windows local system account whoami shows a different result than %username%












0















I'm learning about the "local system" account (aka "system" or SID "S-1-5-18") in Windows. This server fault answer is very helpful, but one thing I still don't understand is why the value returned by the whoami command is different from the %username% environment variable.



enter image description here



The latter is the name of my computer followed by a dollar sign "$".










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  • Please edit the question with these answers : Which specific version of Windows is this (Windows 10v1809 for instance) ? Are you starting cmd in a non-standard way, for instance, choosing "Run as Administrator" ?

    – Christopher Hostage
    Feb 1 at 19:04











  • Windows 7 Pro SP1, just start > run > cmd.

    – rory.ap
    Feb 2 at 15:20
















0















I'm learning about the "local system" account (aka "system" or SID "S-1-5-18") in Windows. This server fault answer is very helpful, but one thing I still don't understand is why the value returned by the whoami command is different from the %username% environment variable.



enter image description here



The latter is the name of my computer followed by a dollar sign "$".










share|improve this question























  • Please edit the question with these answers : Which specific version of Windows is this (Windows 10v1809 for instance) ? Are you starting cmd in a non-standard way, for instance, choosing "Run as Administrator" ?

    – Christopher Hostage
    Feb 1 at 19:04











  • Windows 7 Pro SP1, just start > run > cmd.

    – rory.ap
    Feb 2 at 15:20














0












0








0








I'm learning about the "local system" account (aka "system" or SID "S-1-5-18") in Windows. This server fault answer is very helpful, but one thing I still don't understand is why the value returned by the whoami command is different from the %username% environment variable.



enter image description here



The latter is the name of my computer followed by a dollar sign "$".










share|improve this question














I'm learning about the "local system" account (aka "system" or SID "S-1-5-18") in Windows. This server fault answer is very helpful, but one thing I still don't understand is why the value returned by the whoami command is different from the %username% environment variable.



enter image description here



The latter is the name of my computer followed by a dollar sign "$".







windows user-accounts username






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Feb 1 at 16:51









rory.aprory.ap

2291516




2291516













  • Please edit the question with these answers : Which specific version of Windows is this (Windows 10v1809 for instance) ? Are you starting cmd in a non-standard way, for instance, choosing "Run as Administrator" ?

    – Christopher Hostage
    Feb 1 at 19:04











  • Windows 7 Pro SP1, just start > run > cmd.

    – rory.ap
    Feb 2 at 15:20



















  • Please edit the question with these answers : Which specific version of Windows is this (Windows 10v1809 for instance) ? Are you starting cmd in a non-standard way, for instance, choosing "Run as Administrator" ?

    – Christopher Hostage
    Feb 1 at 19:04











  • Windows 7 Pro SP1, just start > run > cmd.

    – rory.ap
    Feb 2 at 15:20

















Please edit the question with these answers : Which specific version of Windows is this (Windows 10v1809 for instance) ? Are you starting cmd in a non-standard way, for instance, choosing "Run as Administrator" ?

– Christopher Hostage
Feb 1 at 19:04





Please edit the question with these answers : Which specific version of Windows is this (Windows 10v1809 for instance) ? Are you starting cmd in a non-standard way, for instance, choosing "Run as Administrator" ?

– Christopher Hostage
Feb 1 at 19:04













Windows 7 Pro SP1, just start > run > cmd.

– rory.ap
Feb 2 at 15:20





Windows 7 Pro SP1, just start > run > cmd.

– rory.ap
Feb 2 at 15:20










1 Answer
1






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0














Basically System is a special User, it effectively is your computers internal user so it kinda makes sense to use the hostname as name.



Take a look in Task Manager, go to the Details tabs and click PID ("Process ID") to sort the processes. The lowest few PIDs and the only process without a PID are all owned by SYSTEM and start at the earliest stages of the boot process. The Processes are run under the user "SYSTEM" and several are instances of ntoskrnl.exe - the Windows NT Kernel itself.



