64 bit - User-account missing from "Manage Accounts" in windows-7 64bit
2013-11
Skadlig
I recently installed windows-7 home premium 64-bit on my computer. I had two accounts on it. One admin account and one account of the type "homeuser" (I think it was).
This morning when started the computer only the admin account was visible.
Logging in using the admin account I could see that the other account was also missing from the "Manage Accounts"-view.
The files for the account in the user-folder was still there though. I tried restoring my computer to the state before installing a update last night but to no avail. I could still not see the account or log on.
Running the command "control userpasswords2" I could see that the account was there though and by removing the need for passwords and setting it as default I was finally able to use it.
It is still missing from the "Manage Accounts" though and if I log off then I still can't login using it.
I found one site where a similar problem was described and that the reason was that the account had been disabled. The solution was simple:
Open "Computer Management" and navigate to "Local Users and Groups" and enable the account again. The problem is of course that in Windows Home Premium that option is not available since it only exist in the Business version.
So finally the question is: Is there a way to either control the state of an account and enable/disable it without using "Local Users and Groups" or if not is there a way hack windows to enable "Local Users and Groups"?
Or, is there any other ideas as to why my account has hid itself? :)
EDIT:
Thank you Molly for your suggestion, unfortunately it didn't work. It is still not possible to see the account at the login screen or in the "Manage account" view. Though interestingly it is possible to see it in the parental control window.
Any other suggestions to why the account has disappeared and what can be done to fix it? I can live with my workaround but it doesn't feel that stable.
THE 86'd
I just had the same issue on a Windows 7 Pro x64 box, and never had any issues on Windows 7 Ultimate x86/32bit version.
I will assume that it might be a 7 Pro issue, or bad port on Microsoft's part to x64 (or a bad software combo on a Lenovo due to all the tweaks they do with all the goofy bloatware software preinstalled.
I restored from scratch, did all updates, installed office, did all updates, set Admin passwd, enabled Admin account, rebooted. User wasn't available, but I used that user to do ALL UPDATES AND INSTALL ALL SOFTWARE. User was able to be seen in Computer Management, and not disabled account, yet could not see the user during logon, nor in CTRL PANEL in users.
Deleted the account through Comp. manage and recreated, and all is well (after deleteing the profile as well)...
slhck
Is there a way to either control the state of an account and enable/disable it without using "Local Users and Groups" or if not is there a way hack windows to enable "Local Users and Groups"?
yes, you can enable/disable a user account through the Windows registry, as described in this tutorial:
How to Hide or Unhide a User Account in Vista (works in Windows 7)
see Method #2
bJako
I just had similar problem - I created new user (using Manage Computer, Local Users and Groups) and this user is not visible in login screen nor Manage Accounts.
So I noticed that user belongs only "Homeuser" group and NOT to Users group. So I add it to Users group and all works now, user is visible in login screen and Manage Accounts.
tvanover
So I have a Windows 7 home machine with 2 user accounts. One is a standard user account and one is an administrator account. Now this is going to be put in the hands of a very low-tech user so I don't want them to be able to see the administrator account on logon, but they want to have a password to prevent someone else from using the machine.
My goal is that when the user turns on the computer, they are presented with their login. After logging in to their non-administrator account, if something needs to be installed then the administrator account can be used through UAC.
I have tried creating the reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList and adding a dword of the account name and set it to 0. It succeeded in hiding the account from th login screen. As well as hiding it from UAC. So it fails the second requirement, of being able to run things as administrator through UAC.
Also since I didn't set an administrator password (left it blank) it seems that I have completely locked myself out of the machine since runas doesn't accept blank passwords. So I also cannot undo it, and have quite effectively bricked the install, prompting an OS reinstall.
This is Windows 7 Home, so there is no Users management console.
nhinkle
The original question was different, but I have actually provided an answer to this question before. See my post in the question "Always display the last / default user Windows 7 welcome screen" - it explains how to set up UAC and hidden accounts together so you can authenticate to the account via UAC but not log into it from the welcome screen.
Essentially, what you need to do is configure UAC to prompt for the user to enter both their username and password manually, allowing you to enter a username which is hidden from the login screen but still enabled. Instructions on how to do this are on the linked post.
In the meantime, it should still be possible for you to recover the account without doing a full reinstall. Open a command prompt (cmd.exe), and type runas /user:USERNAME regedit.exe, where USERNAME is the name of the administrative account. It will prompt you for that user's password; enter it and hit enter. This will open the registry editor running as that user, from which you can go in and revert the changes you made, adding back the account to the login screen.
Re-read your question and noticed that you said run-as won't work. What happens when you try booting into safe mode? I seem to recall that with Windows 7 Home Premium, the built-in administrator account is disabled by default, but is enabled in safe mode, allowing you to log into it and make changes. Unless you have hidden the built-in account in addition to whatever account you set up, this may work.
Finally, if all else fails, you could try running a system restore from the recovery console. Boot onto your Windows 7 installation disk, and choose to "repair a windows installation" instead of install. You can select your installation, then will eventually get to a screen where you can choose to do a restore. This should change the registry back to how it was before you made the change, if it has an old enough restore point. Your files will not be modified by a system restore, although some system settings might be.
harrymc
(as the question has changed, so must my answer.)
My idea is that one does not need to unhide the administrator account in order to use it. This account can stay hidden from the Welcome screen through the mechanism of Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList.
This is based on the fact that one can always issue in a Command Prompt (or Run box) any command as administrator by using RunAs :
RunAs /user:admin "control userpasswords2"
RunAs /user:admin regedit
You can also in this way import a pre-prepared .reg file that will unhide the administrator account for your own use, then use another .reg file to hide it again when you finish with this computer.
RunAs /user:admin regedit c:\secret\directory\unhide_admin.reg
RunAs /user:admin regedit c:\secret\directory\hide_admin.reg
This way you can automate the hiding and unhiding of the administrator account.
djhowell
The process described in this article discusses XP but will work in Vista and Windows 7.