Getting a list of user profiles on a computer in C++ Win32

Question

What is the best way to enumerate all of the user profiles on a computer?

I know how to get the currently logged in user profile, and I know how to get the \"all use

Answer 1

Before going the undocumented route like flokra suggests, I would try NetUserEnum() or NetQueryDisplayInformation()

If you want to go into undocumented land, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList has a (incomplete) list of accounts (It's missing special accounts like ASPNET, HelpAssistant and SUPPORT_xxxx) It also has the path to the profile folder, which is a lot safer than using %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\..\ but why use it when there is GetProfilesDirectory()

Answer 2

You could read in the contents of the directory one level above %ALLUSERSPROFILE%.

Then you would have the names of all accounts that are (or were, if not deleted completely) on the system. To verify that an account still exists, I would use LsaLookupNames2. This function retrieves the SIDs that belong to account-names (deleted account == no SID).

Answer 3

I'd be very careful with that, in the presence of roaming profiles. When do you count a roaming profile to be on the computer? Also, do you have sufficient rights to access it? Even Local Admins don't have rights to network accounts, only network admins do IIRC.