CHANGING ACCOUNT NAME?

[Jethro]

I am re-working a friend's machine and his one account (with
administrator privileges) has a crazy name I want to change.
Can I? How?

The name is John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 and I want to change it to John
Doe. It shows up under Documents and Settings of course.

I thought I could create a new user account, say JD, temporarily, then
copy all of what's under John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 to it, then delete
John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994, then rename JD to JOHN DOE. But I couldn't
figure out how to do it. In fact, I couldn't even find the account JD
that I created to do the copy. So I removed user JD.

Thanks

Jethro

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am re-working a friend's machine and his one account (with
administrator privileges) has a crazy name I want to change.
Can I? How?

The name is John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 and I want to change it to John
Doe. It shows up under Documents and Settings of course.

I thought I could create a new user account, say JD, temporarily, then
copy all of what's under John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 to it, then delete
John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994, then rename JD to JOHN DOE. But I couldn't
figure out how to do it. In fact, I couldn't even find the account JD
that I created to do the copy. So I removed user JD.

Thanks

Jethro

1. Create the account JD.
2. Log on as JD.
3. Reboot.
4. Log on as Administrator.
5. Control Panel / System / Advanced / User Profiles
6. Copy John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 to
c:\documents and settings\JD
7. Log on as JD.
8. Wait a week. If all is well, delete both the account and
the profile folder for John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 .

 

[Jethro]

1. Create the account JD.
2. Log on as JD.
3. Reboot.
4. Log on as Administrator.
5. Control Panel / System / Advanced / User Profiles
6. Copy John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 to
c:\documents and settings\JD
7. Log on as JD.
8. Wait a week. If all is well, delete both the account and
the profile folder for John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 .

Thanks

I'll try it.

Jethro

 

[Jethro]

1. Create the account JD.
2. Log on as JD.
3. Reboot.
4. Log on as Administrator.
5. Control Panel / System / Advanced / User Profiles

Excuse my stupidity please. I get here and don't know what to do. I
find three entries under User Profiles:

JOHN-34CE1ED994\Administrator
JOHN-34CE1ED994\JD
JOHN-34CE1ED994\John Doe

The last two show 'copy to' grayed out.

6. Copy John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 to
c:\documents and settings\JD

Do you mean for me to use Windows Explorer to do this copy?

7. Log on as JD.
8. Wait a week. If all is well, delete both the account and
the profile folder for John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 .

Thanks for your interest.

Jethro

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

Excuse my stupidity please. I get here and don't know what to do. I
find three entries under User Profiles:

JOHN-34CE1ED994\Administrator
JOHN-34CE1ED994\JD
JOHN-34CE1ED994\John Doe

The last two show 'copy to' grayed out.

*** This happens when you omit Step 3 in my instructions.

Do you mean for me to use Windows Explorer to do this copy?

*** No, you have to use the "copy" button in this panel.

 

[Jethro]

See below.



*** This happens when you omit Step 3 in my instructions.

Actually I did that. What is different here is that I actually do not
have a user called 'Administrator' to log into as. He must have
removed it sometime. At this point, the two users, JD & John Doe,
both Administrators with I assume administrator privileges.
This seems strange since I have the above three entries under User
Profiles. Hence my confusion. If I could create a user
'Administrator' I would, but when I try that, it says that user
already exists.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Actually I did that. What is different here is that I actually do not
have a user called 'Administrator' to log into as. He must have
removed it sometime. At this point, the two users, JD & John Doe,
both Administrators with I assume administrator privileges.
This seems strange since I have the above three entries under User
Profiles. Hence my confusion. If I could create a user
'Administrator' I would, but when I try that, it says that user
already exists.

I shall generalise my instructions:
- To copy a profile, you must be logged on as an administrator.
- Profiles are sometimes locked. They get unlocked when rebooting.
- You cannot copy the profile of the currently logged on user,
because it is locked.

 

[Rock]

I am re-working a friend's machine and his one account (with
administrator privileges) has a crazy name I want to change.
Can I? How?

The name is John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 and I want to change it to John
Doe. It shows up under Documents and Settings of course.

I thought I could create a new user account, say JD, temporarily, then
copy all of what's under John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 to it, then delete
John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994, then rename JD to JOHN DOE. But I couldn't
figure out how to do it. In fact, I couldn't even find the account JD
that I created to do the copy. So I removed user JD.

