Administrator account keeps disappearing after regular user logs off

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  1. Posts : 6
    Win10 Pro v1903 Build 18362.295
    Thread Starter
       #11

    Thank you Bree.

    Well, at this point, I've learned my lesson. I can't create any new users and assign to Admin group in the current state. I think I can run a boot CD and try and fix it that way..maybe.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 31,398
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #12

    Sidster said:
    ...this morning, the Administrator account shows ... again, but the password no longer works. This is really bizarre...
    Sidster said:
    ... I can't create any new users and assign to Admin group in the current state. I think I can run a boot CD and try and fix it that way..maybe.
    Have you tried a blank password? There is an outside chance that the feature update has returned Administrator to its default state of having no password.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 6
    Win10 Pro v1903 Build 18362.295
    Thread Starter
       #13

    Bree said:
    Have you tried a blank password? There is an outside chance that the feature update has returned Administrator to its default state of having no password.
    yes I did.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 6
    Win10 Pro v1903 Build 18362.295
    Thread Starter
       #14

    Hello friends,

    Well..unfortunately I have to revisit this again. I've since rebuilt my machine and install Windows 10 clean (removed partition/recreated...all that great stuff). During the wizard prompts, I created an account (Sam) for the admin and set password...etc, everything went great.

    Logged in, created another user (Ed) and added to administrators group. So now two non-Administrator accounts that belong to Administrators group. I also see the default Administrator account is disabled and I've left it that way in user management. Both accounts have passwords.

    All was fine for about a week. When I boot up to the login window, I see the last account that was logged in and it prompts for password. I can also see the other account on the bottom left.

    The next day, Ed logged into the machine and did normal work - nothing tech related. Since then, when i start up the machine, the log in window only shows his account. The bottom left does not show Sam anymore.

    Logged in as Ed and verified both accounts are active. Also checked c:\ for any .000 folders - all good. Registry hive files all look good and nothing renamed.

    I fear I'm going down the same path again. I have tried "net user Sam /active:yes" using Ed's account but it comes back access denied. Ed's account belongs to Administrators group.

    The only difference I see between Sam and Ed is the "Password required" property in CMD prompt for net user Sam. It is set to No. For Ed, it is set to Yes and I have not been able to find where to set that even after tinkering with NetPlWiz.

    Windows 10 Pro w/1903 update. OS Build is 18362.356. Intel i7/2600K CPU / 3.4 Ghz with 16GB RAM. 150GB Intel SSD used for C: with 4TB D drive for all data.

    Welcome any thoughts.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,217
    W10-Pro 22H2
       #15

    Sidster said:
    The only difference I see between Sam and Ed is the "Password required" property in CMD prompt for net user Sam. It is set to No. For Ed, it is set to Yes and I have not been able to find where to set that even after tinkering with NetPlWiz.
    I tried reproducing your experience, by removing the pw from a 'test' admin acct, to see if it disappeared from the login screen - no. I checked the pw-required state of the acct using 'net user test' and it showed a pw was not required, so I set about finding how to change that. I eventually managed it using wmic (some remark somewhere said that was deprecated - but I don't know what replaced it, so this is what I used):

    from an elevated cmd prompt: wmic useraccount where name='test' set passwordrequired=TRUE

    This did change the setting, but did not seem to stop me then removing the pw (from inside the test acct), and the acct stayed visible in the login screen - so no help, but you may get a different result.

    HTH, Martin

    PS I realise on re-reading that both your accts have pw, so ignore all the above except for how to change the passwordrequired setting (unhelpful as that was)
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 6
    Win10 Pro v1903 Build 18362.295
    Thread Starter
       #16

    Thank you for the tip. I will explore it nonetheless to see if it has any impact and circle back.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Well I think I may have figured out my problem.

    The second user (Ed) appears to be shutting down the machine in a manner that isn't logging off. So when the machine cold starts, it assumes the last user wants to log on and doesn't present the other users.

    I was able to confirm this by logging back in as Ed, then selecting "sign out". To my surprise, I got the CTL-ALT-DEL prompt and saw the option to login with other user.

    Though embarrassed, I'm glad this isn't an OS issue.

    Many thanks for listening and suggesting.

    Sid

    - - - Updated - - -

    I will add that the behavior of logging out seems to have changed. If a user doesn't 'sign out' but instead powers down, Windows will assume the same user is to log back on, hence no other login account presented on bootup. If you 'sign out', then shut down, you will see the list of accounts if your policy is set to not show CTRL-ALT-DEL prompt at startup.
      My Computer


 

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