BleepingComputer.com: Changing user names

My girlfriend and I purchased a computer last year and she got it set up in her name. Every time I install something it has her name on it. She has now moved on and I would like to remove her from the computer. Is this possible without having to go through the set up process again? Please advise on the steps to take. It is a Dell computer with bundled software. Thanks for any help.

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CHANGING THE LICENSED OWNERS NAME IN YOUR COMPUTER

Let's say you inherit a computer from someone else and it has their name and/or organization listed as the licensed owner in Windows and now, it's yours, so you want to change this. Navigate your way to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\ Current Version.

(navigate by doubleclicking each of these.) In the right pane, you'll see RegisteredOrganization and RegisteredOwner in the Name column. Right-click the one you want to change, select Modify, and on the Value Data line of the resulting dialog box, type the correct information. Click OK, repeat these steps for the other value, if desired, and close the Registry Editor

http://www.allpostnews.co.uk/i12/Change%20...%20settings.php

If you have a separate profile already set up for yourself, then it seems that copying the settings from former owner to new owner's profile...and then deleting the former owner's profile...should take care of it. Just treat the old profile as if it's corrupt/damaged.

Copy Data from a Corrupted User Profile to a New Profile in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151

Louis

A long time ago I did the things that were mentioned in the first reply but it did not change anything other than the name that showed in System Properties. I also changed the name of the user account but everything else, such as the name used for the user in Documents and Settings stayed in the previous name.

I just now tried doing the things mentioned in the reply by Louis but it is really a hassle and even though the majority of the items in the profile were able to be copied over, many things did not change. Many of the system settings still needed to be manually changed. Other than installed programs still being there, it is almost like starting over with a fresh install and just copying files over from a backup disk.

Even when being logged on in the new users name, I cannot copy certain things from the previous profile, things other than the files that article said not to try to copy. While using the other name, I tried just changing the name of the original profile and it won't let me do that either, it said that it was in use and could not be changed and since so many things did not change upon copying the profile over, I am too afraid to try to delete it.

I am also a little concerned about what will happen to the registry if the user name that has been used since the computer was made is deleted.

Lucky for me, my system was originally my dads so I can live with the name not being changed, otherwise, at this point, after trying that other stuff, I would opt for reformatting and starting over. Although, now that I say that, I guess if I was really determined to change the name, doing all the stuff that was suggested in the reply by Louis might not seem like that big of a deal, lol

This post has been edited by Stang777: 21 May 2009 - 05:33 AM