If anyone sees any mistakes here, or if anyone wants to suggest a clarification, please let me know and I’ll edit this original post RENAME A USERNAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS DUE TO MARRIAGE OR DIVORCE This is a step-by-step instruction document to change (rename) a username and email address after a marriage or divorce. The challenge of the username and email address change is that it requires changes on the server in Windows Server and Exchange Server software, and it also requires changes on the client PC in Windows XP and Microsoft Outlook Your site may vary, so you may need to add, modify or eliminate some steps below, but you can use this document as a guide to get you started. These steps worked successfully with Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003, Exchange Server 2007 and Windows XP clients PCs using Microsoft Office. Let’s be clever and say that user “Isabella Single” got married, and her new name is now “Isabella Married”. Old username was “isingle” and new username is “imarried”. Her old email was isingle@thecompany.com and now her new email is imarried@thecompany.com First, make all your changes for Windows SBS Server 2003 (or your version of Windows) Log on to your Windows SBS Server as Administrator Open Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) Start> Programs> Administrative Tools> Active Directory Users and Computers (or use the shortcut if you have one on your desktop) On left side, choose “Users” and on right side, right-click the old username “isingle” Choose “Rename”. The software may let you type the new name “imarried” right there in the list, or it may open a “Rename Window” where you can change “Isabella Single” to “Isabella Married”. Change “isingle” to “imarried” and change isingle@thecompany.com to imarried@thecompany.com Right-click on username “imarried”, choose “Properties” On the General tab change isingle@thecompany.com to imarried@thecompany.com On the Profile tab change the profile path, if any (mine was blank) Change the Home Folder. Our network uses a server named “america” and a folder called “Home” and then usernames, so my site looked like this Before said Connect H: to \\america\home\isingle (that’s \\server\folder\folder) After said Connect H: to \\america\home\imarried (that’s \\server\folder\folder) Now, stop what you’re doing and log on to server America, browse to the folder Home, browse to the folder “isingle”, right-click and choose rename, rename the folder to “imarried”. If you don’t do it now, make a big note to do it later. On the Member Of tab Leave everything as is On the Attribute Editor tab Choose “apply all changes” Scroll through the list If the home directory still has “isingle”, choose Edit and change it to “imarried” LegacyExchangeDn – leave that as “isingle” Proxy address – leave that as “isingle” Look for the attribute named “objectSID’ and write that number on a piece of paper for later Close Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) Second, make all your changes for Exchange Server 2007 (or your version of Exchange) Open Exchange Server Management Console Start> Programs> Microsoft Exchange Server 2007> Exchange Management Console (or use the shortcut if you have one on your desktop) In Exchange Management Console, do these steps: On the left, expand Recipient Configuration Choose Mailbox> imarried> (right-click) Properties> Email address tab SMTP still had isingle@thecompany.com, so highlight it, choose Edit , Change to imarried@thecompany.com, choose OK X400 still had “isingle” so highlight it, choose Edit , Change LastName to “Married”, leave FirstName as “Isabella”, choose OK Choose Add to add back isingle@thecompany.com as the secondary email address so she’ll get emails sent to either email address Choose OK On the left, expand Organization Configuration, choose Mailbox On the right, under Default Offline Address list, choose Update> yes Close Exchange Server Manager on the server Third, make all your changes for the Windows XP client PC Log on to the client PC as ADMINISTRATOR (don’t log on as old username isingle and don’t log on as new username imarried) Backup the registry before you make any changes: 1. Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and then click OK. 2. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Create a restore point, and then click Next . 3. On the Create a Restore Point page, type a name for the restore point and then click Create 4. After the restore point has been created, click Close. Rename the user profile folder: Browse to C:\Documents and Settings\isingle Right-click on the folder, choose Rename Rename the folder to C:\Documents and Settings\imarried Change the Profile Image Path in the Registry: Start> Run> regedt32 Expand to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ ProfileList Select the correct SID that you wrote down previously when you noted it from ADUC above In the right-pane, double-click the ProfileImagePath value and change the profile path to C:\Documents and Settings\imarried Close Registry Editor, and restart Windows. Did you already rename the home folder \\america\home\isingle to \\america\home\imarried ? If you didn’t, then stop what you’re doing now and log on to server America, browse to the folder Home, browse to the folder “isingle”, right-click and choose rename, rename the folder to “imarried Log on to the Client PC as new username imarried Everything on the Desktop should look the same as it did under the old username Change the Outlook profile information Choose Start> Settings> Control Panel> Mail Choose Email Accounts> Change email account Change Isabella Single to Isabella Married, and change isingle@thecompany.com to imarried@thecompany.com DISCLAIMER: I didn’t write down good notes for this part, so it’s not genuine “step-by-step”. I’m sorry! Open Outlook. You may get error windows indicating that the paths could not be found. If so, change the pathnames from C:\Documents and Settings\isingle\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook To C:\Documents and Settings\imarried\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Instruct everyone in your organization to download the new Offline Address Book in their own Outlook: Tools> Send\Receive > Download Address Book> OK

Sending a reply to this so I can mark the original post as "answered"

Rebecca, in a domain with roaming profiles where users may login to ANY PC it is not possible to chase down all computers they may have used and make local changes on a PC. I would suggest your directions are somewhat an overkill and in some cases impossible to act on and unrealistic. Your third item would be impossible to carry out in a domain with roaming user profiles and unnecessary in a domain I believe. I have never read where you need to make local changes on a PC when making changes for AD. Third, make all your changes for the Windows XP client PC Not possible in a domain environment with roaming profiles. Your suggestions may work for you but you should not have ANY need to make changes on the local PC if your domain is setup correctly.

Rebecca, My experience is the opposite of CJlindell and I was thrilled to run across your post. I may be in for a long haul because I didn't find it FIRST and now will deal with the situation you described in your earlier post - all sorts of headaches. For many small businesses, users are married to their work stations and this post will prove very helpful! Thanks for taking time to document it all!