An unknown computer has appeared in my Unattended list

Problem

An unknown or unrecognized item may suddenly appear in your Unattended list.

Cause

This occurs when your custom unattended access installer is opened on any computer.

In a majority of cases, the unattended access setup file is temporarily loaded by anti-virus vendors onto their local test environment to scan the file and decide if it's safe. As any file, the unattended access setup is periodically scanned by anti-virus software to detect the validity of the file. This involves submitting the setup file to a virus analysis center where a part of the process involves executing it on a cloud virtual machine.

Once the setup file is started on the anti-virus vendor's virtual machine, it will appear in your Unattended list with any status:

• Online
• Offline
• Installing
• Shut down, etc.

These machines can have different computer names (see the table below for some of the most common computer names reported by other users). Note that if you specify a custom computer name when configuring the unattended access installer, which is subsequently scanned by anti-virus software, this name will be displayed in the Name field within your Unattended list. Otherwise, the values for Name and Computer name will be identical.

Other parameters, such as the OS and Signed-in user, can display different values or be blank.

Eventually after the file is scanned, the virtual machine is terminated and deleted. However, it may still remain in your list.

See the table below for unrecognized computer names subsequently traced to specific anti-virus software vendors. Please note that this list is not exhaustive and only includes some of the most common names and IP addresses that were previously reported by other users:

Solution

Delete the unwanted or unrecognized computer(s) from your Unattended list.