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Ghost Administrator

Anonymous
2022-03-27T00:43:53+00:00

A few months ago a Windows 10 install got interrupted and a kind of "ghost administrator" appeared on my lock screen. The "GA" (below my name, on the image) doesn't work and doesn't appear in my list of users. I have full administrative privileges and I am the only user listed in Windows Settings but this has produced some strange phenomena that I cannot seem to correct. Every time I do a reboot now after an update it goes directly to the GA, and I get a series of errors messages saying that the Windows update has not worked. Rebooting doesn't correct the problem. However, if I hit Control/Alt/Delete at the GA screen (fairly quickly) I can switch users and boot in using my usual account. The other problem this caused is that old images and videos on my OneDrive cannot be read or opened. Any new images or videos are fine. I have tried all of the Windows repair programs (CHKDSK /F, DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth, sfc /scannow) several times as well as resetting Onedirive, resetting the Photo program, and so on. They find no errors and have no other impact on my computer and several updates, including large ones, have gone well. I've even used Windows Recovery. Nothing changes. This is a Dell OptiPelx 7010, running Windows 10 Home 21H1; the OS Build is 19043.1620, with Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4170.0. I am trying to be as specific as possible because I am certain this is a problem only an experienced Windows programmer will recognize. Any thoughts?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows Hello, lock screen and sign-in

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  1. @CmdrKeene 90,616 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-28T21:08:24+00:00

    Hey James, sorry about leading you down a path you couldn't reach. The Local Users and Groups isn't available that way in non-Pro editions of Windows any longer.

    Would you please open command prompt (admin) and type in the command NET USER ADMINISTRATOR and press Enter? Check if it shows active or not like this:

    If yours shows as active, type in net user administrator /active:no and press Enter to disable it. If you want you can then also run the original command from above to double-verify it's been disabled.

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  2. @CmdrKeene 90,616 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-29T16:58:38+00:00

    About the only thing that I could imagine needing cleaned up is to delete this particular folder, if it exists. It is normally not present on a Windows installation but it would have been created automatically during login to that account. Since the account is disabled this folder should be safe to delete: C:\Users\Administrator

    About the error message you sent, I will sure try to help. I think first I need to investigate a little more to determine root cause. I think I'll start with just one question please:

    Can you try opening the photo file with an alternative program as a test?
    Instead of double-clicking the file, right-click on the photo file and point to the "Open with" option, then choose any other program and let me know if the photo displays properly.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-03-29T15:45:07+00:00

    That did it! Thanks! This sounds like a dumb question I know but is there some residual code that needs to be cleaned up, perhaps using sfc /scannow or something similar? Also, the second major part of the problem isn't solved. This (above) is the message I get whenever I try to access images and or video files on OneDrive. I know these files are not corrupted because I can open them using any other computer. I have tried resetting OneDrive and several other things but nothing seems to work. This has only been happening since the GA problem. New image and video files work fine. Any help would be more than welcome. Again, I appreciate the help with the GA.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-03-28T18:28:34+00:00

    I appreciate your help. I am going to attach a screenshot. When I open the computer manager there's nothing labeled "Local users and groups." I couldn't figure out if or how I need to run this in "administrator mode." In any case, the only account listed in mine, which has full administrative privileges.

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  5. @CmdrKeene 90,616 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-27T00:57:16+00:00

    Usually, the account that actually has the name "Administrator" is disabled and hidden. I think I'd start by setting that account back to disabled status.

    But before, I want to mention that it's a good idea to have secondary admin-level user account on your computer just in case your regular everyday account were to get locked or corrupted or something. I often create a local user account named "LocalAdmin" but that's just my personal preference, it need not have any particular name.

    Here's what I'd recommend for you:

    1. Right-click your Start button, choose Computer Management.
    2. On the left side, choose "Local users and groups" then "Users"
    3. On the right-side, double-click your own user account and make certain it shows your are a member of the administrators group on the "member of" tab. If so, simply click the X and close the box.
    4. Once you're sure your own daily account is a member of the administrators group (with an S), you can safely go disable the user named "administrator" (with no S at the end) by double-clicking it and checkboxing the "Account is disabled" checkbox.

    The reason for step #3 is that if your account was somehow not an administrator-level account, taking step 4 could cause you to be totally locked out of your system.

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