Though the account name can be changed you can't rename the folder for that
account. Create a new account with the name you want, log into it at least
once, copy the data/settings from the old to the new, then when things are
working delete the old.

HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279783

How to Copy a User Profile
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_logon.htm

 

[Jethro]

Though the account name can be changed you can't rename the folder for that
account. Create a new account with the name you want, log into it at least
once, copy the data/settings from the old to the new, then when things are
working delete the old.

HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279783

How to Copy a User Profile
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_logon.htm

Thanks guys. I'll give it a go again and let ya know. Tomorrow
likely.

Jethro

 

[Jethro]

Thanks guys. I'll give it a go again and let ya know. Tomorrow
likely.

Jethro

Okay - I took another stab.

1) I created a user 'JD' as administrator.
2) At this point I have three users: John Doe, JD, and Guest - Guest
is 'turned off'.
3) I shut down.
4) I booted up and selected user JD.
5) I got a virgin XP screen. I expected that.
6) I went to Windows Explorer and did a manual copy of all the
folders/files under c:\Documents and Settings\JohnDoe.JOHN-34CE1ED994
to c:\Documents and Settings\JD.
7) At this point I have all the desktop icons that I had earlier under
John Doe. Even the task bar looks good.
8) I feel it is likely that if I could just copy what I will call the
'settings' of John Doe to JD - that my desktop screen would look
identical to that of John Doe, and I would be in good shape to then
remove John Doe - keeping JD. Right?
9) I think I could manually re-do all the 'settings' to re-create John
Doe's background, icon sizes, etc in JD, but a copy would sure be
easier.

So how do I copy those 'settings'? Maybe Kelly says how - but I don't
see it. Doesn't mean it isn't there I guess.

Sorry to be a pest - Learning can be difficult sometimes. At least
when you are a senior citizen, as I am.

Thanks

Jethro

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Okay - I took another stab.

1) I created a user 'JD' as administrator.
2) At this point I have three users: John Doe, JD, and Guest - Guest
is 'turned off'.
3) I shut down.
4) I booted up and selected user JD.
5) I got a virgin XP screen. I expected that.
6) I went to Windows Explorer and did a manual copy of all the
folders/files under c:\Documents and Settings\JohnDoe.JOHN-34CE1ED994
to c:\Documents and Settings\JD.
7) At this point I have all the desktop icons that I had earlier under
John Doe. Even the task bar looks good.
8) I feel it is likely that if I could just copy what I will call the
'settings' of John Doe to JD - that my desktop screen would look
identical to that of John Doe, and I would be in good shape to then
remove John Doe - keeping JD. Right?
9) I think I could manually re-do all the 'settings' to re-create John
Doe's background, icon sizes, etc in JD, but a copy would sure be
easier.

So how do I copy those 'settings'? Maybe Kelly says how - but I don't
see it. Doesn't mean it isn't there I guess.

Sorry to be a pest - Learning can be difficult sometimes. At least
when you are a senior citizen, as I am.

Thanks

Jethro

The recommended process goes via the Control Panel, as I
mentioned in my first reply.

If this does not work for you then a manual copy works too.
You will have to do this from a Command Prompt in order
to catch all the hidden files, e.g. by typing this command:

xcopy /s /h /c /e "c:\Documents and Settings\JohnDoe.JOHN-34CE1ED994"
"c:\Documents and Settings\JD\"

Note that this is one single long line. Next you should adjust
the permissions:

cacls "c:\Documents and Settings\JohnDoe.JOHN-34CE1ED994" /t /e /g JD:F

 

[Rock]

Okay - I took another stab.

1) I created a user 'JD' as administrator.
2) At this point I have three users: John Doe, JD, and Guest - Guest
is 'turned off'.
3) I shut down.
4) I booted up and selected user JD.
5) I got a virgin XP screen. I expected that.
6) I went to Windows Explorer and did a manual copy of all the
folders/files under c:\Documents and Settings\JohnDoe.JOHN-34CE1ED994
to c:\Documents and Settings\JD.
7) At this point I have all the desktop icons that I had earlier under
John Doe. Even the task bar looks good.
8) I feel it is likely that if I could just copy what I will call the
'settings' of John Doe to JD - that my desktop screen would look
identical to that of John Doe, and I would be in good shape to then
remove John Doe - keeping JD. Right?
9) I think I could manually re-do all the 'settings' to re-create John
Doe's background, icon sizes, etc in JD, but a copy would sure be
easier.

So how do I copy those 'settings'? Maybe Kelly says how - but I don't
see it. Doesn't mean it isn't there I guess.

