Changing the licensed owner in Win XP

[Guest]

I am giving my old laptop to my son, and want to change the my name as the
licensed owner to his name. How do I do this?
Thanks

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I am giving my old laptop to my son, and want to change the my name
as the licensed owner to his name. How do I do this?

Never understood the point - and if your son knows anything about computers,
he's better off formatting and installing anew. ;-)
http://www.petri.co.il/change_registered_user_and_company_vista_xp.htm

 

[Guest]

Formatting the hard drive is not an option. I really want to know how to do
this - I know it can be done but am not sure how

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

The link in Shamans post tells you how.
Did you miss the link?

I think his point of formatting is the same as whenever someone gets a
used computer.
A Clean installation ensures there is nothing there but what is
supposed to be.
It eliminates the chance of unknown problems by the previous owner.
This can be extremely important when received from a stranger or even
a friend as in many cases there is already malware on the computer
often unknown to the previous owner.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I am giving my old laptop to my son, and want to change the my
name as the licensed owner to his name. How do I do this?

Never understood the point - and if your son knows anything about
computers, he's better off formatting and installing anew. ;-)
http://www.petri.co.il/change_registered_user_and_company_vista_xp.htm

Formatting the hard drive is not an option. I really want to know
how to do this - I know it can be done but am not sure how

Well - I thought the link I gave was obvious - but I suppose if I have to
respond again and tell you that the answer you seek was given in my original
answer - I will and I will point it out again (despite thinking that
originally the link itself pretty much gave away its contents.)

Change the registered user and company name in Windows XP / Vista
http://www.petri.co.il/change_registered_user_and_company_vista_xp.htm

Also - my 'never understood the point' has to do with the fact that all you
are doing is changing the look. It's like putting your son's name on an
easily removable sticker on the outside of the laptop. ;-)

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Sorry Shenan for the misspelling in my last post.
I think my spell checker did it and I somehow missed it.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Sorry Shenan for the misspelling in my last post.
I think my spell checker did it and I somehow missed it.

Common issue...
I think it may be one reason I always seem to play a shaman in the MPORPGs.
hah

 

[dobey]

Well - I thought the link I gave was obvious - but I suppose if I have to
respond again and tell you that the answer you seek was given in my
original answer - I will and I will point it out again (despite thinking
that originally the link itself pretty much gave away its contents.)

Change the registered user and company name in Windows XP / Vista
http://www.petri.co.il/change_registered_user_and_company_vista_xp.htm

Also - my 'never understood the point' has to do with the fact that all
you are doing is changing the look. It's like putting your son's name on
an easily removable sticker on the outside of the laptop. ;-)

I expect because your reply fell into the unwanted advice category she
ignored the link, or though it was to do with what *you* thought she should
do.

Maybe if you had put the link first, then suggested a format?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I am giving my old laptop to my son, and want to change the my name as the
licensed owner to his name. How do I do this?
Thanks

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, and some require the information to be entered
manually (typed in) by the installing individual.

The user profile folders (C:\Documents and Settings\Username)
_cannot_ be renamed, without risky registry editing, 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. Once you've logged in using this
new account (and transfered any data you need to preserve, 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

However, if you've ever had any personal information stored on the
laptop's hard drive which you would not want you son to see, it'd be
best for you to, at the very least, format the hard drive and reinstall
everything before handing over the computer. This should protect that
data from a user of average abilities.


--

Bruce Chambers

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