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August 3, 2016

Applies to Windows | Windows 8 | Performance & system failures

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Seeing duplicate users on login screen

Windows 8
MI

mirtipati asked on January 1, 2013

Hello,
I have upgraded my laptop from Windows 7 Professional to Windows 8 Professional. Everything
seems working fine but, I am seeing duplicate user ids in login screen. I used to have two user ids
created earlier. After upgrade I am seeing 4 user ids two for each of the original users. I have removed
one of the user id that I am no longer using. Then both the ids for that user disappeared from the login
screen with remaining two left.

Please help mein removing the duplicate user id, even though functionally there is no issue, but it is
just annoying.

Thanks,
Umamahesh

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SU

SuicidalPig replied on May 23, 2014

Hi. I was having the same problem on my WIN 8 64bit machine. The way I fixed it was I went into the
registry at HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
In here I found the duplicate account & simply deleted the account.
I identified it by clicking on each S1521 folder & looking at the ProfileImagePath key, you should see
your username in there.
Obviously you need to be careful in here & not delete the your current logon, so I take no responsibility
for any damage done.
The above worked for me.

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AK

Anil Kumar B replied on January 2, 2013

Accomplishments

Hi Bob,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community Forums.

As per the issue description provided, I understand that you have duplicate user ids in the login screen
on Windows 8 computer.

Were there any changes made on the computer prior to the issue?

Try these methods.

Method 1
I would suggest you to follow these steps and check if you are able to notice duplicate accounts.

a Press Windows key + W on the keyboard to bring up Search interface.

b Type User accounts and select it from the list on the left hand side.
c Click on Manage another account.
d Check if you are able to see duplicate accounts.

If you notice duplicate accounts, click on one account from the list and try to Delete the account and
check if the issue persists.
I would suggest you to create a new user account and check if the issue persists.

Method 2

I would suggest you to run the online virus and malware scan and check.
Run Microsoft Online Scanner.
The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that provides ondemand scanning
and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It works with your existing antivirus
software.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/enus/default.aspx
Note: The Microsoft Safety Scanner expires 10 days after being downloaded. To rerun a scan with the
latest antimalware definitions, download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner again.
Important: While performing scanning on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found on the hard drive
when scanning tries to repair that sector if any data available on that might be lost.

Hope it helps.
Keep us posted if you face any issues on windows in future. We will be glad to help you.

Regards,
Anil

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mirtipati replied on January 2, 2013

In reply to Anil Kumar B's post on January 2, 2013

As suggested in method 1, I have checked in User accounts settings. But, here I am seeing only one user
account. Even in user profiles also I am seeing only one.
I have checked the folder C:\Users, but I see only one folder with my user name. Few other folders which
I see are 'UpdatusUser', 'UpdatusUser.UMAWIN7' where UMAWIN7 is my computer name.

I am trying the method 2 also. Will update if this solves the issue.
Uma

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Anil Kumar B replied on January 3, 2013

Accomplishments

In reply to mirtipati's post on January 2, 2013

Hi Uma,

Thank you for the response.

As the duplicate users are not listed in User Accounts, I suspect this is a malware issue. Run a online
scanner and let us know the status of the issue.

If you need further assistance, I will be more than happy to help you.

Regards,
Anil

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mirtipati replied on January 4, 2013

In reply to Anil Kumar B's post on January 2, 2013

Hello,
I have scanned my computer as suggested in method 2. But this has not resolved the issue. I think
this is an issue with the Windows 8 upgrade, as I observed this only since I upgraded to Windows 8 from
my Windows 7.

Thanks,
Umamahesh

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MarcusLintault replied on January 21, 2013

In reply to mirtipati's post on January 4, 2013

Hi,
I am experiencing the same issue with a brand new Windows 8 PC. It came as a Windows 8 Windows 8
Pro as it should have. Rather then send it back to dell and wait fro a new one, I did an inplace upgrade

of the PC toWindows8 Pro. After the upgrade, all user accounts are now duplicated.
Thanks,
Marcus

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mirtipati replied on January 23, 2013

In reply to MarcusLintault's post on January 21, 2013

I am not able get any solution for this. Is there any way reaching Microsoft for this?
Uma

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iamsuperkiddo replied on January 31, 2013

This problem has already happened to me and I'm still trying to figure out how to remove the duplicate
ids in my logon screen.
I have the same experience with my laptop having Windows 8 Enterprise as operating system. I have
created my administrator user id and turned on my guest user id. These are the first user ids I ever
created with my laptop. I haven't even created my microsoft account even before, which is why I guess
the problem lies not about having a microsoft account user id.
The OS runs smoothly and satisfactorily. However, I have noticed that whenever I sign out and go back
to the logon screen, my two original user IDs are duplicated. The first two IDs contain bigger user
pictures while the other two user IDs have bordered pictures. Aside from that, user IDs with the same
name accepts the same password.
Windows 8 is a great OS of course, but this problem is really annoying! Surprisingly, I have
encountered others who have the same problem as I do. Kindly update us for some improvements or
solutions? I think this is just a system bug that can be corrected by giving windows update via internet.
Hoping for your positive response. :

PS. I have just created my microsoft account just to report this problem.

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AJ_XD replied on May 1, 2013

AJ

Hi,
If you have facial/fingerprint recognition software, try removing it and restart and install it again.
Cheers

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m53k replied on July 26, 2013

In reply to AJ_XD's post on May 1, 2013

Yes. That's it. Thank you.

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m53k replied on July 26, 2013

In reply to AJ_XD's post on May 1, 2013

But you only need to turn off using fingerprint scan when logging into Windows. And disable showing
fingerprint app at startup too.

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