R
ramman
I purchased a pc from a previous owner. The system lists his name in the
Registered To: field. How do I replace his name with mine?
Registered To: field. How do I replace his name with mine?
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D
Doug Knox - [MS-MVP]
See www.dougknox.com, Win XP Utilities, Change Owner and Organization
B
Bob I
Formatting and Reloading the operating system will take care of any and
all know and unknown undesired information residing on that PC.
all know and unknown undesired information residing on that PC.
L
Leonard Grey
Bob makes a good point. When you receive a used computer, the first
thing to do is to erase the hard disk and reload the software from
scratch. That's the only way to be guaranteed that your computer is free
of malicious software and misconfiguration by the former user.
thing to do is to erase the hard disk and reload the software from
scratch. That's the only way to be guaranteed that your computer is free
of malicious software and misconfiguration by the former user.
B
Bruce Chambers
ramman said:I purchased a pc from a previous owner. The system lists his name in the
Registered To: field. How do I replace his name with mine?
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, 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
--
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
Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell
K
Ken Blake, MVP
I purchased a pc from a previous owner. The system lists his name in the
Registered To: field. How do I replace his name with mine?
If I bought 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.
But if you just want to change the "Registered to" name, you can do so
by editing
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\RegisteredOwner
with Regedit.
B
bud
Bob I said:Formatting and Reloading the operating system will take care of any and
all know and unknown undesired information residing on that PC.
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Line 7. Right side.
B
Bob I
bud said:http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Line 7. Right side.
Sorry but that won't remove all the other residuals.
B
bud
No it won't but you asked how to change the registered to name. It does doBob I said:Sorry but that won't remove all the other residuals.
that. Short of doing the format and reinstall, the only way to change
everything is to make a new user with whatever name you want to use. Get it
set up and then delete the old user.
B
Bob I
bud said:No it won't but you asked how to change the registered to name. It does do
that. Short of doing the format and reinstall, the only way to change
everything is to make a new user with whatever name you want to use. Get it
set up and then delete the old user.
No I didn't, I suggested cleaning out ALL the crap the other user could
have left on the computer. Perhaps you meant to reply to the OP?
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