Unknown User in User Profiles?

[Guest Moxieman]

Running XP Home, SP3.

>Control Panel > System >Advanced >User Profiles shows 3 users. Two I created, and another, Account Unknown which I did not create.

 

1. Does this mean my computer has been compromised?

 

2. Can I delete it?

 

Firewall is always on, antivirus shows no problems. Updates are in place.

 

It does not show up in Control Panel >User Accounts. There, it shows the two

active accounts and says "Guest Account is off."

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Moxieman

[Guest JS]

Re: Unknown User in User Profiles?

 

What's this user's account name?

 

JS

 

"Moxieman" <Moxieman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:24330056-84E4-4F5B-BBDD-52AF2B9C1B7D@microsoft.com...

> Running XP Home, SP3.

>

>>Control Panel > System >Advanced >User Profiles shows 3 users. Two I

>>created, and another, Account Unknown which I did not create.

>

> 1. Does this mean my computer has been compromised?

>

> 2. Can I delete it?

>

> Firewall is always on, antivirus shows no problems. Updates are in place.

>

> It does not show up in Control Panel >User Accounts. There, it shows the

> two

> active accounts and says "Guest Account is off."

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> Moxieman

[Guest Nepatsfan]

Re: Unknown User in User Profiles?

 

"Moxieman" <Moxieman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:24330056-84E4-4F5B-BBDD-52AF2B9C1B7D@microsoft.com...

> Running XP Home, SP3.

>

>>Control Panel > System >Advanced >User Profiles shows 3 users. Two I created,

>>and another, Account Unknown which I did not create.

>

> 1. Does this mean my computer has been compromised?

>

> 2. Can I delete it?

>

> Firewall is always on, antivirus shows no problems. Updates are in place.

>

> It does not show up in Control Panel >User Accounts. There, it shows the two

> active accounts and says "Guest Account is off."

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> Moxieman

 

I think you'll find that the cause of this problem is far less sinister than

your computer being compromised. As for whether you can delete the entry for

Account Unknown, you might want to do a little detective work first.

 

Take a look in this folder, C:\Documents and Settings. If you see any of the

following folders, that's normal. These folders are created by Windows and

should never be deleted.

 

All Users

Default User

LocalService

NetworkService

 

Note: If you don't see any of the above named folders it simply means you

haven't made any changes to the default settings in the Folder Options applet in

Control Panel. These are hidden and system folders and would not be visible

unless you made the appropriate changes in Folder Options.

 

It's also possible that you will find a folder named Administrator. Every

computer running XP has a built-in account named Administrator. In XP Home

Edition, you would need to boot into Safe mode in order to log in with this

account. Once again, this would be normal. Note: If you've never booted into

Safe mode and logged on as Administrator, this folder won't be present.

 

The remaining folders should have names identical to the user accounts you

created. Is there a folder with a name you don't recognize? If so, that folder

was belongs to the user who now shows up as Account Unknown. This can happen

when a user account is deleted through a method other than the User Account

applet in Control Panel.

 

Good luck

 

Nepatsfan

[Guest Moxieman]

Re: Unknown User in User Profiles?

 

I see those folders and I also have the Administrator account. Any other user

account was deleted using the account deletion under Users in the Control

panel. There are no other user account names or folders under Documents and

settings that I cannot account for.

 

Can I delete this user account? How did it get onto my computer?

 

"Nepatsfan" wrote:

> "Moxieman" <Moxieman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:24330056-84E4-4F5B-BBDD-52AF2B9C1B7D@microsoft.com...

> > Running XP Home, SP3.

> >

> >>Control Panel > System >Advanced >User Profiles shows 3 users. Two I created,

> >>and another, Account Unknown which I did not create.

> >

> > 1. Does this mean my computer has been compromised?

> >

> > 2. Can I delete it?

> >

> > Firewall is always on, antivirus shows no problems. Updates are in place.

> >

> > It does not show up in Control Panel >User Accounts. There, it shows the two

> > active accounts and says "Guest Account is off."

> >

> > Thanks in advance,

> >

> > Moxieman

>

> I think you'll find that the cause of this problem is far less sinister than

> your computer being compromised. As for whether you can delete the entry for

> Account Unknown, you might want to do a little detective work first.

>

> Take a look in this folder, C:\Documents and Settings. If you see any of the

> following folders, that's normal. These folders are created by Windows and

> should never be deleted.

>

> All Users

> Default User

> LocalService

> NetworkService

>

> Note: If you don't see any of the above named folders it simply means you

> haven't made any changes to the default settings in the Folder Options applet in

> Control Panel. These are hidden and system folders and would not be visible

> unless you made the appropriate changes in Folder Options.

>

> It's also possible that you will find a folder named Administrator. Every

> computer running XP has a built-in account named Administrator. In XP Home

> Edition, you would need to boot into Safe mode in order to log in with this

> account. Once again, this would be normal. Note: If you've never booted into

> Safe mode and logged on as Administrator, this folder won't be present.

>

> The remaining folders should have names identical to the user accounts you

> created. Is there a folder with a name you don't recognize? If so, that folder

> was belongs to the user who now shows up as Account Unknown. This can happen

> when a user account is deleted through a method other than the User Account

> applet in Control Panel.

>

> Good luck

>

> Nepatsfan

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest Nepatsfan]

Re: Unknown User in User Profiles?

 

Go to Start -> Run and enter cmd.exe in the Open box.

In the command prompt window, enter the following command.

 

net user

 

You should see a list of the accounts on your machine. Ignore the two named

HelpAssistant and SUPPORT_388945a0. Are there any accounts listed that you don't

recognize? If not, you can delete the Unknown Account listed under User

Profiles. You might want to create a System Restore point before doing this.

