Changing User Name (System Wide) (XP Pro SP2)

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Hello…

Selling my old Dell 8250 to a friend; & as part of the file/folder cleanup & prep…I wanted to change the PC’s User Name from mine to his.

I first went to User Accounts…changed it there…& it now reads as his name everywhere except under ‘Documents & Settings’. So, I broke out the XP bible (Bott & Siechert) to find out how to get to the Administrator Account.

But Windows won’t let me change it there.

So I tried to manually rename the affected folders under ‘Documents & Settings’…but Windows won’t let me change it there either (claiming it’s a system file).

Hoping there’s a way to accomplish this…I don’t want my name popping up on my friend’s machine.

Thanks,

mark4man

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Why not simply delete your old account and then create a new account for your friend (with his/her name)?

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See How to Change Name and Company Information After You Install Windows XP. Rename the account to your name. Add his name as a new account. See How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile.

Joe

--Joe

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You can change the registered owner and organization of Windows by changing a couple of registry values.

Open the registry editor and navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows NT CurrentVersion

To change the name of the owner double click RegisteredOwner and change to the name of the new owner

To change the name of the organization double click RegisteredOrganization and change the name of the organization

The easy answer to changing the user in Documents and Settings is to create a new user and delete the old one. There is a solution to the problem and not just a work around, but I have only found it at Experts Exchange and they have morphed into a pay only service (or you could opt for a 7 day trial to get this answer).

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1) Are you saying that the A) registry changes & the user account delete/create are simply workarounds?

2) The BIG question (just thought of this): I’m also giving him…loaded onto the computer…a whole host of applications. Will changing the registry data or creating a new user account screw around w/ program permissions & not permit him to open my old apps (since all the apps are registered to me) ???

[That’s a huge consideration.]

Thanks,

mark4man

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Only if you installed them as a single user and NOT for ALL useres!

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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No, the registry changes are just that…. changes to the registry that will change the Owner Name for all the world to see. The user account delete/create will effect a permanent change as well. Simply changing the User Name on an account will change the User Name on the Welcome screen but will still leave the “old” user name in the Documents and Settings folder.

The page at Expert’s Exchange may or may not be accessable via this link. HTH

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no…the registry changes didn’t work; & I wasn’t able to delete my administrator account. The heck w/ it…I’ve changed everything else…he’ll just have to live w/ my name in Documents & Settings.

Thanks anyway,

mark4man

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Why not just create a new user name (your friend’s name or one of his choosing would be good) with administrator priviledges, and then see what works and what doesn’t. You might be surprised. If you’re happy with the new user account the it would be safe to delete your original user account, thus ridding the registry (and Documents and Settings) of all traces of your name.

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I did that…I simply changed the name of my administrator account (under User Accounts) to his; & deleted my password. All that affects is the Start Menu & a sub menu under My Computer in Windows Explorer. I also changed the name In Advanced User Accounts (Command Prompt: control user passwords2) & made those registry changes. That only affects the computer name in System Properties . Anyway, the only thing left are my names under Documents & Settings…so it doesn’t rid the registry of anything (to then effect those changes system wide) as suggested.

Now…the XP bible (Bott & Siechert) has a chapter dedicated to securing the administrator account, with access to local security settings via the command prompt. I’ll probably set the machine up one more time & explore those possibilities, as well as creating a new password for him (as I read in the bible that without a password, yer PC is security vulnerable.)

Also…that official method from Experts Exchange? There’s no free account there that I could find (there is…but it comes w/ a $12.95 pricetag. Have no idea how that’s “free”, but…)…but I think that may be the same thing as this???

http://www.pcanswers.co.uk/tips/default.as…ubsectionid=616%5B/url%5D

…but that didn’t work either.

[actually…now that I think about it…I tried that method BEFORE I knew what my password was, so maybe I’ll try it again. See…Dell had created the password on that machine; & it took me several attempts following their password hint until I cracked it (meaning that…if I could do it…that machine wasn’t that secure for the ENTIRE time I owned it & had it connected to the web.]

Anyway…this is ######in’ me off, now. Everytime I have to set that machine up I break my new machine down, all in the same limited workspace. But at least I have the impetus to try it one more time.

mark4man

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The ‘trick’ at Experts Exchange is to NOT click on any link but to scroll down to the solution section. It is at the bottom of the very long page after all the ‘posts’ trying to get you to sign up. BTW, I find the answers very spotty there.

Joe

--Joe

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Joe & Doc…

HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew I should have stopped screwing around w/ this. I now have a HUGE problem…I CANNOT access my old machine…I deleted my old account, but my old account keeps coming up on a log on screen…asking me for a password…but my old one doesn’t work. Thing is…in safe mode…I was able to use the new account (my friend’s) to get in once. Now I’m really, really upset; & it’s very difficult for me to remember what I did.

