Change local windows user properties using C#

Question

I am looking for a simple method to modify a local user's properties in windows 7 using a simple c# application.

I am not familiar with many of the Windows system libraries and am looking to accomplish each of the following tasks:

Enable/Disable a local user account in windows.
Change the password of a local user account in windows.

Some example code and an simple explanation of what the code does would be very helpful.

Edit:

I will have administrative access to the machine when this program is going to be run.

Hmmm... Sounds malicious to me. I can't think of a reason you'd want to do this that isn't for doing something bad. And Win7 requires you be logged in as an administrative user to do either of these things. — Ken White, Mar 14 '11 at 19:59
This is not malicious, it is meant for a class project, I will have administrative access when this program is executed. — abhishekpradhan, Mar 14 '11 at 20:09
These settings can be modified via NetUserSetInfo and USER_INFO_1; not sure if there is a managed equivalent or not (probably is). — Luke, Mar 14 '11 at 20:26

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 14 '11 at 20:33

1

If you have access this will give you access to what you need.

DirectoryEntry localDirectory = new DirectoryEntry("WinNT://"Environment.MachineName.ToString());
DirectoryEntries users = localDirectory.Children;
DirectoryEntry user = users.Find("userName");

Here is a link to the docs..

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.directoryservices.directoryentry.aspx

answered Mar 14 '11 at 20:33

BentOnCoding

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also more of an overview: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.directoryservices.aspx – BentOnCoding Mar 14 '11 at 20:34
This was a great help, the following documentation was also useful: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms180911%28v=VS.90%29.aspx – abhishekpradhan Mar 14 '11 at 22:07

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 14 '11 at 20:41

I have had a really great experience using the System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement namespace. It lets you do all the stuff you want to do with accounts without needing to mess with magic strings.

System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement namespace: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.directoryservices.accountmanagement.aspx

The key entry point to look at is the PrincipalContext class.

Change local windows user properties using C#

Edit:

2 Answers2