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Unknown contact in file sharing window

Anonymous
2013-08-17T21:45:50+00:00

Original title: Issue w/ homegroup

Yesterday when i was using My PC i wasn't connected to home group (i don't know how they work and i don't use 'em) today when i was listening to music, there was this icon at the bottom that said the file was shared w/ another PC, and when i check the PC settings i was connected to kinda home group, i clicked on "leave" and shut everything.. but it says that some unknown account is the owner of my files... sorry if i sound stupid,lol

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-08-18T15:16:55+00:00

    Hi Basit,

    You are welcome.  Were you not able to edit Unknown contact and delete it?  Do you get any error message when you do so?

    Follow these steps: 

    a. Right click and enter the Properties of the problem folder/file.

    b. Click on the Security tab.

    c. On the Security tab, click the Advanced button, not the edit button.

    d. On the Permissions tab in the Advanced window. click the Change Permissions button.

    e. Select your user in the Permissions entities list and check the Replace all Child object......ect.

    Click on Apply/OK.

    Now, you have taken ownership of the folder/file.

    Now, you can go ahead and remove <Unknown Contact> from the share list.

    Let us know if it helps.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-04-02T17:55:43+00:00

    Hello Rajith,

    We have experienced a similar problem with an <Unknown Contact> showing up as an owner in our 'Share With > Specific People ...' listing in Windows 7 Professional (64-bit).  Furthermore, the <Unknown Contact> cannot be removed from the specific people share listing because there is no dropdown for removal in the 'Permission Level' column of the listing.

    We suspect our <Unknown Contact> entry is either due to a deleted user account when rebuilding our system after a drive failure or due to the fact these folders were restored from a backup under Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit) that included some previously shared folders.  Regardless, the steps you provided did not remove, or allow us to remove, the <Unknown Contact> entry from the list.

    We eventually resolved the problem by taking ownership of the whole drive while making sure that we had checked the option to***'Replace owner on subcontainers and objects'***.  We had already taken ownership once, but neglected to check the option to replace ownership on subcontainers and, as a result, still had the problem.

    We suspect the reason your solution did not work in our case, is that the option to *'Include inheritable permissions from this object's parent'*was marked by default.  As such, it appears the <Unknown Contact> was repeatedly being inherited from the parent when 'Replacing all child object permissions'.  Since we have corrected the problem in another way, we cannot test our suspicions.  Nevertheless, suspect that unchecking the box to include the parent's inheritable permissions, may resolve the issue.  If you find this was the problem, you might like to update your solution to prevent this pitfall.

    Thank you for allowing us to comment.

    8 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2015-02-22T14:15:10+00:00

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2013-08-18T16:25:56+00:00

    Hi Basit,

    Glad that the issue is fixed.  If you have any more queries with Windows, please post, we will be happy to help you.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2013-08-18T12:35:34+00:00

    Hi Rajith! I'm the admin and there are no other accounts on this PC, thanks for the links. now I have a little bit of idea what homegroups are.

    The thing is, I don't use 'em and suddenly out of the blue i end up connected to some "unknown contact" who is the owner of my files... i've left the homegroup, the "sharing icon" doesn't appear now... but this unknown contact is still listed as the owner.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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