Can't Delete User; now have two Admins!

[mendopaul]

I've switched my Admin status to my main user ID but now I can't delete the "User" that I was using as Admin. I've been trying to change the status of my original Admin user name but now I've got two users listed as Administrators and the one I don't want cannot be changed apparently. This is the one I'm trying to delete. Seems like big mess here. Have I confused you? Thanks for help.

 

[Brink]

Hello Paul,

Is the account you wanted to delete by chance the built-in "Administrator" account?

If so, then the tutorial below can help show you how to disable it instead. You will not be able to delete it.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/507-built-administrator-account-enable-disable.html
​

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[mendopaul]

Thanks Shawn, I've changed this back and forth enough so far that now I can't tell if it is the Admin account or not. Is there a test or way to find out? I've designated the account I think is the built-in elevated Admin account to the Admin status on my machine but I'm just not sure about the other one. How can I find out? Again, many thanks.

 

[Kaktussoft]

Logon as an admin user lets say "AdminUserA" . Delete "AdminUserB" then. What error message do you get?

You can't delete user with name "Administrator"!

 

[Think Tank]

You can go to the command prompt (Start > type in CMD.EXE) and enter in
NET USER
This will show you all of the available users on the computer. Then, you can type in
NET USER *username*
for each of the users you see. In the Comment line, you'll see the one that says "Built-in account for administering the computer/domain" indicating which one is the built-in one.

 

[problemshredder]

the default admin is the one listed with the name 'administrator'. other users can be added and assigned the role of administrator, but they will have unique names, usually the name of the user. to find out, you can go to control panel-administrative tools-computer management. then from local users and groups, click on the groups. on the right pane you'll see all groups in the PC. see who's inside the group "administrators". if you see other names than the default 'administrator', these are the ones that can be deleted.
now, you cannot delete one user because right now you are still using the pc as this user. so you need to access windows using the default 'administrator', then delete other users from here.

 

[LMiller7]

It is not recommended that the "Administrator" built in account be used for general use. It is best to create an account with administrative rights for your own use and reserve the Administrator account for emergencies. This way if your accounts profile becomes corrupt you can still log in to correct the problem. Otherwise you have a serious problem.

 

[Kaktussoft]

It is not recommended that the "Administrator" built in account be used for general use. It is best to create an account with administrative rights for your own use and reserve the Administrator account for emergencies. This way if your accounts profile becomes corrupt you can still log in to correct the problem. Otherwise you have a serious problem.

Also built-in administrator runs always elevated so has admin rights without UAC prompt.

 

[AddRAM]

Just disable the built-in admin account, as Shawn has suggested.

There is no reason to ever use it.

 

[mendopaul]

You can go to the command prompt (Start > type in CMD.EXE) and enter in
NET USER
This will show you all of the available users on the computer. Then, you can type in
NET USER *username*
for each of the users you see. In the Comment line, you'll see the one that says "Built-in account for administering the computer/domain" indicating which one is the built-in one.

I followed this procedure and found two suprising things:

1. The user name I wish to delete did not come up from the cmd.exe above but my current good one did.

2. A totally unexpected "user" name came up "neromediahomeuser.4" which is really off the wall for me!

So I'm left with two questions to resolve the above: How to delete the user that did not show up and how to delete that Nero "user" which I"ve never used or even tinkered with.

Thanks for all the advice above folks!

 

[mendopaul]

Another comment:

Right now when this machine boots up there are two "users" showing only one of which comes up when I use cmd.exe and "net user". The other doesn't show and I don't know how to delete it. It is not now an admin user but I've changed its status a couple of times before. Apparently I've screwed this thing up.

 

[mendopaul]

Sorry to keep adding these comments but stuff comes to me as we think of this.

From Control Panel, Three accounts come up: Two showing as "Admin" and one "Guest".

The second Admin account that I want to delete does not show that option as available.

But when I boot only two come up, the "Guest" does not show. both of the users showing are Admin.

But CMD.exe brings up that strange "neromediahomeuser.4" thing!

Go figure.

thanks whoever hangs in there with this mess.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

Guest is the standard guest account that can be enabled or disabled. It's usually disabled. Cannot be deleted.

neromediahomeuser.4 is an user created by Nero Media Home 4 (who would have guessed) apparently to access better NAS (network drives) and other unspecified stuff.
There are more accounts like the one Windows uses for updates (so that it can keep installing updates even when you are logged off), so it does kinda make sense.

The second Admin account that I want to delete does not show that option as available.

Being non-deletable hints at it being the integrated standard (and usually hidden) Administrator account. The tutorial linked should put it to sleep again.

 

[Layback Bear]

Nero have admin. privileges is scary to me. I don't know why Nero would need such a account.

