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how to clear guest account data or set it back to initial settings?

theDarkness
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Posted July 24, 2012 at 1:38AM

On vista 32, someone has changed the name of the guest account, and also set it to administrator. I cant change the name or the account type back, only hide the account by simply turning it off or on. Hiding it is ok for the time being, but switched back on again for a new user if needed, would show the name of the previous user, rather than simply showing as 'guest', and would be locked as an admin.

If someone wants to create a new account in future with the same name as what currently shows for this guest account, the system wont let them since you cant have more than one of the same name. The guest account shows as an administrator in 'manage accounts' via any user. If I log in as an administrator I cannot change this guest accounts type back to standard, as since it was initially a guest account, the only options are to change the avatar or switch the account off temporarily. I cant change the account type by logging as this guest either-nothing happens when I click on standard, it will still show as admin. I have tried running the command prompt as admin (from another admin account), with NET USER GUEST /DELETE but I receive System Error 1371. Is there a better way to go about resetting the guest account and clearing all of its data? Thanks :)

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northumbria61

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Posted July 24, 2012 at 8:10AM

My guess is that once you changed the account type for the Guest account, it is no longer considered a Guest account. I believe the only solution is to create another Guest account and then delete the other one that has been changed to an Administrator account type.

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northumbria61

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Posted July 24, 2012 at 8:12AM

But you could try this -

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. In the white line (Start Search area), type "netplwiz" (no quotes) and press Enter.
  3. Click Advanced tab.
  4. Under "Advanced user management" click the Advanced button.
  5. In the left pane, click on Users folder.
  6. In the middle pane, double click on Guest.
  7. Click on the "Member Of" tab.
  8. Click on Administrator to highlight it.
  9. Click the Remove botton.
  10. Click OK on all Windows, and close the others.
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theDarkness

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Posted July 24, 2012 at 10:47AM

Thanks, worked perfectly, Ill have to note that one down :) I was able to change both the name of the guest account and its account type. Interestingly, most accounts are listed as simply being 'administrator' or 'users' which is the likely equivalent of a standard account, but the guest account AND my own were listed as 'administrator;users' instead of being either one or the other.

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northumbria61

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Posted July 24, 2012 at 10:56AM

Thanks for the feedback.

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theDarkness

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Posted July 24, 2012 at 11:03AM

I forgot to mention that I found an extra user also listed 'ETB user' with admin privileges also listed, which seems to be 'For EaseUS Todo Backup Central Management Console'. I am using the free edition and there is little said about it online, but it likely legit http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=230072

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