Sorry to be a pest - Learning can be difficult sometimes. At least
when you are a senior citizen, as I am.

Thanks

Jethro

From the link I gave you.

"Copy a User Profile:

Open System in Control Panel. On the User Profiles tab, and under Profiles
stored on this computer, click the user profile you want to copy, and then
click Copy To.

In the Copy To dialog box, under Copy profile to, type the location for the
new profile, or click Browse to select the path.
Click Change to open the Choose User dialog box, click a new user from the
Names list, and then click Add. The new user name will appear in Add Name.
Click OK to add the user as a new user profile on your computer.

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer to
copy user profiles. To open a Control Panel item, click Start, point to
Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the appropriate icon.

Note 2: You cannot copy the account you are currently logged in on. You
must log into another account.

Note 3: If you create a new account, you must logon once before you copy
another account over top of it. Windows creates the user profile at logon,
not at account creation, and it will not use the copy you created before
that first logon, it will create a user.COMPUTERNAME folder instead.

Note 4: To resolve this issue, verify that the user account is not logged
on before you try to copy its profile. If you are currently logged on as
this user, log off, log on again by using a different user account, and then
copy the profile. If
you are not logged on as the user account that you are trying to copy, that
account may be logged on in a different session (using Fast User Switching).

To force that account to be logged off, start Task Manager, click the Users
tab, click the user account, and then click Logoff.

 

[Nightowl]

What is different here is that I actually do not
have a user called 'Administrator' to log into as. He must have
removed it sometime. At this point, the two users, JD & John Doe,
both Administrators with I assume administrator privileges.
This seems strange since I have the above three entries under User
Profiles. Hence my confusion. If I could create a user
'Administrator' I would, but when I try that, it says that user
already exists.

Hi Jethro

The Administrator account does exist -- it's a built-in account created
by Windows and can't be deleted. Once another account with administrator
privileges is created on that computer, the Administrator account is
hidden, which is why you don't normally see it on your Welcome screen.
Why Pegasus mentioned it is, you can't copy Profile A to Profile B while
you are logged on as B -- you need to be in a third account C with
administrator privileges.

To log in as Administrator, if using XP Pro, hold down Ctrl +Alt and
press Del twice at the Welcome screen. You'll see a little box pop up.
Type Administrator for the name and leave the password blank (it's blank
by default so probably still is If you have XP Home, boot to Safe
Mode and you should be able to choose the Administrator account.

Hope this helps

 

[Jethro]

Hi Jethro

The Administrator account does exist -- it's a built-in account created
by Windows and can't be deleted. Once another account with administrator
privileges is created on that computer, the Administrator account is
hidden, which is why you don't normally see it on your Welcome screen.
Why Pegasus mentioned it is, you can't copy Profile A to Profile B while
you are logged on as B -- you need to be in a third account C with
administrator privileges.

To log in as Administrator, if using XP Pro, hold down Ctrl +Alt and
press Del twice at the Welcome screen. You'll see a little box pop up.
Type Administrator for the name and leave the password blank (it's blank
by default so probably still is If you have XP Home, boot to Safe
Mode and you should be able to choose the Administrator account.

Well I'll be jiggered. Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice indeed brought up the
login window that accepted 'Administrator'. Now to continue on with
my problem.

Thanks for the tip.
Jethro

 

[Muhammad Usman]

I havent read the whole post but you need to run the File & Settings
transfer wizard.

 

[Jethro]

Hi Pegasus - Here are your instructions quoted, with what I did to
implement them.

1. Create the account JD.

I logged in as John Doe - and started over by creating account 'NEW
USER' with administrator privileges.

2. Log on as NEW USER.

I shut down, powered back on, and re-booted. I now had three users -
John Doe, JD, and NEW USER. I logged in as NEW USER. I took a peak
at c:\documents and settings\new user and found the only folder there
was 'Cookies' (empty).

3. Reboot.

I shut down, powered back on, and re-booted.

4. Log on as Administrator.

I logged in as Administrator (which I couldn't do before because I
did not know about the Ctrl-Alt-double delete procedure). I took
another peak at c:\documents and settings\NEW USER and found the only
folder there was still 'Cookies' (empty).

