"Registered To" name is wrong

[Guest]

I purchased a used notebook running on Windows NT and installed XP
Professional. The "Registered To" name displays the previous owners. How do I
change this?

 

[Guest]

By courtesy of:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windowsxp_tips.htm

Start Regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
From there you can edit the name in the Registered Owner key

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I purchased a used notebook running on Windows NT and installed XP
Professional. The "Registered To" name displays the previous owners. How do I
change this?

With second-hand computers, especially if acquired from strangers
but perhaps even if acquired from a family member, your wisest course
of action would probably 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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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Tom J]

Why didn't you just say use regedit to do a find and replace on the
old name, replacing with the new name through the registry to correct
every reference of the old name? That's what I've done and it seems to
erase all mention of the old owner.

Tom J

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Why didn't you just say use regedit to do a find and replace on the
old name, replacing with the new name through the registry to correct
every reference of the old name?

1) Because the OP wouldn't have learned anything, if I'd have done it
that way.

2) Because it's not a complete answer.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH