Name change in XP SP2

[Willy]

My son-in-law gave me a laptop with Win XP SP2 in it. However, it has his
name in all the appropriate places. How or can I change those to my name?
I've also thought of doing a Format C: and re-install XP, I have original
CDs. How can I do this if I take this course of action?

 

[Jerry]

Edit the registry - search on his name and change all instances to yours.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Bill,

To change the registered owner name in the registry, see:

How to Change Name and Company Information After You Install Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310441

How To Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=279783

To perform a clean installation, the following guide should help.

Performing a Clean Install of Windows XP:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/columns/honeycutt/02october07.asp
http://www.echoproject.net/en/software/catalog.html

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


My son-in-law gave me a laptop with Win XP SP2 in it. However, it has his
name in all the appropriate places. How or can I change those to my name?
I've also thought of doing a Format C: and re-install XP, I have original
CDs. How can I do this if I take this course of action?

 

[Willy]

Jerry,
I did this but it failed to make change under C:\Documents and Settings\Cat.
The name did not change. I even went into
the Control Panel>User Accounts and did name change there.
--
Thanks.....Bill
Please reply to the Newsgroup ONLY

Edit the registry - search on his name and change all instances to yours.

 

[Willy]

Ramesh,
I went to the link to change user names and that worked to a point. Under
C:\Documents and Settings\Cat. The name did not change. I even went into
the Control Panel>User Accounts and did name change there. What next?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Bill,

Simplest way is to create a new user account with your preferred name. OTOH
if you want to rename the profile folder of the existing user account, you
do so after altering the registry.

How to rename or move a User Profile folder?:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/userpath.htm

Alternately, you can make an exact copy the existing user profile to
another.

Create a duplicate user profile with a different name:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/dupprofile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
I went to the link to change user names and that worked to a point. Under
C:\Documents and Settings\Cat. The name did not change. I even went into
the Control Panel>User Accounts and did name change there. What next?

 

[Willy]

Ramesh,
The folder I referenced is the administrator's (C:\Documents and
Settings\Cat) folder and only User. Even after editing Registry it won't
let me rename it, gives me message about it being a System Folder and cannot
be deleted or renamed.
--
Thanks.....Bill
Please reply to the Newsgroup ONLY

Bill,

Simplest way is to create a new user account with your preferred name.
OTOH
if you want to rename the profile folder of the existing user account, you
do so after altering the registry.

How to rename or move a User Profile folder?:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/userpath.htm

Alternately, you can make an exact copy the existing user profile to
another.

Create a duplicate user profile with a different name:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/dupprofile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
I went to the link to change user names and that worked to a point.
Under
C:\Documents and Settings\Cat. The name did not change. I even went into
the Control Panel>User Accounts and did name change there. What next?
--
Thanks.....Bill
Please reply to the Newsgroup ONLY

Bill,

To change the registered owner name in the registry, see:

How to Change Name and Company Information After You Install Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310441

How To Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=279783

To perform a clean installation, the following guide should help.

Performing a Clean Install of Windows XP:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/columns/honeycutt/02october07.asp
http://www.echoproject.net/en/software/catalog.html

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


My son-in-law gave me a laptop with Win XP SP2 in it. However, it has
his
name in all the appropriate places. How or can I change those to my
name?
I've also thought of doing a Format C: and re-install XP, I have original
CDs. How can I do this if I take this course of action?

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Bill,

You must login to a different user account (Admin equivalent) first, and
then try to rename the other account's profile folder.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
The folder I referenced is the administrator's (C:\Documents and
Settings\Cat) folder and only User. Even after editing Registry it won't
let me rename it, gives me message about it being a System Folder and cannot
be deleted or renamed.

 

[Willy]

Ramesh,
I'm an XP newbie but there is only that one account other than Guest. What
do I do now?
--
Thanks.....Bill
Please reply to the Newsgroup ONLY

Bill,

You must login to a different user account (Admin equivalent) first, and
then try to rename the other account's profile folder.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
The folder I referenced is the administrator's (C:\Documents and
Settings\Cat) folder and only User. Even after editing Registry it won't
let me rename it, gives me message about it being a System Folder and
cannot
be deleted or renamed.
--
Thanks.....Bill
Please reply to the Newsgroup ONLY

Bill,

Simplest way is to create a new user account with your preferred name.
OTOH
if you want to rename the profile folder of the existing user account,
you
do so after altering the registry.

How to rename or move a User Profile folder?:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/userpath.htm

Alternately, you can make an exact copy the existing user profile to
another.

Create a duplicate user profile with a different name:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/dupprofile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

 

[Daniel C. Bastos]

Ramesh,
I'm an XP newbie but there is only that one account other than Guest. What
do I do now?

Here's an idea. Go to

Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Change the way users log on or off

and then uncheck the checkbox that says ``Use the Welcome screen.''
This will allow you to type a username and password on the login
stage and so may be able to use the administrator account.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

My son-in-law gave me a laptop with Win XP SP2 in it. However, it has his
name in all the appropriate places. How or can I change those to my name?

