Win 8.1 User Account Mess ... is it fixable?

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I just completed an upgrade of a family member's 8.0 laptop to 8.1. To download the update from the Store, I entered my own email account and password not knowing that I was walking into a trap.

The upgrade went fine. But now I'm the primary account on the laptop. My account seems to "own" Win 8.1 — and a couple of applications I installed afterwards.

How do I get out of this? I want the original family member's account to be the Main Account. I don't want to be an account on that laptop at all. Particularly, I don't want my MS Store Account associated with it after it leaves my house.

Can I delete my new account without repercussions? How do I designate a "one and only" Master Account — that "owns" all the applications installed on that laptop.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 4530
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    Nvidia
    Browser
    Pale Moon
Hello Countours, and welcome to Eight Forums.

As long as their account is an administrator type, then you could sign in to it, and just delete your user account to remove it.

User Account - Delete - Windows 7 Help Forums

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks for the welcome and the quick response.

That sounds simple ... but what happens to the content that's currently attached to my account? (two applications that only show on my desktop and a couple of PDFs that I downloaded).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 4530
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    Nvidia
    Browser
    Pale Moon
When you delete the account, you will have the option to delete all files and the user profile folder.

I would recommend to back up anything that you do not want to lose before deleting the user account.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Well, "simple" was premature on my part.

When logging off of my "unwanted main account", no other accounts are shown as logon choices. So I activated the hidden Administrator account (per instructions) and logged on to it. From there I was able to view User Profiles:

Account Unknown 2.73MB
Account Unknown 2.73MB
owner-PC\Administrator 2.68MB
owner-PC\owner 4.19MB
owner-PC\UpdatusUser 2.73MB
Default Profile 1.38MB

.... with all accounts showing as "Local"

The \owner account is obviously the laptop's original account ... the one I want to keep as the main account.

But how do I go about getting rid of the others when they aren't showing up except in this one table?

Is there a Master Administration View? If so, I haven't been able to find it. Realize that this is pretty confusing for someone who works with user accounts about once a year. Usually, they just work.

BTW, when I go to User Accounts from Control Panel, I'm shown only 3 accounts:
Administrator (that I just activated)
My Unwanted Account (administrator, not local)
Guest (is OFF)

Any suggestions on how to proceed?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 4530
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    Nvidia
    Browser
    Pale Moon
It would appear that the other user accounts no longer exists, or have been disabled.

To check to see what accounts are on the computer, open a command prompt, type net users, and press Enter.

If the user name of the account is listed in "net users" and not in "User Accounts", then it may have been disabled. You could use the tutorial below to verify if it's disabled, and enable it if so.

User Account - Enable or Disable - Windows 7 Help Forums
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Curiously, net users shows only:
Administrator ... owner ... Guest ... UpdatusUser

I suppose UpdatusUser is my unwanted account. As a first step, I'll disable it and see which choices remain. Then I'll try to remove the content and delete the directory.

Thanks for your help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 4530
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    Nvidia
    Browser
    Pale Moon
UpdatusUser is from NIVIDIA Update.

If you wanted to keep using NVIDIA Update, then you wouldn't want to disable or remove the UpdatusUser account. If you didn't then you could uninstall NIVIDIA Update in Programs and Features to remove the account.

What is NVIDIA ?UpdatusUser??

Since the other accounts are not listed, they have been deleted. You'll need to create new accounts for them instead. :(
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Well, this is getting complicated.

So I have third-party installers creating user accounts on my PC?

And I have Microsoft upgrades deleting perfectly good user accounts? (or deactivating them)

I'll leave UpdatusUser and Administrator. But how do I go about recovering/restoring owner-PC\owner 4.19MB? That account has all the content from the last couple of years of use. Creating a new version of it doesn't seem right, since the content/definition is sitting on disk. Here's the file structure (which is making less and less sense to me):
 

Attachments

  • Users Directory.png
    Users Directory.png
    3.2 KB · Views: 1,008

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 4530
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    Nvidia
    Browser
    Pale Moon
You could copy the contents inside the user's folders (ex: Music, Documents, etc...) to the new account, but I'm not sure it's possible to recover an old deleted account. :(
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Last question: what do you suggest I do with the folders (accounts?) like All Users, Default User and Default.migrated? Can they be archived off system and then deleted to clean things up? I'd hate for them to just sit around confusing the situation for the next 5 years.

Thanks again for your help with this.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 4530
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    Nvidia
    Browser
    Pale Moon
No worries.

You could safely delete the Default.migrated folder that's only a carry over from the OS you upgraded from. The others would need to stay.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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