Certain Windows XP-related user accounts and groups remain on the computer after you upgrade to Windows Vista

After you upgrade a Windows XP-based computer to Windows Vista, you experience the following symptoms:

• One or more of the following Windows XP-related groups appear in the "Local Users and Groups" Groups folder:
  • HelpServicesGroup
  • Offer Remote Assistance Helpers
  • RS_Query
• One or more of the following Windows XP-related user accounts appear in the "Local Users and Groups" Users folder:
  • SUPPORT_388945a0
    
    Note The 388945a0 part of this user account represents a combination of numbers and letters. This combination may differ on your computer.
  • HelpAssistant
  • WIIS_ComputerName

You expect only Windows Vista-related users and groups to remain on the computer after you upgrade to Windows Vista.

Note To view the "Local Users and Groups" folders, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , right-click Computer, and then click Manage.
   
   
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
2. In the Computer Management Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, expand System Tools, and then expand Local Users and Groups.

To resolve this issue, remove the following objects from Windows Vista.Note We recommend that you do not remove the Offer Remote Assistance Helpers group. Windows Vista uses the Offer Remote Assistance Helpers group.

To remove a user account or a group from Windows Vista, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , right-click Computer, and then click Manage.
   
   
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
2. In the Computer Management Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, expand System Tools, expand Local Users and Groups, and then click Users or Groups, as appropriate for the object that you want to remove.
3. In the details pane, right-click the user account or the group that you want to remove, and then click Delete.
4. Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the object.

The user accounts and groups that are mentioned in the "Symptoms" section are created by the following components.