Removal of workgroup/workstation, etc.

[Crosby_w0612]

I recently purchased a computer from a company going out of business. The
computer works great, except I want to "remove" the idea of it being a
workgroup/workstation computer. I do not want to have to log in each time.
Not to mention there is a group policy in place that effects auto-updates,
etc. I have Windows XP Professional. I currently have to log in as an
administrator, but my rights and privledges are still somewhat restricted by
the "Group Policy". How do I remove the "workgroup/workstation" and make my
computer a regular home computer? Can I just remove the administator or
would that keep me completely from using my computer? Please help.

 

[R. McCarty]

When you login does the username/password box contain an entry for
Domain ? & is it pre-filled in with the company name you purchased it
from ? If so it is using cached credentials as if it were physically on the
corporate Domain network. If no Domain is shown you are using the
local administrator account unique to the PC.

To remove the computer from the domain you must ensure that the
local administrator account password is known. You'll need to log in
to that account and from System Properties, Computer Name (Tab)
click on the "To rename this computer or join a domain, Click Change."
Toggle the radio button from Member of Domain to Workgroup &
enter the workgroup name as either "Workgroup" or MSHome". A
reboot is required and you'll have to login with the local Administrator
account. Once logged in, you can create user accounts for day-to-day
use.

I would probably run the Registry Permissions reset tool you can find
here after leaving domain membership.
http://winonline.blogspot.com/2005/11/reset-entire-registry-permissions-to.html

This process must be done correctly or you'll loose any ability to log in
to the computer.

The local Administrator account is being used when no domain name is
shown or it is the name of the computer. ( Not the Company domain
name. ) The local administrator account is DIFFERENT from the same
Administrator account with the company Domain name.

If this is done incorrectly, you'll have to use a Password reset tool to
null out or remove the local Administrator password.

 

[R. McCarty]

Before leaving the Domain, I'd backup any account profiles that you
want to keep. After joining a Workgroup any Domain accounts will
be removed !

 

[Gordon]

I recently purchased a computer from a company going out of business. The
computer works great, except I want to "remove" the idea of it being a
workgroup/workstation computer. I do not want to have to log in each
time.
Not to mention there is a group policy in place that effects auto-updates,
etc. I have Windows XP Professional. I currently have to log in as an
administrator, but my rights and privledges are still somewhat restricted
by
the "Group Policy". How do I remove the "workgroup/workstation" and make
my
computer a regular home computer? Can I just remove the administator or
would that keep me completely from using my computer? Please help.

As with all second-hand computers - do a COMPLETE re-format and
re-installation of your OS and applications.

 

[Leythos]

I recently purchased a computer from a company going out of business. The
computer works great, except I want to "remove" the idea of it being a
workgroup/workstation computer. I do not want to have to log in each time.
Not to mention there is a group policy in place that effects auto-updates,
etc. I have Windows XP Professional. I currently have to log in as an
administrator, but my rights and privledges are still somewhat restricted by
the "Group Policy". How do I remove the "workgroup/workstation" and make my
computer a regular home computer? Can I just remove the administator or
would that keep me completely from using my computer? Please help.

If you don't wipe them and install the OS/Applications from scratch, on
a freshly formatted drive, you have no expectation of security or
privacy. The previous users could have anything, including keyloggers,
malware, etc.. .installed on them. Never, ever, trust a USED COMPUTER.

 

[VanguardLH]

I recently purchased a computer from a company going out of business. The
computer works great, except I want to "remove" the idea of it being a
workgroup/workstation computer. I do not want to have to log in each time.
Not to mention there is a group policy in place that effects auto-updates,
etc. I have Windows XP Professional. I currently have to log in as an
administrator, but my rights and privledges are still somewhat restricted by
the "Group Policy". How do I remove the "workgroup/workstation" and make my
computer a regular home computer? Can I just remove the administator or
would that keep me completely from using my computer? Please help.

If the OS was actually included in the sale of the computer then its
installation media was also included. If you have no means of installing
the OS then what you got was only hardware which included a polluted hard
disk. If the computer came from a computer, it is unlikely that you got a
legitimate license for Windows. Their volume license cannot be split up and
sold off to other than the original organization to which that volume
license was sold. If they purchased separate licenses of Windows (not
likely since it would be far more expensive) then you need to get the
install discs for Windows (unless they are relying on a hidden partition to
restore a factory-time image). If they didn't include a manual with the
computer, you can get one by going to the computer maker's web site.

Whenever getting a used computer and unless you trust the seller to do a
*clean* install of the OS, you flatten and rebuild. You wipe all partitions
on the hard disk(s), decide what partitioning you want on those disks, and
then do a FRESH install of the operating system.