TRULY rename user account

  • Thread starter Thread starter BVIPrincess
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BVIPrincess

On my new PC the only user account was named "owner" by the folks at HP. I
went to Control Panel|Users and renamed "Owner" to my first name. Now, on
the start menu it says "log off MyName" instead of "log off owner." That's
all fine and good but in c:\documents and settings the only user account,
mine, is still named "owner." How do I change that folder to my name? Is
there no simple alternative than having to create a new user (based on the
"owner" account) then deleting the "owner" account? Besides, if I try to
create a new user named MyName, won't Windows tell me there's already a user
account with that name??

TIA
BVIPrincess
 
On my new PC the only user account was named "owner" by the folks at HP. I
went to Control Panel|Users and renamed "Owner" to my first name. Now, on
the start menu it says "log off MyName" instead of "log off owner." That's
all fine and good but in c:\documents and settings the only user account,
mine, is still named "owner." How do I change that folder to my name? Is
there no simple alternative than having to create a new user (based on the
"owner" account) then deleting the "owner" account? Besides, if I try to
create a new user named MyName, won't Windows tell me there's already a user
account with that name??

TIA
BVIPrincess
Click to expand...

The only time that the names will match is at the time of creation. They
will stay matched until the account is renamed.

So to do what you want:

Rename the original account back to owner.
Create a new account with your first name.
Log on with this new account at least once.

Now log on to an account that is not the old account or the new account and
that is a member of the administrator group. (May want to create a
"throwaway" account for this).

Go to System Properties> Advanced> User Profiles> Settings. Use the
controls in this window to copy profile "owner" to your new profile.
 
I did as you advised Sharon, but I got this error: failed to set security
on the destination profile; access denied. Any idea how to get around this?
Thanks.

On my new PC the only user account was named "owner" by the folks at HP. I
went to Control Panel|Users and renamed "Owner" to my first name. Now, on
the start menu it says "log off MyName" instead of "log off owner." That's
all fine and good but in c:\documents and settings the only user account,
mine, is still named "owner." How do I change that folder to my name? Is
there no simple alternative than having to create a new user (based on the
"owner" account) then deleting the "owner" account? Besides, if I try to
create a new user named MyName, won't Windows tell me there's already a user
account with that name??

TIA
BVIPrincess
Click to expand...

The only time that the names will match is at the time of creation. They
will stay matched until the account is renamed.

So to do what you want:

Rename the original account back to owner.
Create a new account with your first name.
Log on with this new account at least once.

Now log on to an account that is not the old account or the new account and
that is a member of the administrator group. (May want to create a
"throwaway" account for this).

Go to System Properties> Advanced> User Profiles> Settings. Use the
controls in this window to copy profile "owner" to your new profile.
 
I did as you advised Sharon, but I got this error: failed to set security
on the destination profile; access denied. Any idea how to get around this?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. No. Both accounts -old and new - are in the same user group? Example:
both accounts are designated as administrator?

This article describes a slightly different method of transfer. Perhaps it
will get around the error you're experiencing:
How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151&Product=winxp
 
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