Are there risks when deleting old Admin Account? Win 7

[T R Finlay]

Hello. I recently had to reinstall (restore) Windows 7 HomePremium from scratch. Got a malware 'infection!' HP desktop computer.

After that (the restore) I created two new user accounts, limited user and admin, and deactivated the two previous ones. I found that there were files, under C:\Users –from the two old accounts. I did a little looking around and found a way toremove these accounts from the command prompt. The command line I used was:

rd /s /q "c:\Users\xxx" {Enter}

Replace xxx with the name of the profile folder you wish todelete. Note that this action is irreversible.

I used this command to delete the previous limited useraccount, and that worked, but I am concerned about removing the old admin account because references to it keep coming up in, say, Windows Backup. Something about ‘Windows Backup could not find certain files (that I had deleted after creating the two new user accounts using Win Explorer) that were under the old admin account.

So, what risk is there, if any, of deleting the previous/oldadmin account using the above command line? I mean, there are a near endlessnumber of entries in that account in the old “Indexed Locations” folder under searches. Also,quite a few entries under ‘AppData.”

And, if OK, should I do this while logged into the new admin account? When I deleted the old LUA, I ran the command line as Administrator, but while in the new LUA.

Many thanks for any help!

 

[Pyprohly]

Just to be clear here, you are looking to remove a folder under C:\Users that was once connected to a functioning user account—it is now deleted—the user’s profile folder remains, correct?

In this case, you may just blatantly remove the folder and expect no problems to arise. (If one does, you know where to go.)

Should the user account actually exist, please follow a procedure detailed here to properly remove the account.

And, if OK, should I do this while logged into the new admin account? When I deleted the old LUA, I ran the command line as Administrator, but while in the new LUA.

It doesn’t matter what account you use, but you should, as you’ve done before, run the command with administrative privileges to avoid possible file system permission restrictions.

 

[T R Finlay]

Reply appreciated...

Yes, the profile folder still exists.

I will attempt the solutions you offer in a day or so (have some priority non-computer work to get done), then get back and note the results!

Thanks! Tom