General Discussion - Windows XP Question

Author

Windows XP Question

Varder

2005-07-29, 2:41 pm

Hi,

I have a brand new notebook with xp professional installed that was originally going to be used by someone else. The computer was setup under another name. Now that person has decided to use something else. Only the OS was installed no apps etc..

I went into the registry and changed the registered owner's name in there with no problem. I renamed the account of the person that was created upon installing the oem OS on the notebook. All that went fine, except in

C: Documents and Settings there is a folder created called C: Documents and Settings/username(the name of the original user is there)

That folder cannot be renamed or deleted because it is a system file and contains all the user settings.

My question is what is the easiest way to get rid of that folder and create a new one under the new users name?

The thought occurred to me to create another user in the administrator's group. Then log in as that person and delete the original account and it's related SID, but will that also delete the C: Documents and Settings/username folder and just leave the folder created under the new admin name?

I would prefer not to tinker anymore in the registry. Does my idea seem feasible or will the OS still not allow that folder to be deleted because it is a system file?

Any help would be greatly apptreciated.

Thanks.....

P.S. Is there anything else I need to do to remove this person's name from the computer completely?

thecomeons

2005-07-29, 6:26 pm

try to boot in safemode, go in as admin, then to control panel and the users applet

Varder

2005-07-29, 6:29 pm

Will that allow me to rename or delete that folder and create a new one using my name?

I thought it would still be a problem because it is a system folder......

acruth7284

2005-07-29, 10:10 pm

Well the easiest way would be to make a new administrator and then delete the account. If you can't do this because of registry changes, then delete folder in Documents and Settings with another administrator account. If it says you do not have permission, go to the folders property, then the Security tab, click the Advanced button, go to the owners tab, select your user and check the check box and click Apply. Now you should have the appropriate permissions t delete the folder.

curiousgeorge

2005-07-30, 12:41 am

I agree with Acruth. All you have to do is create a new administrator account, log on as the new account, delete the other folder in Docs and Settings, log back on as the original admin so it will create a new profile, then delete the second admin account and delete the second admin's profile in Docs and Settings.

I've had to do that dozens of times.

Varder

2005-07-30, 1:55 pm

Thanks guys.....

So are you saying to create a new account in the admins group. Let's say the account I am trying to remove is A, and I create a new admin account called B.

Are you saying to first log in as B go to C: Documents and Settings/A and delete the A folder and then delete the entire A account?

Wouldn't going in as admin B and then going straight to deleting the A account also remove the C: Documents and Settings/A folder, since the SID would be deleted or must I go in and delete the C: Documents and Settings/A folder before deleting the A account?

By the way if in my first attempt at this I renamed the A account with my name(which I did). Is it better to rename the account back to the original owners name first before going in there? I suspect it wouldn't matter because the computer only really cares about the associated SID and not the name. Is that correct?

Thanks so much people. Is there anywhere else I need to go to completely remove the original owner's name from the machine or will removing the account and modifying the registered owners name in the registry as I did, take care of it?

Thanks......

acruth7284

2005-07-30, 7:59 pm

I would recommend trying to remove the account the correct way first. If this does not work, and this could be the case because you have messed with the registry, than go ahead and just get rid of the folder. In this case there will still be stuff in the registry, but the disk space will be salvaged.

Varder

2005-07-31, 1:01 pm

Okay thanks. I will try to first remove the account the regular way. I did not really tweak the registry that much just modified the registered owners name. I don't think that would affect anything because it should have nothing to do with the accounts on the machine. I can always go back and change it to the original registered owner and delete the account too, but I think it doesn't mattter.

What is important is getting the machine to recognize and delete the SID for the account and hopefully it will remove the floder along with it. I am trying to do as little as possible not to screw things up more on this brand new notebook.

Thanks.....

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