stop WinXP from transmitting username to public Wifi access points.

[Rahul]

Whenever I use my WinXP laptop to connect to a Wifi access point I can
always see the username of my machine in the Wifi router's logs (for my own
router)

I suppose it does the same for even public access points. Is there a way to
prevent the transmission of this username? I guess it is mostly a privacy
issue.

 

[Chuck]

I always used sort of a generic user name.

 

[peter]

I think what your seeing is your Computer Name...which you seemed
to have named the same as your user name.

peter

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Whenever I use my WinXP laptop to connect to a Wifi access point I
can always see the username of my machine in the Wifi router's logs
(for my own router)

I suppose it does the same for even public access points. Is there
a way to prevent the transmission of this username? I guess it is
mostly a privacy issue.

Start button --> RUN --> type in:
cmd /k echo %ComputerName%
--> Click OK.

What comes up in the command prompt window first? That is the name of your
computer and if it contains your username - that is what is likely coming
across on your router's logs - not your logged on username. ;-)

 

[Rahul]

What comes up in the command prompt window first? That is the name of
your computer and if it contains your username - that is what is
likely coming across on your router's logs - not your logged on
username. ;-)

Yup! That is exactly it!

Can I tell the eth adapter not to transmit this name? Or set it to some
gobedlygook?

Worst case I just change my computername to some nonsense I guess. But that
might have other side-effects so I want to avoid that....

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Whenever I use my WinXP laptop to connect to a Wifi access point I
can always see the username of my machine in the Wifi router's logs
(for my own router)

I suppose it does the same for even public access points. Is there
a way to prevent the transmission of this username? I guess it is
mostly a privacy issue.

Start button --> RUN --> type in:
cmd /k echo %ComputerName%
--> Click OK.

What comes up in the command prompt window first? That is the name
of your computer and if it contains your username - that is what is
likely coming across on your router's logs - not your logged on
username. ;-)

Yup! That is exactly it!

Can I tell the eth adapter not to transmit this name? Or set it to
some gobedlygook?

Worst case I just change my computername to some nonsense I guess.
But that might have other side-effects so I want to avoid that....

If your computer is not in a domain (joined to your work domain, corporate
domain, etc.) and you have no software that is dependent on the name itself
(very few applications are - most are expensive and used on servers) - then
you can change your computer name daily (if you so desired) with no side
effects.

So - if this is a home-use computer you carry around and isn't owned by the
company you work for and you have not brought it to work to have the 'set it
up for use there' - then your best solution is just to name it something
else.

How to change a computer name, join a domain, and
add a computer description in Windows XP or in
Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/295017

Make it something you don't mind people seeing and make it something that
doesn't look tempting (of course - to the 'wrong' person, everything looks
tempting on a network.)

Also - if you are using this on public wifi - limit what you do there (I'd
personally not check many (if any) passworded accounts unless I was
connected through some external VPN tunnel I trusted first) and be sure your
firewall is enabled with no exceptions (at least while roaming about for the
exceptions part) and your AntiVirus stays up to date.

The information your browser publicizes about your computer is pretty
extensive, only slightly more has been published to the access point you
connect to. The above basic protections can help close off a lot of avenues
to the casual browser.