WHAT IT IS: (see subject) Same exact username, different paths to thing, only one shows at a time. For anonymity guidelines compliance will call myself GhostUser1 and Ghostuser2. GU2 has a pic, GU1 generic representation
of me; also the names are slightly different. It would be like "GhostUser1" and "GhoustUs"...similar like that.
WHEN IT STARTED:
Option 1 - I might have been dealing with this since I first was given this laptop (Lenovo Edge 15) brand new. I created my account, and some weeks later I decided to add another entire user
because I wanted to see what settings I preferred and already wanted a fresh slate. For a while things were fine; I used them with different emails, different MS accounts, and different uses ie.- personal and work. However, as I started to get serious software
and services installed it became a problem. Example - GU1 installed and pre-paid a year of Office 365 and the only feasible-for-me way GU2 could have it was to have GU1 add GU2 by invitation .
Option 2 - I put that computer aside one day when I thought it would not boot and started using other laptops (T400) but picked it up again some months later. I decided to fix it but was
told that I needed a new mobo so eventually bought one on EBAY listed as dead. I joined the two machines by bringing my HDD, RAM display to the new/old one. Windows was close to self-termination it got so confused by the wrong parts being in the right body
or vice versa, but I kept working with it.
WHERE IT IS NOW: Not good and getting worse I think, since now
- I have two (or more if syncing to OneDrive or anywhere else) of every known folder sitting right there side by side
- I have nine Unknown User accounts showing up when getting the security info from folder properties BUT in my User Accounts there is only GU2 (generic icon, no pic); when I click Change Another Account I am viewing another list of just one, GU1 (with
pic)
- my Programs Installed lists me as having just eight programs; and
- my System Volume seems to be living on/in an Unknown Volume named ? (long nonsense string of characters surrounded by curly brackets)\\C:\Programs\Windows Apps folder. There's more, but this seems like plenty for now..
I THINK that the deleted GU2 showed back up and took over GU1, but I have no real idea. Or.. I will say though that these things have memories far beyond my ability to explain. Because: last night, when doing Google searches attempting to find a possible
explanation for this all, one link brought me here, to Microsoft Communities. I about fell off the chair when I saw that I was - somehow, I didn't enter ne ingle thing - I was logged in as a Me (GU3!) with a Display name I haven't used in many years, and a
post I did indeed make: seven yeas ago, 2010.
I have no removable drives whatsoever, so however that happened it was either cloud-related or I need an exorcist or who knows. SINCE (not IF) GU3 survived across seven years, a dozen computers, clean installs, reformats and complete destruction well
then I know for sure that GU2 could have come back and overtaken GU1.
WHAT I HAVE TRIED (not in date order):
- A number of System Restores
- Two resets (last on 5/13 and I really do not want to do another. Putting everything back is so tedious
- Downloaded current Recovery Media; backed up the whole thing;
- Learned a small amount about Powershell and with that I
- ran sfc/ scannow, which returned the "Errors We Can't Fix" result (a few times) then
- ran another command "like DISM find and fix it all, please" three times. First time it got to 49% then had to suddenly quit. and the second time same thing but get to 51%.
- Also I had it lit all the Users, known or not, which was a REALLY good thing because somewhere in here I stopped even being offered the chance to Run as Admin, so I resurrected an Admin account from somewhere and proceeded. There's more, but again
that seems like plenty,
- Complete virus/bug scan Defender (nothing) plus downloaded and ran Malawarebytes (47 quarantined files listed as PUP but was all from the same non-virus program I once had and uninstalled;; annoying but not a bug.);
- Updates, updates and more updates;
- Screen-shot all of it;
- Physically went to the C drive (well I mean rather than/in addition to) looking at a report trying to get a scope. Permission violations all over bt since I am both GhostUsers, one of me had Admin power and I can at least get around. I am denied,
I try as Admin, I check Security, Advanced button where I give myself View rights but I have not been taking ownership f anything since don't know what the *bleep*I am doing. Like camping in the woods, I am leaving nothing and taking nothing.
STATUS THIS MOMENT: Last night I ran elevated PS cmd sfc/ scannow and got back a result in no time which said something like Data Protection (?) didn't find any integrity violations. Great but since I still saw signs I ran the DSM
thing and fell asleep. This morning it said that the restore operation was a success. But it's worse than ever, and I still seem to have only eight programs so I downloaded and ran CCleaner - which can see ALL of my apps. I think...
Of course: There is more. But isn't this plenty? Please help if you can and remember I would rather not have to start from scratch. I've come this far, but also would rather not try any of my own ideas. Like, I even thought that if I changed GU1 and
GU2s names to be all the way identical, that might help. I could terminate myself if I will let me. And under the general “There’s More” heading, did I mention that every single one of GU1s office docs have appended an X to themselves and are now all Templates?
Thanks for reading.