Return values from HttpContext.Current.User.Principal and WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent()

Here is a brief explanation;

According to this forum on WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name vs. User.Identity.Name:

• User.Identity.Name represents the identity passed from IIS.
• WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name is the identity under which the thread is running.

Depending on your app’s authentication settings in IIS, they will return different values:

Anonymous	Impersonate	User.Identity.Name	WindowsIndentiy.GetCurrent()
Yes	True	Empty String	IUSR_<machineName>
Yes	False	Empty String	NT Authority\Network Service
No	True	domain\user	domain\user
No	False	domain\user	NT Authority\Network Service

Legend:

• Where domain\user will show up as:
  • domain\user for Active Directory
  • machineName\userName for local account
• Where NT Authority\Network Service will show up as:
  • NT Authority\Network Service for Windows Server or ASP.NET
  • machineName\ASPNET_WP for Windows XP

Resource

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5402249/httpcontext-current-user-principal-vs-windowsidentity-getcurrent

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