I set-up the old machine, turned it on…& went to advanced user accounts. I deleted my old account (let’s call it MF, for reference). The other account was also there in that dialog, so I renamed it (to A1, for reference); & created a password. Then I rebooted; & an empty logon screen came up (where it doesn’t display any accounts, but asks you to click on a user…which is not there). So I look that up in the Bott/Siechert book; & it explains it; & tells the reader to log on using safe mode…so I did. A log on screen comes up in safe mode, w/ my friend’s account (A1), so I type in the password & it boots to the safe mode desktop. Then I went into advanced user accounts again, looking to clean out anything related to myself in order to sell this machine. I found a Microsoft .NET password; & deleted it. Then I rebooted.

Instead of the new A1 account coming up…my old account (MF) came up, asking me for a password. Now I panic; & try a bunch of maybes. None work. Then I remembered the one I cracked from Dell; & typed it in. The log on screen grayed out…like it was going to work…stayed that way for a while; & spit it back at me (saying the user name or password was incorrect). So I tried the new account’s user name (A1) & password…& the log on screen grayed out again for a long time; & spit it back at me.

I now CAN NOT access my old computer.

What do I do now?…I need to hack into my old PC & get things straightened out !!!

Please help…thanks,

mark4man

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You could try booting to safe mode and logging in to the Administrator account. If you have never set the password then it may just be blank.

If that doesn’t work then you can download a recovery tool from this site that will let you boot from a floppy disk and change your Administrator password.

StuartR

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I can’t do that…the only machine I have that contains a floppy drive is the old one (the one I can’t get into). It also looks really complicated; & right now my nerves are shaking really bad. man, this is really messed up.

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Are you able to log on in Safe Mode ??

If you can, you might try going into Control Panel>User Accounts and see if you can change the password for an existing account or, if that fails, try to create a new user account with administrator privledges.

If you have your XP installation CD (not an OEM CD) you might want to take a look at this site and see if the “hole” he talks about in XP can help you recover from your situation.

I’m assuming that you have saved all your personal data from the machine and that the only thing you stand to lose here, if any of this goes wrong, is the system configuration and perhaps some installed programs that can’t be recreated or reinstalled.

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[indent]

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Are you able to log on in Safe Mode ??

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[/indent]Nope.

[indent]

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I’m assuming that you have saved all your personal data from the machine and that the only thing you stand to lose here, if any of this goes wrong, is the system configuration and perhaps some installed programs that can’t be recreated or reinstalled.

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[/indent]Nope. Never assumed anything of this magnitude would happen (on a machine ready to go out the door).

What about my disks that came from Dell? I have the OS disk, as you referrenced…it’s an OEM “reinstallation” disk. I also have a disk that Dell calls their “Resource CD”…which the labels says contains diagnostics & utilities. Maybe I’ll put those in for a spin. [Went out & had some lunch…thinking a little more clearly, now.] Wonder if I can reset the password from the Resource or OS CD…I’ll check out your link, as well.

Thanks,

mark4man

UPDATE: had a look at that informational…even tho my disk is an OEM…I thinks that’s possible. hhhmmmm.

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Bad news…really BAD news. Tried rebooting from the installation CD; & I can’t get in without logging on. [Why the f is that?]

What can I do now? Nothing works. I can’t even do a repair w/o getting in as the administrator.

I guess I’m going to have to do a complete reinstallation of the OS. I’ve got the product key (Dell pastes it to the bottom of the tower.)

Backing up a bit…in hopes of another solution…but assuming now…as a last resort…since I can’t get in w/ the installation CD, all my options are gone, correct?

And I have to now do a complete reinstallation of the OS, correct?

How is that done if one cannot access the OS installation CD. Can the primary drive be reformatted from the BIOS? How does that work? What can I do now?

mark4man

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Have you changed the boot order in the BIOS? Change it so that your CD drive is the first item in the list. Save and exit. If the reinstallation disk in currently in the drive, it may boot from the CD, OR you may actually have to power down and then power up again before the CD boots.

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I’m not sure he wants to use the Dell reinstallation disk, John. That will format the HD and reinstall the system the way it was when it arrived from Dell. That’s why I brought up the subject of backup before we proceed. Although, I have a Dell 8250 (I’m on it now) and my XP CD is a straight-up XP install CD, I’m pretty sure I requested it when I placed the order.

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tried that, John…the BIOS won’t let me change the order. I can swap the order of the floppy & the C drive…but the CD-ROM stays at the bottom of the list. I CANNOT reboot from the Dell OS disk…I’ve tried it 7 ways to Sunday. I even went into boot setup & selected the CD-ROM…& IT WON’T BOOT FROM THE CD-ROM. The log on screen is overriding EVERYTHING. I HAVE to reformat (to get rid of everything related to the existing OS). Hopefully then the Dell OS disk will boot & I can do a clean reinstall. I’ve already resigned myself to loosing everything; & having to reload all the programs I was going to let him have for free.