 

Nepatsfan

 

"Moxieman" <Moxieman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:34D72468-B00C-4ABB-B9CD-9ACBBD429B66@microsoft.com...

>I see those folders and I also have the Administrator account. Any other user

> account was deleted using the account deletion under Users in the Control

> panel. There are no other user account names or folders under Documents and

> settings that I cannot account for.

>

> Can I delete this user account? How did it get onto my computer?

>

> "Nepatsfan" wrote:

>

>> "Moxieman" <Moxieman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>> news:24330056-84E4-4F5B-BBDD-52AF2B9C1B7D@microsoft.com...

>> > Running XP Home, SP3.

>> >

>> >>Control Panel > System >Advanced >User Profiles shows 3 users. Two I

>> >>created,

>> >>and another, Account Unknown which I did not create.

>> >

>> > 1. Does this mean my computer has been compromised?

>> >

>> > 2. Can I delete it?

>> >

>> > Firewall is always on, antivirus shows no problems. Updates are in place.

>> >

>> > It does not show up in Control Panel >User Accounts. There, it shows the

>> > two

>> > active accounts and says "Guest Account is off."

>> >

>> > Thanks in advance,

>> >

>> > Moxieman

>>

>> I think you'll find that the cause of this problem is far less sinister than

>> your computer being compromised. As for whether you can delete the entry for

>> Account Unknown, you might want to do a little detective work first.

>>

>> Take a look in this folder, C:\Documents and Settings. If you see any of the

>> following folders, that's normal. These folders are created by Windows and

>> should never be deleted.

>>

>> All Users

>> Default User

>> LocalService

>> NetworkService

>>

>> Note: If you don't see any of the above named folders it simply means you

>> haven't made any changes to the default settings in the Folder Options applet

>> in

>> Control Panel. These are hidden and system folders and would not be visible

>> unless you made the appropriate changes in Folder Options.

>>

>> It's also possible that you will find a folder named Administrator. Every

>> computer running XP has a built-in account named Administrator. In XP Home

>> Edition, you would need to boot into Safe mode in order to log in with this

>> account. Once again, this would be normal. Note: If you've never booted into

>> Safe mode and logged on as Administrator, this folder won't be present.

>>

>> The remaining folders should have names identical to the user accounts you

>> created. Is there a folder with a name you don't recognize? If so, that

>> folder

>> was belongs to the user who now shows up as Account Unknown. This can happen

>> when a user account is deleted through a method other than the User Account

>> applet in Control Panel.

>>

>> Good luck

>>

>> Nepatsfan

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

[Guest Moxieman]

Re: Unknown User in User Profiles?

 

Thank you. I recognize them all, so I will create the restore point and delete.

 

 

 

"Nepatsfan" wrote:

> Go to Start -> Run and enter cmd.exe in the Open box.

> In the command prompt window, enter the following command.

>

> net user

>

> You should see a list of the accounts on your machine. Ignore the two named

> HelpAssistant and SUPPORT_388945a0. Are there any accounts listed that you don't

> recognize? If not, you can delete the Unknown Account listed under User

> Profiles. You might want to create a System Restore point before doing this.

>

> Nepatsfan

>

> "Moxieman" <Moxieman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:34D72468-B00C-4ABB-B9CD-9ACBBD429B66@microsoft.com...

> >I see those folders and I also have the Administrator account. Any other user

> > account was deleted using the account deletion under Users in the Control

> > panel. There are no other user account names or folders under Documents and

> > settings that I cannot account for.

> >

> > Can I delete this user account? How did it get onto my computer?

> >

> > "Nepatsfan" wrote:

> >

> >> "Moxieman" <Moxieman@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> >> news:24330056-84E4-4F5B-BBDD-52AF2B9C1B7D@microsoft.com...

> >> > Running XP Home, SP3.

> >> >

> >> >>Control Panel > System >Advanced >User Profiles shows 3 users. Two I

> >> >>created,

> >> >>and another, Account Unknown which I did not create.

> >> >

> >> > 1. Does this mean my computer has been compromised?

> >> >

> >> > 2. Can I delete it?

> >> >

> >> > Firewall is always on, antivirus shows no problems. Updates are in place.

> >> >

> >> > It does not show up in Control Panel >User Accounts. There, it shows the

> >> > two

> >> > active accounts and says "Guest Account is off."

> >> >

> >> > Thanks in advance,

> >> >

> >> > Moxieman

> >>

> >> I think you'll find that the cause of this problem is far less sinister than

> >> your computer being compromised. As for whether you can delete the entry for

> >> Account Unknown, you might want to do a little detective work first.

> >>

> >> Take a look in this folder, C:\Documents and Settings. If you see any of the

> >> following folders, that's normal. These folders are created by Windows and

> >> should never be deleted.

> >>

> >> All Users

> >> Default User

> >> LocalService

> >> NetworkService

> >>

> >> Note: If you don't see any of the above named folders it simply means you

> >> haven't made any changes to the default settings in the Folder Options applet

> >> in

> >> Control Panel. These are hidden and system folders and would not be visible

> >> unless you made the appropriate changes in Folder Options.

> >>

> >> It's also possible that you will find a folder named Administrator. Every

> >> computer running XP has a built-in account named Administrator. In XP Home

> >> Edition, you would need to boot into Safe mode in order to log in with this

> >> account. Once again, this would be normal. Note: If you've never booted into

> >> Safe mode and logged on as Administrator, this folder won't be present.

> >>

> >> The remaining folders should have names identical to the user accounts you

> >> created. Is there a folder with a name you don't recognize? If so, that

> >> folder

> >> was belongs to the user who now shows up as Account Unknown. This can happen

> >> when a user account is deleted through a method other than the User Account

> >> applet in Control Panel.

> >>

> >> Good luck

> >>

> >> Nepatsfan

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

>

>

>

>