Cleaning up W2K laptop to use at home.

[Rory]

When I left my job I was able to buy my old W2K work laptop for $25
however they never got around to stripping everything off it.

I've stripped a lot of stuff off it, but I want to get rid of the
domain accounts and just use it as a single user home PC.

I can log into it as a local user, so can I just delete the unused
accounts, including the domain account? I scared of finding that I
won't be able to log back into the machine because it can't validate
the password etc.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When I left my job I was able to buy my old W2K work laptop for $25
however they never got around to stripping everything off it.

I've stripped a lot of stuff off it, but I want to get rid of the
domain accounts and just use it as a single user home PC.

I can log into it as a local user, so can I just delete the unused
accounts, including the domain account? I scared of finding that I
won't be able to log back into the machine because it can't validate
the password etc.

1. Log on to the machine under your domain account.
2. Start a Command Prompt (Start / Run / cmd {OK}).
3. Type these commands:
net user Rory pass /add
net localgroup administrators Rory /add
4. Log off, then log on locally as Rory/pass. To log on
locally, select the local machine name from the drop
box on the logon screen.
5. Start a Command Prompt and type this command:
net user Rory

If you can log on in Step 4 and if Step5 shows that
you are an administrator then you can safely take the
machine off the domain.

 

[Rory]

Thanks - all that worked fine.

It's the 'take the machine off the domain' bit that I'm uncertain on -
do I just delete the domian accounts?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Thanks - all that worked fine.

It's the 'take the machine off the domain' bit that I'm uncertain on -
do I just delete the domian accounts?

No. Launch the Control Panel / System / Computer Name /
To rename this computer or join a domain. Make the PC
a member of a workgroup, e.g. "Home" or "Workgroup".
This will get rid of all domain accounts.

 

[Rory]

No. Launch the Control Panel / System / Computer Name /
To rename this computer or join a domain. Make the PC
a member of a workgroup, e.g. "Home" or "Workgroup".
This will get rid of all domain accounts.

Ah - in Properties on the netwrk Identification tab? Anyway, I did
this and also went through the network ID wizard and set the computer
for home use and to assume I was the only user.
Works fine - thanks!

I noticed that in useer Profiles, I have 5 profiles:
Account Unknown
Administrator
xxxxxxxxxxxxx (my real name)
localuser
Rory

Can I now simply delete some of those, and, of so, which (if any) do I
need to leave in place?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I would not delete any profiles for some time until
sure that nothing is missing. After a while you can
delete unknown profiles and profile of users who
no longer log on.