Unknown user in task manager

[Karen_87]

There is an unknown user in Task Manager, user name not shown in User accounts, Malwarebytes not helpful, Superantispyware not finding anything either, what to do??

 

[Karen_87]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from Karen_87 : "Unknown user in task manager"

The User shown in Task Manager is not me and is controlling all processes. User does not show in User Accounts and the "Guest" user is off. How can I get rid of this interloper and regain control of the computer?

 

[DigitalHamster]

Check that the user is not 'SYSTEM', 'LOCAL SERVICE' or 'NETWORK SERVICE' first.
If the user name is different from the account name, this could be why.
If neither of these give you a good explanation, a screenshot would be really helpful!

 

[Karen_87]

The user is shown as "Ow."

 

[DigitalHamster]

Ok, this is suspicious as you say.
I assume you have restarted the computer and checked if the user is still there?

Short of doing something drastic like reinstalling the OS I honestly do not know what to say.
If you are noticing no weird activity, I would advise making a backup of your data and not leaving the computer logged in unattended for long amounts of time. These are just precautions I would take if I was unsure.

 

[little_me]

Just a wild stab in dark since it has been ages since I used windows 7 last.

It could be "hidden account" which is normally only visible during safe mode.

It should be listed when you run "net user" command though and if so.. also deletable with that with "net user <usernameofdubiousorigin-makesureitisnotneededthoughbysystem> /delete"

you need to run the deletion as administrator or command prompt as administrator.

long story short, if it's account hidden or visible on your computer, it should be gone with "net user Ow /delete"



Wild bet two:

It is somehow stuck remote assistance login since I think windows 7 has that enabled by default. (system properties, remote tab if i remember right)

 

[Karen_87]

Ok, this is suspicious as you say.
I assume you have restarted the computer and checked if the user is still there?

Short of doing something drastic like reinstalling the OS I honestly do not know what to say.
If you are noticing no weird activity, I would advise making a backup of your data and not leaving the computer logged in unattended for long amounts of time. These are just precautions I would take if I was unsure.

 

[Karen_87]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from Karen_87 : "Unknown user in task manager"

The User shown in Task Manager is not me and is controlling all processes. User does not show in User Accounts and the "Guest" user is off. How can I get rid of this interloper and regain control of the computer?

Ok, this is suspicious as you say.
I assume you have restarted the computer and checked if the user is still there?

Short of doing something drastic like reinstalling the OS I honestly do not know what to say.
If you are noticing no weird activity, I would advise making a backup of your data and not leaving the computer logged in unattended for long amounts of time. These are just precautions I would take if I was unsure.

 

[Karen_87]

Thank you both for your responses. Yes, Digital Hamster, every time I've restarted the pc the user is there even though I've kept it offline for a day or two now. Since Malwarebytes starts with "malicious website protection" off, and when I try to restart it just says "Starting..." and never does, and selecting the "scan for rootkit" option the option doesn't work, I'm pretty sure it's a trojan or worm or whatever. The owner is deceased and the box the machine came in -- presumably with a system disk included but not necessarily -- can't be found. Wiping the drive and installing a different OS looks like the way to go but it will probably be Linux.