbox to require username and password on startup, then uncheck it, click Apply, the "Sam" user account shows, per the screenshot. The "Sam Jones" one doesn't except insofar as the email address showing is attached to it, although both users may be, I'm not recalling.

The top screenshot is the User Account page, where "Sam Jones" shows and the email attached to it, but not the "Sam" account. OTOH, in the bottom screenshot is the Users folder, where you can see both accounts showing. The Samj entry is the "Sam Jones" one, i.e., the active Administrative account and the only one I use. I hope that's clear.

 

In the first screenshot, what do you see if you click the 'Manage another account' link near the bottom? If the 'Sam' account actually exists it will be listed (and can be deleted) there.

In your second screenshot of netplwiz you are allowed to set any random name and password to automatically sign in, Windows doesn't check what you've typed it so it doesn't have to exist. But if you give a non-existent account name here it will appear at start up as the user that tries (and fails, obviously) to log in.

Normally, when setting up the account to automatically sign in, the 'User name' field is automatically filled in with the name of the account you had highlighted. The space in 'Sam Jones' may be confusing it (coupled with the fact there was once a 'Sam' account). Try deleting 'Sam' from the 'User name' box then click OK, that may clear it from the start up page.

 

Manage another account shows only the main one. I deleted the name in the User Name box, but I'm not sure what that does. because in C:\Users the 'Sam' account name is still there. What effect would there be if I deleted the latter in C:\Users, assuming it allows me?

At the moment, when I have netplwiz set to require a password, only the main account shows. That's unlike yesterday before I posted when it showed both and gave a password error message because it was starting with the 'Sam' account. Not sure what to make of that change.

 

There are two parts to an account, the first is in the registry where the details of the account are stored. The second is a folder in C:\Users to hold the user's documents, created the first time a new user signs in.

When you delete a user account you are given the option to delete (or not) their user folder and its data. If (as it appears) you didn't delete their data the C:\Users\Sam folder remains after the 'Sam' account is removed. You are free to do whatever you want with it.

I'd check to see if there are any files you may want to keep before deleting it.

 

The return of the Windows login screen with two accounts I described in the OP got me to take a closer look at the Advanced tab in netplwiz. This looks like the page we need to discuss. I don't understand the different items and, without knowing more, sure don't want to delete the "Sam" account with "Sam Jones" next to it as the full name, when the latter is the name of the real Administrator account. Would you mind breaking down this list for me? Thanks,

 

No - you certainly don't! That is the account you log in with!

But it's wrong to think of it as 'the real Administrator account' with a capital 'A'. It is an administrator by virtue of being in the Administrators group - the Administrator is a built-in account, disabled from logging in by default, that is an essential part of the Windows system.

Guest is also a built-in account, disabled for log in by default. It's purpose is to grant (very limited) access to the PC for other machines on the network that have no other account they could use on this PC.

DefaultAccount is there as the template to be copied when you create new users.

Apparently defaultuser0 is an anomaly that serves no useful purpose. Seems that it may have been used by Setup during the initial install of Windows 10. It should not have remained once completed, but sometimes it does. There's no harm in leaving it there, but if it also has a folder in the C:\Users folder that can be safely be deleted. For more on this one, see Kari's comments here... defaultuser() folder - is that normal?

Basically, everything looks normal and there's nothing you need to do.

 

Thanks, but I’m confused by your second paragraph explanation. The list shows an Administrator account and an account labeled Sam and Sam Jones, the latter apparently being the account showing as the Administrator account on the User Accounts page. What is the difference? And where might the Sam account that also shows up on the login screen at start up, i.e. the point of this thread, be?

 

Stop using capitals for every administrator, it's confusing *Smile

Every install of Windows has a built-in account called Administrator with unrestricted control of the PC, not being subject User Account Control. This account is disabled by default, so it cannot be used to sign in. When you install Windows 10 you have to create at least one user account to sign in with. This user account is made a member of the Administrators group, so it's an administrator, but not the Administrator. You can make as many administrators as you like, but they will all be (for your own protection) subject to UAC.

Enable or Disable Elevated Administrator account in Windows 10

 

Ok, thanks. So in the Advanced tab list, is the first item, Administrator, the built-in hidden account? Why doesn’t my “Sam” account, the one that’s the point of all this, show - or does it under a different name?

 

'Sam' is probably not an actual separate account. It's either a phantom from setting 'Sam' to auto sign in, or it's a local account alternative to signing in with your MS account. I don't use an MS account to sign in, so I can't test this. Netplwiz is the usual culprit.

Duplicate user name at login

2 User names on logon screen all of a sudden

For the MS account issue, see...

Win10 has 2 log in options. Account settings shows only 1.

 

Thanks for those links. I'm caught in a vicious circle, and can no longer start Windows without a password being required. Whatever I figured out with netplwiz to bypass the login (mentioned in the OP) doesn't seem to work anymore, or I can't figure it out again.

The situation now is that in the registry AutoAdminLogon is set to 0, but a logon is still required. That is, in User Accounts (netplwiz) the upper box is checked and I can't find a way anymore to uncheck it and get it to stay unchecked. If I uncheck and click ok, the screen with "Sam" on it pops up. If I click ok, whether or not I do anything there, it rechecks the box and resets AutoAdminLogon to 1. The other thing is that at the Windows startup screen, the background and time/date show but nothing happens at all until I click on the screen, i.e., no password error message. When I do, "Sam Jones" shows, but not the "Sam" account. Maybe that's good news, but I'm not sure. It's like the registry change is for another account. In any case, I'm still having to enter the password for "Sam Jones" to complete the log in. Ideas for escaping this conundrum welcome...

Update: I seemed to have figured out the way to bypass login: in Netplwiz, when I click OK/Apply and get the pop up that shows "Sam," fill in my password. What this tells me is the computer is starting from the Sam account, not the Sam Jones one - unless both are one and the same (see earlier screenshot). Confusing - and worth simplifying if possible and not destructive.