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

I've also thought of doing a Format C: and re-install XP, I have original
CDs. How can I do this if I take this course of action?

Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

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

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Create a new user account of administrator type, Bill.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
I'm an XP newbie but there is only that one account other than Guest. What
do I do now?
--
Thanks.....Bill
Please reply to the Newsgroup ONLY

Bill,

You must login to a different user account (Admin equivalent) first, and
then try to rename the other account's profile folder.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
The folder I referenced is the administrator's (C:\Documents and
Settings\Cat) folder and only User. Even after editing Registry it won't
let me rename it, gives me message about it being a System Folder and
cannot
be deleted or renamed.
--
Thanks.....Bill
Please reply to the Newsgroup ONLY

Bill,

Simplest way is to create a new user account with your preferred name.
OTOH
if you want to rename the profile folder of the existing user account,
you
do so after altering the registry.

How to rename or move a User Profile folder?:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/userpath.htm

Alternately, you can make an exact copy the existing user profile to
another.

Create a duplicate user profile with a different name:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/dupprofile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com

 

[Willy]

Ramesh,
I did create a temporary account then logged in to that account then was
able to rename the C:\Documents and
Settings\Cat folder. However when I logged back into the original account,
Desktop and all was empty. Thank goodness I was able to use Restore and get
back as it was.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Bill,

It looks like the folder reference has not been changed in the registry
correctly.

Copying the profile is your best bet. See:

Copy a user profile: (files and settings will be transferred)
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ll/proddocs/en-us/sysdm_userprofile_copy.mspx

or

Create a duplicate user profile with a different name:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/dupprofile.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
I did create a temporary account then logged in to that account then was
able to rename the C:\Documents and
Settings\Cat folder. However when I logged back into the original account,
Desktop and all was empty. Thank goodness I was able to use Restore and get
back as it was.

 

[Willy]

Ramesh,
I went to both links and tried to copy profile & create a duplicate, however
when I got to:

3.
Under Profiles stored on this computer, click the user profile you want
to copy, and then click Copy To.



The "Copy To" was grayed out in both.

Also after I created new user account (Donna) then logged into it then out
then back into the Cat account (Original Admin account) then went through
steps, it showed 2 accounts under System<Advanced<User Profiles<Settings as
follows:
CAT-xxxxxxxxxx\CAT (where xxxx is numbers/letters) and
CAT-xxxxxxxxxx\Donna

Both are Admin Accounts. But still the "Copy To" even after clicking CAT
was grayed out. See I want to get rid of the CAT Folder in C:\Documents and
Settings (I already edited the Registry & changed all CAT to Donna) and just
have the Donna Folder with the settings from the Cat Folder. I can go into
User Accounts & change user name to Donna and that shows at top of Start
Dialog box but CAT Folder doesn't change.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Bill,

You actually need to change the reference in only one area, that is in the
ProfileImagePath registry key.

As for the "Copy To" greyed out problem, log of all the user accounts, and
login to the third-account (which is not being copied to / from). Then Copy
To should be functional.


--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
I went to both links and tried to copy profile & create a duplicate, however
when I got to:

3.
Under Profiles stored on this computer, click the user profile you want
to copy, and then click Copy To.



The "Copy To" was grayed out in both.

Also after I created new user account (Donna) then logged into it then out
then back into the Cat account (Original Admin account) then went through
steps, it showed 2 accounts under System<Advanced<User Profiles<Settings as
follows:
CAT-xxxxxxxxxx\CAT (where xxxx is numbers/letters) and
CAT-xxxxxxxxxx\Donna

Both are Admin Accounts. But still the "Copy To" even after clicking CAT
was grayed out. See I want to get rid of the CAT Folder in C:\Documents and
Settings (I already edited the Registry & changed all CAT to Donna) and just
have the Donna Folder with the settings from the Cat Folder. I can go into
User Accounts & change user name to Donna and that shows at top of Start
Dialog box but CAT Folder doesn't change.

 

[Willy]

Bruce,
I put the original Win XO CD in (non SP1/2) and it says I have a newer
version installed, which I do have SP2 and it doesn't have any of the
options mentioned in your post:
"> Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the

 

[Willy]

Ramesh,
Sorry but I'm dumb on this User accounts stuff. I now only have 1 account,
CAT, which is the Admin one. I set up a 3rd account, logged in, the Copy To
Function still not available.
I've decided to reformat the hard drive and re-install the original Win XP.
See my post to Bruce below for problem encountered there.

 

[Willy]

Ramesh,
Creating 3rd account and "Copy To" finally worked. Was able to delete the
CAT account & folder. Thanks for all your help, I finally learned something
about User Accounts

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Thanks for posting back, Bill. I'm glad that you got the Copy To function
working from the 3rd user account.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,
Creating 3rd account and "Copy To" finally worked. Was able to delete the
CAT account & folder. Thanks for all your help, I finally learned something
about User Accounts