This Windows startup process article describes the general boot process and identifies the main components all of which are run as System.



Also worth mentioning the System user has special permissions so avoid modifying it or using it for none system tasks.






share|improve this answer
























  • This doesn’t explain the reason whoami behaves the way it does. It explains what the system user is, but that isn’t, what he author asked about

    – Ramhound
    Feb 1 at 18:59











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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









0














Basically System is a special User, it effectively is your computers internal user so it kinda makes sense to use the hostname as name.



Take a look in Task Manager, go to the Details tabs and click PID ("Process ID") to sort the processes. The lowest few PIDs and the only process without a PID are all owned by SYSTEM and start at the earliest stages of the boot process. The Processes are run under the user "SYSTEM" and several are instances of ntoskrnl.exe - the Windows NT Kernel itself.



This Windows startup process article describes the general boot process and identifies the main components all of which are run as System.



Also worth mentioning the System user has special permissions so avoid modifying it or using it for none system tasks.






share|improve this answer
























  • This doesn’t explain the reason whoami behaves the way it does. It explains what the system user is, but that isn’t, what he author asked about

    – Ramhound
    Feb 1 at 18:59
















0














Basically System is a special User, it effectively is your computers internal user so it kinda makes sense to use the hostname as name.



Take a look in Task Manager, go to the Details tabs and click PID ("Process ID") to sort the processes. The lowest few PIDs and the only process without a PID are all owned by SYSTEM and start at the earliest stages of the boot process. The Processes are run under the user "SYSTEM" and several are instances of ntoskrnl.exe - the Windows NT Kernel itself.



This Windows startup process article describes the general boot process and identifies the main components all of which are run as System.



Also worth mentioning the System user has special permissions so avoid modifying it or using it for none system tasks.






share|improve this answer
























  • This doesn’t explain the reason whoami behaves the way it does. It explains what the system user is, but that isn’t, what he author asked about

    – Ramhound
    Feb 1 at 18:59














0












0








0







Basically System is a special User, it effectively is your computers internal user so it kinda makes sense to use the hostname as name.



Take a look in Task Manager, go to the Details tabs and click PID ("Process ID") to sort the processes. The lowest few PIDs and the only process without a PID are all owned by SYSTEM and start at the earliest stages of the boot process. The Processes are run under the user "SYSTEM" and several are instances of ntoskrnl.exe - the Windows NT Kernel itself.



This Windows startup process article describes the general boot process and identifies the main components all of which are run as System.



Also worth mentioning the System user has special permissions so avoid modifying it or using it for none system tasks.






share|improve this answer













Basically System is a special User, it effectively is your computers internal user so it kinda makes sense to use the hostname as name.



Take a look in Task Manager, go to the Details tabs and click PID ("Process ID") to sort the processes. The lowest few PIDs and the only process without a PID are all owned by SYSTEM and start at the earliest stages of the boot process. The Processes are run under the user "SYSTEM" and several are instances of ntoskrnl.exe - the Windows NT Kernel itself.



This Windows startup process article describes the general boot process and identifies the main components all of which are run as System.



Also worth mentioning the System user has special permissions so avoid modifying it or using it for none system tasks.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Feb 1 at 18:45









MisterSmithMisterSmith

2645




2645













  • This doesn’t explain the reason whoami behaves the way it does. It explains what the system user is, but that isn’t, what he author asked about

    – Ramhound
    Feb 1 at 18:59



















  • This doesn’t explain the reason whoami behaves the way it does. It explains what the system user is, but that isn’t, what he author asked about

    – Ramhound
    Feb 1 at 18:59

















This doesn’t explain the reason whoami behaves the way it does. It explains what the system user is, but that isn’t, what he author asked about

– Ramhound
Feb 1 at 18:59





This doesn’t explain the reason whoami behaves the way it does. It explains what the system user is, but that isn’t, what he author asked about

– Ramhound
Feb 1 at 18:59


















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