[SOLVED] [Win10] Duplicate Windows logins, always fails auto-login

JustinG · May 12, 2021

Problem:

Hello, my windows login has a duplicate account that apparently has no password.
This is particularly annoying as my PC auto boots in the morning but gets stuck at the login screen.

Example:

1. PC boots up tries to login to the duplicate account using the normal accounts password and fails.

Note: I have no idea what the password is to this duplicate account.

2. I am able to change to the REAL account on the bottom left, and enter the real password to login.

What I've tried:
1. I've tried disabling auto-login, restarting, and re-enabling it. But the account just returns when auto login is on.
2. I've also found this on a similar thread and tried adding it to the registry

Code:

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\Credential Providers\{538C240D-3DEE-4032-AB4C-08A3A6EB0861}" /v Disabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0x1

This did not work either, but it makes me wonder, is that ID inside the {} unique to the other persons PC? Would it work if it was created specifically for me?

Any other ideas that may work?

Thanks!

DR M · May 15, 2021

Hi, Justin.

Let's look at the contents of the user profile list in the registry. This will give us more information about what is happening.

Press Windows icon on your keyboard, together with the letter R.
Type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run Command Prompt as administrator.
Copy and paste the following command line and press Enter.

Code:

reg export "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList" C:\Profile.txt

In the Search area type File Explorer and choose it from the items appeared.
In the address area type C:\Profile.txt and press Enter.
From the list, choose C:\Profile.txt, double click to open it.
Select the content of the file, copy and paste it in your next reply.

JustinG · May 28, 2021

Hi sorry it's been a while, here's what the txt listed:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList]
"Default"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,\
  76,00,65,00,25,00,5c,00,55,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,5c,00,44,00,65,00,66,\
  00,61,00,75,00,6c,00,74,00,00,00
"ProfilesDirectory"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,44,00,72,\
  00,69,00,76,00,65,00,25,00,5c,00,55,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,00,00
"ProgramData"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,44,00,72,00,69,\
  00,76,00,65,00,25,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,44,00,\
  61,00,74,00,61,00,00,00
"Public"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,76,\
  00,65,00,25,00,5c,00,55,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,5c,00,50,00,75,00,62,00,\
  6c,00,69,00,63,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-18]
"Flags"=dword:0000000c
"ProfileImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,\
  00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,\
  5c,00,63,00,6f,00,6e,00,66,00,69,00,67,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,\
  00,6d,00,70,00,72,00,6f,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,00,00
"RefCount"=dword:00000001
"Sid"=hex:01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00
"State"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-19]
"Flags"=dword:00000000
"ProfileImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,\
  00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,50,00,\
  72,00,6f,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,4c,00,6f,00,63,00,61,00,6c,\
  00,53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,00,00
"State"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-20]
"Flags"=dword:00000000
"ProfileImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,\
  00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,50,00,\
  72,00,6f,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,4e,00,65,00,74,00,77,00,6f,\
  00,72,00,6b,00,53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,00,00
"State"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-21-2581419251-3027833962-3320156278-1001]
"ProfileImagePath"=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,55,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,5c,\
  00,73,00,68,00,61,00,72,00,70,00,00,00
"Flags"=dword:00000000
"State"=dword:00000000
"Sid"=hex:01,05,00,00,00,00,00,05,15,00,00,00,f3,54,dd,99,6a,14,79,b4,76,90,e5,\
  c5,e9,03,00,00
"FullProfile"=dword:00000001
"Migrated"=hex:70,1f,26,a3,5f,1e,d7,01
"LocalProfileLoadTimeLow"=dword:b840e6fe
"LocalProfileLoadTimeHigh"=dword:01d753d0
"ProfileAttemptedProfileDownloadTimeLow"=dword:00000000
"ProfileAttemptedProfileDownloadTimeHigh"=dword:00000000
"ProfileLoadTimeLow"=dword:00000000
"ProfileLoadTimeHigh"=dword:00000000
"RunLogonScriptSync"=dword:00000000
"LocalProfileUnloadTimeLow"=dword:d428fa7d
"LocalProfileUnloadTimeHigh"=dword:01d75384

I'll make sure to reply quicker next :)

DR M · May 28, 2021

I don't see something unusual here.

What is your user account name?

DR M · May 29, 2021

Some things I would like to see:

1. Your account info

Go to Settings (press the Windows logo key on the keyboard together with letter i), then Accounts. From the menu at the left choose Your Info. Please take a screenshot of what you see.

2. Users

Open File explorer (press the Windows logo key on the keyboard together with letter r, type Explorer and press Enter).
From the menu at the left choose My PC, then double click on C and then choose Users.
Please take a screenshot of what you see.

3. Users accounts from Control Panel

In the Search area type Control Panel and select it.
Select View by Large Icons and find Users accounts. Select it.
Please take a screenshot of what you see.

JustinG · May 30, 2021

Here is the information (I blacked out lastname+email for privacy)

The actual account is 'sharp' though as you can see from the initial screenshots, it just displays my name for both logins

Also thankyou for your help so far, I appreciate it

DR M · May 31, 2021

Thank you.