 

[Think Tank]

Nero have admin. privileges is scary to me. I don't know why Nero would need such a account.

I know, right! NVidia update manager does it too so they can get their updates. Many other programs do it as well.

You can go to the command prompt (Start > type in CMD.EXE) and enter in
NET USER
This will show you all of the available users on the computer. Then, you can type in
NET USER *username*
for each of the users you see. In the Comment line, you'll see the one that says "Built-in account for administering the computer/domain" indicating which one is the built-in one.

I followed this procedure and found two suprising things:
1. The user name I wish to delete did not come up from the cmd.exe above but my current good one did.
2. A totally unexpected "user" name came up "neromediahomeuser.4" which is really off the wall for me!
So I'm left with two questions to resolve the above: How to delete the user that did not show up and how to delete that Nero "user" which I"ve never used or even tinkered with.
Thanks for all the advice above folks!

In the command prompt, I'd type in:
wmic useraccount get /value
and paste for us what you see there.

 

[Layback Bear]

That must be why I don't have any of those things. I do all my updates manually.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

those accounts are hidden, only with console commands or stuff that breaks passwords you can see if you have them or not.

Still, I agree that it's something that should NOT be happening. I never saw Nvidia or ATI accounts though.
That would be one of the list of good reasons to say goodbye to Nero products.

 

[AddRAM]

Backup your data and re install windows.

By the way, I`ve never had any issues with Nero. Although now, I only install Nero Express, always liked it.

 

[mendopaul]

Hi Problemshredder,

the default admin is the one listed with the name 'administrator'. other users can be added and assigned the role of administrator, but they will have unique names, usually the name of the user. to find out, you can go to control panel-administrative tools-computer management. then from local users and groups, click on the groups. on the right pane you'll see all groups in the PC. see who's inside the group "administrators". if you see other names than the default 'administrator', these are the ones that can be deleted.
now, you cannot delete one user because right now you are still using the pc as this user. so you need to access windows using the default 'administrator', then delete other users from here.

I followed this to "computer management" level and then could not find "local users and groups" within this set of windows. Where did I miss something? I guess my question is how do I get to "local users and groups"? Thanks for your help with this.

 

[mendopaul]

Hi ThinkTank: Here's the stuff that came up with that command you suggested:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\Paul>wmic useraccount get /value
 
AccountType=512
Caption=Office2010\Administrator
Description=Built-in account for administering the computer/domain
Disabled=FALSE
Domain=Office2010
FullName=PK
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=Administrator
PasswordChangeable=TRUE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=TRUE
SID=S-1-5-21-3396899938-2915431147-3368781619-500
SIDType=1
Status=OK
 
AccountType=512
Caption=Office2010\Guest
Description=Built-in account for guest access to the computer/domain
Disabled=FALSE
Domain=Office2010
FullName=
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=Guest
PasswordChangeable=FALSE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=FALSE
SID=S-1-5-21-3396899938-2915431147-3368781619-501
SIDType=1
Status=OK
 
AccountType=512
Caption=Office2010\HomeGroupUser$
Description=Built-in account for homegroup access to the computer
Disabled=FALSE
Domain=Office2010
FullName=HomeGroupUser$
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=HomeGroupUser$
PasswordChangeable=TRUE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=TRUE
SID=S-1-5-21-3396899938-2915431147-3368781619-1002
SIDType=1
Status=OK
 
AccountType=512
Caption=Office2010\NeroMediaHomeUser.4
Description=
Disabled=FALSE
Domain=Office2010
FullName=NeroMediaHomeUser.4
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=NeroMediaHomeUser.4
PasswordChangeable=FALSE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=FALSE
SID=S-1-5-21-3396899938-2915431147-3368781619-1006
SIDType=1
Status=OK
 
AccountType=512
Caption=Office2010\Paul
Description=
Disabled=FALSE
Domain=Office2010
FullName=Paul Kemp
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=Paul
PasswordChangeable=TRUE
PasswordExpires=FALSE
PasswordRequired=FALSE
SID=S-1-5-21-3396899938-2915431147-3368781619-1001
SIDType=1
Status=OK
 
AccountType=512
Caption=Office2010\UpdatusUser
Description=Used to provide NVIDIA software updates
Disabled=FALSE
Domain=Office2010
FullName=UpdatusUser
InstallDate=
LocalAccount=TRUE
Lockout=FALSE
Name=UpdatusUser
PasswordChangeable=TRUE
PasswordExpires=TRUE
PasswordRequired=TRUE
SID=S-1-5-21-3396899938-2915431147-3368781619-1005
SIDType=1
Status=OK
 
 
C:\Users\Paul>