changing system user names...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sniper
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Sniper

I recently purchased a second hand notebook with
Windows XP. The previous guy who owned it was called fred and
subsequently the computer under 'system' is labeled as 'fred'. I know I
can go into control panels and then user accounts to change the name,
but that is not the name i am referring to. I am talking about the
'registered' name which also affects the directory structures in XP.
Also I dont want to go through the hassle of a reformat.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks
 
Sniper said:
I recently purchased a second hand notebook with
Windows XP. The previous guy who owned it was called fred and
subsequently the computer under 'system' is labeled as 'fred'. I know I
can go into control panels and then user accounts to change the name,
but that is not the name i am referring to. I am talking about the
'registered' name which also affects the directory structures in XP.
Also I dont want to go through the hassle of a reformat.
Click to expand...

You don't want to just change the user account name anyway since that
doesn't change any of the underlying files/folders. Make a new user account
for your name and then delete Fred's.

To change the registered owner/company (which is what you are asking about),
here's an easy utility to do this by MVP Doug Knox:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_change_owner.htm

Malke
 
Sniper said:
I recently purchased a second hand notebook with
Windows XP. The previous guy who owned it was called fred and
subsequently the computer under 'system' is labeled as 'fred'. I know
I can go into control panels and then user accounts to change the
name, but that is not the name i am referring to. I am talking about
the 'registered' name which also affects the directory structures in
XP. Also I dont want to go through the hassle of a reformat.
Click to expand...


Although you don't want to go through the hassle of a reformat, the hassle
of not reformatting it may turn out to be much greater. If I bought a used
computer, the first thing I would do with it would be to reinstall the
operating system cleanly. You have no idea how the computer has been
maintained, what has been installed incorrectly, what is missing, what
viruses and spyware there may be, etc. I wouldn't want to live with somebody
else's mistakes and problems, possibility of kiddie porn, etc., and I
wouldn't recommend that anyone else do either.
 
Sniper said:
I recently purchased a second hand notebook with
Windows XP. The previous guy who owned it was called fred and
subsequently the computer under 'system' is labeled as 'fred'. I know I
can go into control panels and then user accounts to change the name,
but that is not the name i am referring to. I am talking about the
'registered' name which also affects the directory structures in XP.
Also I dont want to go through the hassle of a reformat.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks
Click to expand...


With second-hand computers, especially if acquired from strangers
but perhaps even if acquired from a family member or friend, your wisest
course of action would definitely be to format the hard drives and start
fresh. You don't want to get in trouble because the original owner may
have filled the hard drive with kiddie porn, or have problems because
the original owner downloaded/installed viruses or other malware.

However, to fix the "Registered to" information for WinNT/2K/XP,
you can use Start > Run > Regedit.exe to edit:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\RegisteredOwner

and:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current
Version\RegisteredOrganization

How this will affect the name displayed in previously installed
applications will vary depending upon each individual program; some
read the registered owner information dynamically, while others read
it only during installation.

The user profile folders (C:\Documents and Settings\Username)
_cannot_ be renamed, even if the associated user account has been.
So, your best course of action would be to log on using the built-in
Administrator account, create a new user account, with the username
desired. You can then delete the old user account(s).

HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279783

How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151


--

Bruce Chambers

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