BTW – I even tried the offline NT password editor (freebie)…burnt the CD-R & the whole 9 yards…& the account that continues to come up in the log on screen is not even in there…not on the list of sams from the registry…NOWHERE. So, something’s *terribly* wrong & it looks like a reformat/clean install is my last option. Just want to get started tonite (New Year’s Eve…yes…I have no life.

So…reformat first, right? how do I get started?

Thanks,

mark4man

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“something’s *terribly* wrong”
Yes – if the BIOS won’t let you change the boot order to order the CD as the first device, then I don’t know what to suggest. EVERY BIOS that I’m aware of allows this change. If it didn’t, then the CD drive wouldn’t even be included in the list. I’m sorry – I’m out of suggestions.

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Follow the instructions in the link Stuart provided in post 685,531

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I wonder if the account that comes up is simply the last account that had a successful login.

If you can run the password recovery utility then reset the Administrator password, boot into Safe Mode and create a brand new account with a new password for future logins.

StuartR

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Guys…

The Dell is back up & running (thanks in large part to the help received here…thanks!!!)

How I did it (the BIOS workaround) was to DISABLE the two other boot sequence options (floppy & C drive).

With that…the machine booted from the OS installation disk. So…first thing I attempted was a REPAIR. This was my first choice, as I had an informational detailing how to get into advanced user accounts at a certain point in the repair sequence. This was a “breech a Windows security hole” method…but when I tried it…the access to user accounts was denied.

So…now able to access the OS install disc, I performed a complete reformatting & reinstallation of the OS.

Then I reinstalled all the programs my friend wants.

But there’s one more weird thing happening:

At boot up…after the Dell BIOS screen flashes by…another safe mode looking screen comes up that reads: Please select the Operating System to start; & Windows XP Home Edition is listed twice (w/ the top choice selected). If I hit enter (or simply allow the time to run out), the machine boots to the desktop & all is fine.

In my reinstall sequence, there were two partitions listed. There was a smaller FAT32 partition; & then there was the primary drive itself ©, listed as NTFS. I deleted both partitions (to insure that all remnants of me were gone from the machine); & selected C for the reformatting (NTFS) & OS installation.

I went back into the BIOS to make sure I re-enabled the floppy & the C drive in the boot sequence…so I’m not sure what’s going on w/ this…never seen it before.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

mark4man

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To address the boot selection choice you will need to edit BOOT.INI, which lives in the root of your C: drive.

Please take great care when editing this file. You can find instructions here.

StuartR

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Thanks Stuart.

Someone told me that the dual listing indicates that I somehow mistakenly installed the new OS alongside the old OS (which resides on on a hidden partition)…which is also a recipe for disaster; & that I shouldn’t sell the computer in that state. I don’t think that’s the case because I deleted both partitions & then reformatted the drive prior to the install. So my question is…is editing the boot.ini file (& I’m assuming it’s as simple as deleting that 2nd OS entry) enough? Is there a way to find out if that 2nd listing is in fact on a hidden partition?

Thanks,

mark4man

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Mark,

Post a copy of your BOOT.INI and we should be able to tell you what the two entries point to.

StuartR

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nah, not necessary…

Edited it myself, manually (tried the bootcfg /delete/ ID# command prompt thing…per Windows’ instructions…didn’t work). Opened up the actual file & simply removed the second OS entry & saved it (see below). The Dell works fine now…boots up just like it used to. All is well…the machine now goes out the door.

Thanks everybody,

mark4man

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition” /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition” /fastdetect
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[deleted bottom line]

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Whew!!!! Good thing you did not know it was going to be this complicated.

Joe

--Joe

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Glad you ironed out all the kinks.

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That boot.ini points to two different partitions, both on the same physical disk. You are booting from the first one but it looks as though there may be a separate installation in a second partition.

I suggest looking in Disk Management to see what partitions there are on this disk.

StuartR

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That’s one of the first places I went after I came back up (from the install). Only one solid volume there ©…no extraneous partitions.

When I got back to work today, I had a look at Disk Management on my office workstation (also a Dell) to help me remember. There’s an EISA configured FAT32 partition there of 49 MB. So now that I think about it, that’s originally what I had on the Dell in question, only it was smaller (37 MB). Gone now, tho.

Thanks,

mark4man

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Here is my guess at what has happened here.

You only have a single installation of Windows.
When you deleted the small extra partition, Windows moved from the second partition to the first one, requiring the new line in BOOT.INI

StuartR

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Follow Rebel’s instructions about resetting the boot order in the Bios. You’re not booting to the CD if you are being asked for your password. But be aware that unless you’re certain that the CD is a straight up installation CD and not an OEM “Restore CD” it could format the drive and restore the computer to the way it was when it first arrived back in ’03.

Once you get the system setup to boot to the CD first, I’d suggest that you print out the instructions for exploiting that “hole” in XP that I sent you the link to and then follow them step-by-step to recover or change your password.

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how do I reinstall the whole OS? (I may as well just do that)

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> how do I reinstall the whole OS?

Try following the instructions here. Note that this will wipe ALL of your programs and just leave a basic operating system.

StuartR

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