5. Control Panel / System / Advanced / User Profiles

I went there and found 4 names under 'Profiles':

JOHN-34CD1ED994\Administrator
JOHN-34CD1ED994\JD
JOHN-34CD1ED994\John Doe
JOHN-34CD1ED994\NEW USER

6. Copy John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 to
c:\documents and settings\JD

I highlighted JOHN-34CD1ED994\John Doe and clicked <Copy to> - then
entered NEW USER in the 'Copy profile to window' - clicked on <ok>,
Not surprisingly, I got a warning that new user already exists etc. I

7. Log on as JD.

I shut down, powered back on, and re-booted. I logged in as NEW USER.
I expected to get a starting desktop display showing the icons plus
background and other 'display settings' (where they are stored I have
no idea) that I have for user John Doe, but I didn't. Nothing changed
here. I took a peak at c:\documents and settings\new
user.JOHN-34CE1ED994 and find these folders:
Cookies
Desktop
Favorites
IXP000.TMP
My Documents
Start Menu
MSI1be95
msiutil(1)
netfxd
I expected the Desktop folder to contain what it has under John
Doe-34CE1ED994, but it did not. Should it have????????

I am stuck here and eagerly await your and/or ROCK's response.
Again, thank you for your interest.

Jethro

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Look for my asterisks (***) below.

Hi Pegasus - Here are your instructions quoted, with what I did to
implement them.

I logged in as John Doe - and started over by creating account 'NEW
USER' with administrator privileges.
I shut down, powered back on, and re-booted. I now had three users -
John Doe, JD, and NEW USER. I logged in as NEW USER. I took a peak
at c:\documents and settings\new user and found the only folder there
was 'Cookies' (empty).

*** Start a Command Prompt and type this command:
*** set userprofile{Enter}
*** Does it point at c:\documents and settings\new user?

I shut down, powered back on, and re-booted.
I logged in as Administrator (which I couldn't do before because I
did not know about the Ctrl-Alt-double delete procedure). I took
another peak at c:\documents and settings\NEW USER and found the only
folder there was still 'Cookies' (empty).
I went there and found 4 names under 'Profiles':

JOHN-34CD1ED994\Administrator
JOHN-34CD1ED994\JD
JOHN-34CD1ED994\John Doe
JOHN-34CD1ED994\NEW USER

I highlighted JOHN-34CD1ED994\John Doe and clicked <Copy to> - then
entered NEW USER in the 'Copy profile to window' - clicked on <ok>,

*** Instead of typing NEW USER, type
*** c:\documents and settings\new user{OK}

Not surprisingly, I got a warning that new user already exists etc. I

I shut down, powered back on, and re-booted. I logged in as NEW USER.

*** No need to reboot - just log on as "new user".

 

[Jethro]

Look for my asterisks (***) below.



*** Start a Command Prompt and type this command:
*** set userprofile{Enter}
*** Does it point at c:\documents and settings\new user?

Leaving things just as they are, I shut down, powered back on, and
re-booted. I logged in as NEW USER. I went to Command Prompt and
entered set userprofile - got response C:\Documents and settings\NEW
USER.JOHN-34CE1ED994 (which is what I had when I entered the command).

*** Instead of typing NEW USER, type
*** c:\documents and settings\new user{OK}

I used 'browse' instead. Same thing I think. When I clicked on <ok>
this time the hourglass wait state was much longer - hopefully
indicating it was copying much more (which is the object right?).
I took a peak at C:\Documents and settings\NEW USER.JOHN-34CE1ED994
and found that indeed all my John Doe desktop icons made the trip to
NEW USER. Next I shut down, powered back on, and re-booted. I logged
in as NEW USER to see what I would see. AHA! The desktop icons, and
background, icon sizes, and other settings all seem okay.

Now here's the thing - I started all this really just to get rid of
the name John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994 in favor of simpler John Doe.
So now I have NEW USER.JOHN-34CE1ED994. I still have the danged
..JOHN-34CE1ED994 appendage that I thought to eliminate. How do I do
it? The way things are now, I don't think I have accomplished
anything except added another user with identical settings. Right?

Jethro

I

 

[Jethro]

I havent read the whole post but you need to run the File & Settings
transfer wizard.

DANG!!!

That sure looks like it will simplify things. I tried it, and I
applied the 'collection phase' to John Doe.JOHN-34CE1ED994
and now want to get what was collected into still another new user I
have created as a test called 'new user-1'. Can you tell me how to do
that? It looks like I need to specify where the collection was saved,
and I have no idea at this point.


Thanks
Jethro

 

[Jethro]

I have it figured out - Thanks for your helps everyone.

Jethro