Strange Account That Only Appears When I Change Parental Settings

[theclap]

Hi guys. First off, first post officially . I have been trolling this website since I started working with windows 7 the large community is very helpful! Anyways, I have an account that I cannot edit or delete. My computer is not hooked up to anything else that could put it there. I suspect it to be a virus, but this has happened to me a few times and I don't really put this computer into the danger zone, i.e. file sharing, porn, etc. I went into my C:\drive and saw a random folder, locked, with random letters and numbers specifically 2b3f75e219864ad2238a349c. Naturally, I went into my control panel > user accounts > parental controls and saw the same numbers as a password protected standard user. The only difference is now the letters are capitalized. Next, I went in to delete it of course because it looks frightning and dangerous. But when I got there, it wasn't there. Would anyone be able to help me understand what this is? It doesn't really seem like it's supposed to be there and seems threatening. Thanks! pictures attached of the folder/location, parental controls window, and manage accounts window.

 

[profdlp]

That folder looks like the leftovers of a Windows Update which possibly failed for whatever reason. Could have been another type of installation too, I suppose. As a guess, I'd say that maybe this particular update made a temporary user account to simplify permissions granting during the install.

What's in the folder with the same name?

 

[theclap]

a file install.exe, sounds like that makes sense then. I've brought this up to a couple professionals and I couldn't get a single straight answer. I'm just baffled as how I can only see it underneath parental controls, my main concern here is that is this threatening or not?

 

[profdlp]

I doubt it's threatening, but with the tendency of the nitwits who foist malware on us to look for new and creative ways to sneak something in on us it is wise to be cautious.

Have you right-clicked the install.exe file and gone to Properties>>Details? That might tell you exactly what it is right there.

Here's an example of what you're looking for. It shows the Name, Version, and Date it showed up on your computer, etc:

 

[theclap]

yes, it was basically blank no info what so ever. I'm going to run a full scan and see if something comes up. I have had the same problem before and coincidentally at the same time i was infected with a zombie virus. The user name was not identically similar, but it was the same idea with a bunch of random letters and numbers. thanks for the help. Hopefully this is not malware of any kind as that is my biggest fear, I have the habit of not backing my things up on this computer

 

[profdlp]

What antivirus program are you running? Most people (myself included) take the Schwarzenegger approach - keep your main gun firing at all times and lob grenades when necessary.

What this means in practice is to have one - and only one - antivirus program which is always running, but use a couple supplemental run-as-needed programs to double-check things. I run Microsoft Security Essentials full-time and follow it up with occasional scans with Malwarebytes. If I think there might be a problem or am feeling extra paranoid I'll throw in an online scan or two like TrendMicro's HouseCall or BitDefender.

 

[theclap]

I have norton and security essentials which i dont run at the same time. I found the source. It's from an add on for visual studio. specifically the xna game studio and phone developer software. It even put a whole install folder for visual studio along with it! I tried exiting out of the install prematurely at a few points and sure enough it made a few of these folders and a new account i can only see through parental controls. Thanks guys for the trouble shoot, problem almost completely solved! now to find out the actual culprit of the original folder.

It seems to me that my problem correlates with the window that comes up when you exit an install and windows pops up a window asking if this program was installed properly or it asks if you would like to reinstall using reccomended settings. If I exit that window, the folders and account appear. If I press it was installed properly, they disappear. Though, I can still see the account but it's not to my concern anymore.

 

[profdlp]

...It seems to me that my problem correlates with the window that comes up when you exit an install and windows pops up a window asking if this program was installed properly or it asks if you would like to reinstall using recommended settings. If I exit that window, the folders and account appear. If I press it was installed properly, they disappear...

I've had this same thing pop up a number of times but was never quite sure why it happened or what caused it. I think you've put your finger on it.