Hi,
I found a dell pc in the dumpster that works. It has XP pro on it, 40 G hd,
and although everything works, it's a bit slow because it only has 128 MB of
ram in it. All personal data had been removed from it, so the My Docs
folder is empty. Is there a way to replace the user name that is in it
with my daughter's? I don't mean change the account name in the accounts
part of the control panal, I mean the one that XP has in it that comes up
when you boot and asks for a password. It isn't password protected, but it
stops at a password screen and then you have to push enter to get to the
desktop.
I was thinking I could run regedit, search for the name, and then replace it
with Shirly's. Would that work?
Thanks,
Mike
> Hi,
> I found a dell pc in the dumpster that works. It has XP pro on it, 40 G hd,
> and although everything works, it's a bit slow because it only has 128 MB of
> ram in it. All personal data had been removed from it, so the My Docs
> folder is empty. Is there a way to replace the user name that is in it
> with my daughter's? I don't mean change the account name in the accounts
> part of the control panal, I mean the one that XP has in it that comes up
> when you boot and asks for a password. It isn't password protected, but it
> stops at a password screen and then you have to push enter to get to the
> desktop.
> I was thinking I could run regedit, search for the name, and then replace it
> with Shirly's. Would that work?
> Thanks,
> Mike
Best if you get the Product Key from the computer and if you have a XP pro
CD you can install on clean installation.
It is best to do this you don't know what the previous owner having behaving
on this machine or what He/She may have on the Hidden sectors?.
But make sure the Machine not OEM product, if it is then it is your call!.
Here some info on how to create a new profile and you can delete the old
one(s)
How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151
HTH.
nass
------- www.nasstec.co.uk
Don't bother trying to rename, just go to control panel, users and create
new accounts and delete the old ones. I would highly recommend a format and
reinstall, you never know where this came from, could have been owned by
someone the police are looking at for kiddie **** or something.
"~~single~~" <alik@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:eIsqcXhTIHA.5288@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
> I found a dell pc in the dumpster that works. It has XP pro on it, 40 G
> hd, and although everything works, it's a bit slow because it only has 128
> MB of ram in it. All personal data had been removed from it, so the My
> Docs folder is empty. Is there a way to replace the user name that is in
> it with my daughter's? I don't mean change the account name in the
> accounts part of the control panal, I mean the one that XP has in it that
> comes up when you boot and asks for a password. It isn't password
> protected, but it stops at a password screen and then you have to push
> enter to get to the desktop.
> I was thinking I could run regedit, search for the name, and then replace
> it with Shirly's. Would that work?
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
A reinstall is a good idea, but alternatively, type "control userpasswords2"
into a run.. box, select the desired account, and untick "Users must enter a
password.." Then you won't see the prompt again.
Renaming a useraccount is problematic, and best avoided, which is why I
setup all nondomain computers with an account called 'user.' Then if it
changes hands.. no problems.
how re-name primary account? 
Linear Mode
