Unwanted user account cannot be removed

[expertec]

Hi everyone,

Bit of an odd problem here, I can't work it out.

My brother accidentally created an extra user account on his laptop, and it won't go away. In options for changing the account, there is no delete. :blink:

We also tried to change it from an administrator to a limited account, but the option was greyed out.

System is XP Professional, SP2, all up to date. :)

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Alan2273]

Is this of any use to you expertec.

http://uis.georgetown.edu/software/documen...g.accounts.html

[expertec]

Unfortunately not... I know how to delete accounts, I have done it plenty of times... but on his computer, at this screen, the delete option just isn't there. :blink:

[Scarecrow Man]

Start > Run > control userpasswords2

Are you able to delete from here?

two things.

1. You cannot delete an account you are logged in to.

2. You must have one other account other than the Administrator.

[trackrat]

From the Microsoft Knowledge base.

Using a command line

1.

Open Command Prompt.

2.

Type:

dsrmObjectDN

Value Description

(ObjectDN Specifies the distinguished name of the user object to be deleted.)

Notes

•

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or the Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.

•

To open a command prompt, click Start, point to All programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command prompt.

•

Once a user account has been deleted, all permissions and memberships associated with that user account are permanently deleted. Because the security ID (SID) for each account is unique, a new user account with the same name as a previously deleted user account does not automatically assume the permissions and memberships of the previously deleted account. To duplicate a deleted user account, all permissions and memberships must be manually recreated.

•

To view the complete syntax for this command, at a command prompt, type:

dsrm /?

[Scarecrow Man]

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or the Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.

This is a domain only utility Trackrat. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...BB79BC6103.mspx

Active Directory is a domain manager.

[expertec]

Start > Run > control userpasswords2

Are you able to delete from here?

Yes, that worked great, thanks! Useful thing to remember that. :)

2. You must have one other account other than the Administrator.

And herein lies the root of the problem, etc.

There was previously, and now is again, only one account, the Administrator one. Perhaps that's why the other couldn't be deleted, although it now has been. :rolleyes:

[Scarecrow Man]

Glad to hear it is sorted.

control userpasswords (for win2k) and control userpasswords2 (xp/2003) is quite usefull for local user management. If you are using XP Pro, you also have group management features from within that panel.

note: If you use control userpasswords without the 2 in XP, you get the regular user control panel.