.NET: How to query the NT/Users database or record?

Question

Hi guys, how can we query the NT/Users database for all users on the machine?

Answer 1

You can use the System.DirectoryServices namespace to do this. Here's an excellent article depicting how to use the classes of that namespace.

Here's the code showing how to do it:

DirectoryEntry entry = new DirectoryEntry("WinNT://MACHINE_NAME");
entry.AuthenticationType = AuthenticationTypes.Secure;

DirectorySearcher deSearch = new DirectorySearcher(entry);
deSearch.Filter = "(&(objectClass=user))";

SearchResultCollection results = deSearch.FindAll();

foreach (SearchResult srUser in results)
{
      try
      {
            DirectoryEntry de = srUser.GetDirectoryEntry();
            lstbox.Items.Add(de.Properties["sAMAccountName"].Value.ToString());
      }
      catch { }
}

Answer 2

I assume you're using C#. You can get them using WMI:

using System.Management;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            SelectQuery query = new SelectQuery("Win32_UserAccount");
            ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(query);
            foreach (ManagementObject envVar in searcher.Get())
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Username : {0}", envVar["Name"]);
            }

            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}