Can I see please what you get when you go to Users Accounts in Control Panel (Step 3 in my previous post)?

It seems that you have 5 temporary accounts created. This may be due to corrupted files and folders on your current user profile. In any case, the profile.txt you posted here doesn't look complete, as it doesn't show any of these temporary profile accounts. As a matter of fact it also doesn't show even the built-in Administrator account.

So... What I would like you to do now:

1. Sign in with password instead of a PIN

It seems that you are using a PIN to sign in Windows with your Sharp account. We are going to change that for now and when the problem is solved, you can got to that sign in option again.

Go to Settings (Windows logo + letter i) and then Accounts.
Sign in options from the menu at the left.
PIN > Remove
Enter your password for your Microsoft account and OK.
Restart the computer.

2. Export profiles list

I would like you to attach the profile.txt this time, not copy and paste it here.

Press Windows icon on your keyboard, together with the letter R.
Type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run Command Prompt as administrator.
Copy and paste the following command line and press Enter.

Code:

reg export "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList" C:\Profile.txt

Attach profile.txt it in your next reply.
How you can find it:
- In the Search area type File Explorer and choose it from the items appeared.
- In the address area type C:\Profile.txt and press Enter.
- From the list, choose C:\Profile.txt, and attach it.

JustinG · May 31, 2021

Oh I'm sorry, I must have missed Step 3. Here is the image you requested!

I have removed the pin, it now requres the password.

And here is the profile.txt

Thankyou

DR M · Jun 1, 2021

Nothing different in the profile.txt.

Question: What happens when you choose for log in with the other account with your Microsoft account's password? What if you don't put password at all and just press Enter?

1. Delete the TEMP accounts

Please check in the Sharp account (second screenshot here) if all your personal files are there. Then, go on and delete all the folders/accounts starting from TEMP.

2. Enable the built-in Administrator account

Then, let's see what is happening when we enable the built-in Administrator account.

Press Windows icon on your Desktop, together with the letter R.
Type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run Command Prompt as administrator.
Copy and paste the following command and press Enter to execute it:

Code:

net user administrator /active:yes

Restart the computer and take a screenshot of the log in screen with the visible available accounts.

JustinG · Jun 1, 2021

DR M said:
Question: What happens when you choose for log in with the other account with your Microsoft account's password? What if you don't put password at all and just press Enter?

Answer: Typing in the password switches to the main account (the goldfish picture) and logs in.
If I type nothing, it says "wrong password" which is exactly what happens when windows boots up -- it just boots up to this account showing "wrong password"

1. Done!

2. I added Administrator, but clicking it instantly starts up a fresh install of windows, where it says "Hello" and sets up everything for the first time.

Bonus!:
I am wondering though, my user folders shows Default and Public, would one of those be the duplicate login?

DR M · Jun 1, 2021

I am wondering though, my user folders shows Default and Public, would one of those be the duplicate login?

NO! These accounts have nothing to do with that.

I added Administrator, but clicking it instantly starts up a fresh install of windows, where it says "Hello" and sets up everything for the first time.

This is normal, since you are setting up a new account.

Typing in the password switches to the main account (the goldfish picture) and logs in.

Let's try some things.

First, disable the built-in Administrator account:

Press Windows icon on your Desktop, together with the letter R.
Type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run Command Prompt as administrator.
Copy and paste the following command and press Enter to execute it:

Code:

net user administrator /active:no

Step 1

Go to Settings, Accounts and Sign-in options from the menu at the left.
In the right-side pane, scroll down to the Privacy section. Under the Privacy section, turn off the option that says “Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart”.
Restart and check what happens.

Step 2

Type netplwiz in the Search area, and press Enter key.
After the User Accounts panel opens, if you see two same user names in the list, remove one of them. Just select one of them and click on Remove.
Restart and check what happens.

Step 3

Press at the same time Win + R keys, then type netplwiz and hit Enter.
Once the User Accounts panel opens, check “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” and click on Apply followed by OK.
Restart and check what happens.

DR M · Jun 1, 2021

SOS: In case you received an email notification of my previous post, please ignore it and read the instructions from here. I edited some things so here it is the complete set of instructions.

JustinG · Jun 3, 2021

After your steps I noticed the duplicate account was gone!

However I was not available today to try step 3, but I believe if I turn passwords on and then back off again, it should finally be fixed. :)

Will update tomorrow!

DR M · Jun 3, 2021

After your steps I noticed the duplicate account was gone!

Of course it's gone!

Sometimes, enabling the auto sign-in option after an update duplicates the User account. Another reason is that you have enabled auto-login and afterward you changed your password or the sign in method. So you will most probably have the dublicated account issue again if you change your password or rename your PC while auto-login is enabled.

Complete the steps above and let me know if everything is fine now.

JustinG · Jun 3, 2021

Everything works, thankyou so much DR M! <3

Now my PC starts itself in the morning and launches all my heavy work programs at startup.
So I wake up and my work is ready to go.

DR M · Jun 3, 2021

Perfect!

I'm glad I could help you, JustinG.

Take care!

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[SOLVED] [Win10] Duplicate Windows logins, always fails auto-login

JustinG

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DR M

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JustinG

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DR M

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DR M

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