User Nane

[Willy]

I've a PC in our organization that was used by another person. How can I
rid that name (shows up at log-in)? I've gone into Control Panel/Users and
have changed it there.

 

[Rey Santos]

Remove User Accounts from the Login Screen in Windows XP
Hide User Account with Tweak UI
Delete User Accoun
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/remove-user-accounts-from-the-login-screen-in-windows-xp/

 

[Willy]

I meant to type "Registered User" I did a Google search on changing
Registered User, made changes most posts had to Registry, didn't work.

 

[Rey Santos]

Maybe you have to talk to your system Administrator.

 

[Willy]

I'm him.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I'm him.

Do a search for "regowner" here:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData
There may be lots of them.

 

[Willy]

Your right, I found lots and changed them to new Registered Owner but to no
avail. Previous Reg. Owner was a Matthew, it is now Greg of which I changed
all regowner to. No Matthew in User Accounts in Control Panel either.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Your right, I found lots and changed them to new Registered Owner but to
no avail. Previous Reg. Owner was a Matthew, it is now Greg of which I
changed all regowner to. No Matthew in User Accounts in Control Panel
either.

It seems you're running round in circles. There are two concepts involved
with your question:
a) Registered owner. This is the name that pops up when you
install a software package. In your reply to Rey you wrote
[I meant to type "Registered User"]
hence I gave you the registry location for regowner. The registered
owner has nothing to do with the various user accounts and will not
be visible in the Control Panel.
b) User accounts. Rey gave you the recipe for dealing with those. They
have nothing to do with the registered owner.

If neither of them applies to your situation then you need to spend
the time to explain exactly and in detail what you're after.

 

[Willy]

Okay, here is exactly what it's doing:
User is on but leaves PC for period of time, comes back sees a Window that
says PC is in use but locked with Matthew's name displayed, Password field
blank. Can type in Password Matthew used, PC goes to the point it was left.
Hope this helps. Sorry about the confusion of "Registered User vs.
Registered Owner.
I've no problem with adding/removing User Accounts.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Okay, here is exactly what it's doing:
User is on but leaves PC for period of time, comes back sees a Window that
says PC is in use but locked with Matthew's name displayed, Password field
blank. Can type in Password Matthew used, PC goes to the point it was
left.
Hope this helps. Sorry about the confusion of "Registered User vs.
Registered Owner.
I've no problem with adding/removing User Accounts.

I assume you're referring to the panel with the message

"This computer is in use and has been locked. Only PC1\Matthew or
an administrator can unlock this computer."

and you now wish to get rid of "Matthew" in this message. I don't
think you can do this - how could you enter the correct password
if you did not know who was logged on? If you don't want people
other than Matthew to unlock the PC then ensure that they use
proper passwords and they do not divulge them to others.

 

[Willy]

"Matthew" told us the Password when he left. The PC now only has 1 User
"Greg" who logs on it with Administrator rights but the Panel with Matthew's
name comes up as described in previous post.

 

[Big_Al]

"Matthew" told us the Password when he left. The PC now only has 1 User
"Greg" who logs on it with Administrator rights but the Panel with Matthew's
name comes up as described in previous post.

You just want to change the user name, as Matthew left and Greg took
over. Same screen, same login, same programs etc. And this is not the
admin account, but a user with admin rights. Right?

If so, why don't you just make a new user and transfer the needed files ?

 

[Willy]

Al,
That's pretty much it. Greg is the Admin. Account. When I go to
C:/Documents & Settings, I see:
/Default User
/Dennis--No longer a User, gone
/Matthew--No longer user, gone
/Matthew.CPQXXXXXXXX(where X is random numbers)--No longer User--gone
/Guest--Just turned off account
/Owner--I assume Greg now

 

[Big_Al]

Al,
That's pretty much it. Greg is the Admin. Account. When I go to
C:/Documents & Settings, I see:
/Default User
/Dennis--No longer a User, gone
/Matthew--No longer user, gone
/Matthew.CPQXXXXXXXX(where X is random numbers)--No longer User--gone
/Guest--Just turned off account
/Owner--I assume Greg now

If you are seeing Matthew, then its not the owner account, its Matthew.
Thus the reason you get that name. It would be easy to verify,
just go to the command line and type: echo %HOME%

My vote would be to just add another user to the list or reload the PC
back to factory settings and set the first user as Greg.

The latter is what I did on all office laptops when the user left. We
archived the important stuff on a DVD and then reset the laptop with the
HP/Dell/Whatever restore CD's. Most of them let us define the first
user and not the typical "Owner" that comes with some systems.

 

[Willy]

Al, When I do echo %HOME% it shows Matthew. Guess I'll leave well enough
alone and stay as is sounds the easy way. Thought there'd be a way to
change Registered Owner, guess not without a complete re-install of Windows.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

"Matthew" told us the Password when he left. The PC now only has 1 User
"Greg" who logs on it with Administrator rights but the Panel with
Matthew's name comes up as described in previous post.

A couple of comments:
- You write "Matthew's name comes up as described in previous
post". I don't actually know where exactly Matthew's name comes
up - you never described this in full detail.
- You appear to mix the terms "Account name" and "Profile name".
The two are completely different entities. You can easily have an
account name "Jack", using a profile name called "Jane". This is
where the confusion may arise but unless you tell us exactly what
you're seeing, and where, we'll never know.

 

[John John (MVP)]

Thus the reason you get that name. It would be easy to verify, just
go to the command line and type: echo %HOME%

Hmmm. Well, the only thing that the echo %HOME% command returns is
"%HOME%". Pernhaps you meant echo %HOMEPATH%. Using the SET command
will give all that information, SET USERPROFILE will give the information.

John

 

[Nightowl]

Al, When I do echo %HOME% it shows Matthew. Guess I'll leave well enough
alone and stay as is sounds the easy way. Thought there'd be a way to
change Registered Owner, guess not without a complete re-install of Windows.

Bill, from what I can make out, you seem to have changed the account
name (which the user gives to log on) in User Accounts from Matthew to
Greg -- but as some of the other replies have explained, this doesn't
change the profile name. It would seem Greg is using Matthew's profile.

If you want to change this, I think you have two choices:

1) Create a new user with admin rights (you won't be able to call it
Greg unless you rename the existing account first, though log in to it
once to initialise it, then log on as the built-in Administrator and
copy Matthew's profile to the new one. Full instructions here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151

2) Try renaming the user profile using the excellent instructions from
MVP Ramesh's site here:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/userpath.htm

Good luck

 

[Willy]

-See my post of 8/9 at 5:36PM

 

[Willy]

After it's inactive for a time, it does this:
Window pops up on Blue background saying:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unlock Computer

The computer is in use and has been locked. Only PASTOR\Matthew (PASTOR) or
an administrator can unlock this computer.

Name: Matthew
Password: [blank, have to type in one Matthew gave when he left]