User Not Visible in AD Users and Computer

active-directorywindows-server-2012

I have a user that shows up in using the PowerShell Get-ADUser command, but when I go into AD Users and Computers the user isn't visible. I am thinking it has something to do with the $ at the end of the name, but I am new to all of this and just got asked to try and figure who/what the user is on our system. Below are the results from the PS command (I changed the actual username returned from the query): 

DistinguishedName    : CN=Username$,CN=Users,DC=ourdomain,DC=org  
EmailAddress         :   
Enabled              : True  
GivenName            :   
Name                 : Username$  
ObjectClass          : user  
ObjectGUID           : e5dd0482-dac9-4f93-bc17-03d5f970943d  
PasswordExpired      : False  
PasswordLastSet      : 9/8/2015 5:49:15 PM  
PasswordNeverExpires : False  
SamAccountName       : Username$  
SID                  : S-1-5-21-2129867641-1687574238-1546849883-9191  
Surname              : 
UserPrincipalName    :

Any thoughts on this user?

Thanks

Best Answer

I don't agree with the given answer.

You are allowed to create user accounts that end in the dollar sign ($) character, and Active Directory can still tell the difference between that user account and a computer account, because the object still has user as its ObjectClass.

I just created a user with a trailing dollar sign in the name, and there were no issues viewing the user account in ADUC, or Powershell, or the ADUC search dialog. The account was just fine.

So your problem lies elsewhere.

So my theory is that someone has changed the showInAdvancedViewOnly attribute on that user account to TRUE, and this will hide the user account from the ADUC console's view, unless you were to check "View -> Advanced Features" from the menu.

Not 100% certain, but that's my bet.

Edit: It's also worth noting that creating a user account with a trailing dollar sign, while technically legal, is not something that you just "accidentally" do. For instance, ADUC would not allow me to do it. It just silently stripped the dollar sign. However, using more advanced methods, I was able to get the dollar sign onto the end of the CN of the username. So all things considered, this sounds a little fishy, like someone trying to hide a user account.

Related Topic