Rename an Account

[John]

Hi,

I have a Windows XP SP2 PC and not joining any domain. An user account UserA
is in local Administrators group, after I rename UserA to User B,
"C:\Documents and Settings\UserA" obviously will remain the same, but is
there anyway to rename the folder name in order to reflect the new username?

Thank you.

John.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

No. Create a new account with the name the way you want it to appear on the user's folder, then copy the old account to the new one.

Copy a User Profile:

Open System in Control Panel. On the User Profiles tab, and under Profiles stored on this computer, click the user profile you want to copy, and then click Copy To.

In the Copy To dialog box, under Copy profile to, type the location for the new profile, or click Browse to select the path.
Click Change to open the Choose User dialog box, click a new user from the Names list, and then click Add. The new user name will appear in Add Name. Click OK to add the user as a new user profile on your computer.

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer to copy user profiles. To open a Control Panel item, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the appropriate icon.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151
How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile

Note: You cannot copy to/from the account you are logged onto.

 

[Steve N.]

No. Create a new account with the name the way you want it to appear
on the user's folder, then copy the old account to the new one.

Two things Doug:

1. You have to have folder options set to show hidden and system files
or you won't see the destination.

2. You have to login once as the new user or there won't be any
destination to copy to.

Copy a User Profile:

Open System in Control Panel. On the User Profiles tab, and under
Profiles stored on this computer, click the user profile you want to
copy, and then click Copy To.

In the Copy To dialog box, under Copy profile to, type the location
for the new profile, or click Browse to select the path. Click Change
to open the Choose User dialog box, click a new user from the Names
list, and then click Add. The new user name will appear in Add Name.
Click OK to add the user as a new user profile on your computer.

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer
to copy user profiles. To open a Control Panel item, click Start,
point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the
appropriate icon.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151 How to
Copy User Data to a New User Profile

Note: You cannot copy to/from the account you are logged onto.

Microsoft needs to correct that article, it omits #2 above. They also
need to publish an article for copying user profile that is NOT
corrupted. In the case of a not corrupted profile there is no need to
not copy the ntuser files.

Steve