Force delete user profile windows xp

The tool out of the box Normally, if I want to clean up old user profiles on a local system, I will just use the native tool. Then select the user profile that needs to be cleaned and click Delete. Group Policy There is also a Group Policy setting that can automate this process. In Group policy editor, can we have exceptions. Like Default and Public. Please enter your comment! Please enter your name here. You have entered an incorrect email address! While this option is not that difficult, it does require a bit of knowledge of how to edit the registry.

If you are uneasy doing this, use the other options such as a third party tool. Click Start and type Regedit to open the Registry Editor, administrator privileges are required. Name it SpecialAccounts. In the Name box type the name for the user you wish to hide from the logon screen and press Enter. Close Regedit. This change usually takes effect immediately, logout or restart to confirm the user is hidden from the logon screen.

To restore the user go back into Regedit to the same location. REG files that you can simply double click to import the data automatically into the registry. Then save the file. There are 3. REG files in the archive, one to hide a user from the logon screen, one to make the user visible again, and the third will make all currently hidden users visible.

This little tool is only 63KB in size and we found it on an old blog called Scenario-Solution. Hide Users appears to have been created in-house. Run the Hide Users program as administrator, select an available user from the drop down menu and it will tell you if the user is currently hidden or visible. Click the Hide User button to hide a currently visible user or Show User to do the reverse. As the name implies, this was created several years ago during the XP era and although it does also work on Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10, there is a major limitation.

As a result the values are added in the wrong place and not processed so this tool is ineffective on bit systems. On bit systems it runs fine. Using the program is easy, right click and run it as administrator. It will then display a list of user accounts in the window and you simply check the boxes of any accounts you wish to hide, then press OK. Those entries listed in red are administrators and those in black are standard users.

Make sure to leave at least 1 red administrator account besides the default Administrator visible and unchecked. Note: It is important that you do not hide all administrator accounts. Afterwards, the profiles should be unprotected and you can delete them as you wish. In case anyone still has this issue, boot into safe mode f and then delete the profile folder in documents and settings.

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Please note: Do not post advertisements, offensive material, profanity, or personal attacks. Please remember to be considerate of other members. All submitted content is subject to our Terms Of Use. General discussion. I'm trying to delete a user profile on one of my XP Pro computers, but the delete button is greyed out. If I try and delete the folder of the user under 'Documents and Settings' I get a message that says something like 'cannot delete file in use'?

I'm not logged in as that user when I'm trying to delete the profile. Thanks for the help!!! Share Flag. All Comments. Collapse -. Log in as Administrator 0 Votes. Having the same exact problem. Ted 0 Votes. One solution.