Getting rid of previous owners name on XP

[Guest]

My brother-in-law just gave me his "old" Dell Inspiron 8200 running Windows
XP Home. I would like to get rid of his name on all the system files and
replace it with my own.

Is there and easy way to do this?

In particular, when I attempt to rename "C:\\Documents and Settings\His
Name\...

to C:\\Doucments and Settings\My Name...

I am told that this is a System file and cannot be renamed.

What can I do here?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

If he gave you a cd that says "Recovery" or "Windows XP" try reinstalling
windows. this will WIPE EVERYTHING OUT including your information that you
put into it but it will seem as if you started it up for the first time. All
your brother in law's info and what ever you put in will be replaced. if you
want to keep word documents, put them in an external hard drive or USB Flash
drive. Programs like word, excel, powerpoint, etc... will also have to be
installed again.

I hope this works, i have done numerous times.. unfortunaltey

Alex

 

[Rock]

My brother-in-law just gave me his "old" Dell Inspiron 8200 running
Windows
XP Home. I would like to get rid of his name on all the system files and
replace it with my own.

Is there and easy way to do this?

In particular, when I attempt to rename "C:\\Documents and Settings\His
Name\...

to C:\\Doucments and Settings\My Name...

I am told that this is a System file and cannot be renamed.

What can I do here?

When getting a used computer, I recommend installing the OS fresh that way
you don't inherit any of the operational problems or nasties such as kiddie
porn. Here is a link for how to do a clean install.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Otherwise, you can rename the user account but it will not change the
username under documents and settings. The way to do this is create a new
account with the name you want, login to it at least once, then copy the
data and settings from the old account to the new. Work with the new
account. If all seems well, then delete the old account.

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

You can change the registered owner and organization names using this
utility on Doug Knox site:
http://www.dougknox.com/
Win XP Utilities
Change Owner and Organization

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My brother-in-law just gave me his "old" Dell Inspiron 8200 running
Windows XP Home. I would like to get rid of his name on all the
system files and replace it with my own.

Is there and easy way to do this?

If I acquired 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.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

My brother-in-law just gave me his "old" Dell Inspiron 8200 running Windows
XP Home. I would like to get rid of his name on all the system files and
replace it with my own.

Is there and easy way to do this?

In particular, when I attempt to rename "C:\\Documents and Settings\His
Name\...

to C:\\Doucments and Settings\My Name...

I am told that this is a System file and cannot be renamed.

What can I do here?

Thanks

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.

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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