username already set, can't be changed.

[Guest]

after 2 weeks from buying my laptop, i discovered that the username is not
the default "owner" but a name Matthew.

i can change the name of the adminirstrator at user accounts to owner but
wherever i see, the username is still "matthew" -- e.g. in task manager, the
username in Processes is Matthew as well as that in the users tab. i have no
idea as to how this name is there. this is supposed to be a new notebook. can
anyone help me ??

when i click start, then run, i discovered that regedit is already on the
list even though this is a new laptop. i think someone had opened up the
regedit to change the key "registered owner" at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion. it shows
"owner" now. i think someone must haved changed it before i bought it. i
suspect the previous value of the key to be "matthew" and not owner..

 

[Malke]

after 2 weeks from buying my laptop, i discovered that the username is
not the default "owner" but a name Matthew.

i can change the name of the adminirstrator at user accounts to owner
but
wherever i see, the username is still "matthew" -- e.g. in task
manager, the username in Processes is Matthew as well as that in the
users tab. i have no idea as to how this name is there. this is
supposed to be a new notebook. can anyone help me ??

when i click start, then run, i discovered that regedit is already on
the list even though this is a new laptop. i think someone had opened
up the regedit to change the key "registered owner" at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion. it
shows "owner" now. i think someone must haved changed it before i
bought it. i suspect the previous value of the key to be "matthew" and
not owner..

Obviously this is *not* a new notebook and you should take it back right
away to where you bought it.

To change the user account, you'll need to create a new one per the
instructions here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=811151

You will need to log into the new account once before you can copy
anything to it.

Before you do that, I'd have a strong talk with the manager of wherever
you bought this, though.

Malke

 

[Guest]

ok thanks Malke. but, there's only 3 days one-to-one exchange. and its
already a month. i think there's nothing i can do anymore..

but, why doesn't all the user name and folder names-"e.g in c:/documents &
settings" change when i go to user accounts in control panel and change to a
new name? and by creating a new profile, do i end up with lots of wasted
disk space used by all the previous settings and preferences?

and for curiousity sake, how does the "first" user of this laptop set his
name? is it when installing win xp or is it keyed in during first boot up?

thanks again.

 

[Malke]

ok thanks Malke. but, there's only 3 days one-to-one exchange. and its
already a month. i think there's nothing i can do anymore..

but, why doesn't all the user name and folder names-"e.g in
c:/documents &
settings" change when i go to user accounts in control panel and
change to a
new name? and by creating a new profile, do i end up with lots of
wasted disk space used by all the previous settings and preferences?

and for curiousity sake, how does the "first" user of this laptop set
his name? is it when installing win xp or is it keyed in during first
boot up?

You cannot simply change the name of the user account. If you only
rename the account (as you apparently did), it does not change all the
files/folders in that account to the new name. You need to create a new
account with your desired user name, copy over any data you need per
the link I gave you, and then go back to the User Accounts applet and
delete the old account when you are sure you have everything
transferred. This is just the way modern operating systems work.

There will be no "wasted disk space" because you will delete the
unwanted user account.

It depends on how XP was installed on the computer when the first user
account is created. Large OEM companies (Dell, HP, Sony, Gateway etc.)
do not hand-install every one of the computers they sell. They set up
one model the way they want it and then create a master image with
special software. That image is then applied to all the other computers
that are the same model. This is why when you first boot into some of
those OEM computers they are already set up as "Owner" or "Gateway
Administrator". Obviously the company doesn't know who is going to buy
the computer!

Some OEM's like Dell do it slightly differently in that when you do the
first bootup, the system goes through a configuration routine during
which it asks you for user names and creates those accounts.

When you do a clean install on a computer yourself, you are asked for
user names at the end of the install.

Of course, you can create users with the User Accounts applet any time
after Windows is installed.

As for the 3-day exchange, I would definitely go in and complain very
loudly to the manager if you thought you had bought a new machine. How
far you take this is of course up to you, but personally I would be
quite angry at being cheated like this. A situation like this actually
happened to one of my clients and while she was happy with the machine
she bought, she got some money back from the vendor. Selling something
as new that has been used is usually considered fraud.

Malke

 

[Guest]

oh Malke thanks for all your help. you are really very experienced man.

my laptop was from dell. i refer to "Some OEM's like Dell do it slightly
differently in that when you do the
first bootup, the system goes through a configuration routine during
which it asks you for user names and creates those accounts."
-- when the sales man on the notebook for me, there's no whatsoever setting
up of account names and user name.. is it proof that the username has already
been set before by someone who used the notebook and returned it before?

but anyway i think there are really little signs that the notebook has been
used before. if any, its really subtle. now i just hope they let me exchange
a new one. the problem is i don't quite know how to prove it has been used
before. i only know that the user folder "matthew" in "documents & settings"
is created at an earlier time before i bought it. and yes i'm really quite
surprised they let this happen.

And, refering to "A situation like this actually
happened to one of my clients and while she was happy with the machine
she bought, she got some money back from the vendor. Selling something
as new that has been used is usually considered fraud." so on what grounds
did the vendor return money to her? how much did she get in return?

thanks once more,
lawrence

 

[Malke]

pls help me wrote:

Comments inline:

my laptop was from dell. i refer to "Some OEM's like Dell do it
slightly differently in that when you do the
first bootup, the system goes through a configuration routine during
which it asks you for user names and creates those accounts."
-- when the sales man on the notebook for me, there's no whatsoever
setting up of account names and user name.. is it proof that the
username has already been set before by someone who used the notebook
and returned it before?

I have never heard of this happening from Dell before. If you bought the
Dell notebook directly from Dell online and not second-hand and not
refurbished, when you turned the machine on the very first time you
would have been taken through a setup routine which includes creating a
user account. You would not have started the machine and been taken
directly to the Desktop of an already-created account.

but anyway i think there are really little signs that the notebook has
been used before. if any, its really subtle. now i just hope they let
me exchange a new one. the problem is i don't quite know how to prove
it has been used before. i only know that the user folder "matthew" in
"documents & settings" is created at an earlier time before i bought
it. and yes i'm really quite surprised they let this happen.

You need to review your sales documents to be very sure of what you
actually purchased and then talk to Dell customer support. This is not
something that can be handled in a newsgroup.

And, refering to "A situation like this actually
happened to one of my clients and while she was happy with the machine
she bought, she got some money back from the vendor. Selling something
as new that has been used is usually considered fraud." so on what
grounds did the vendor return money to her? how much did she get in
return?

I'm sorry but I don't remember those details. In any case, her situation
was different from yours in that she purchased a Toshiba (IIRC) from a
BestBuy store.

Malke