HiI have an old Laptop that I am passing on to my Grand Daughter and want to remove all traces of previous user accounts before doing so. It has Windows XP SP2 (the hardware won't permit SP3).There are folders in the Documents and Settings Folder relating to users no longer in the system (ie they do not appear in the Control Panel>User Accounts).How can I get rid of these previous User Accounts (including the current one) and the set up a new user account for her. Eric1 person needs an answerI do too

The hardware won't permit Windows XP with SP3... I *seriously* doubt that to be true. Please give the make/model of the laptop and the "hardware" that won't allow it to be updated to SP3. Then backup anything important to you. Copy it all off the system. Make sure you get any emails, contacts, music, pictures, documents, spreadsheets, databases, etc and so on. Whatever you miss, it'll be gone for good. If possible - use an external disk/network disk and some imaging application to make an image of the entire computer. That way - you won't miss anything. Get all the installation media together. Windows XP installation CD, the product key, any other products you have bought and will be giving away with it, etc. You should download all of the most current hardware device drivers for the laptop (another reason to give the make/model of the laptop so we can help there) before you go any further and store them on some other media separate from the laptop. You should also make sure of the list of software you have ready to install - along with their product keys/serial numbers - and have that installation media/executables in a separate place as well. An easy way to get a good list of the hardware/software installed is the free Belarc Advisor (http://www.belarc.com/) - download, install, run and print out the resulting pages. It will list some products and product keys (serial numbers) so you know what software you will need to have installation media/executables for. It will list the hardware installed in the system so you know what hardware device drivers you will need to get from the manufacturer(s) web page(s). Download SP2 and SP3 for Windows XP and have those on external media as well. Next - format it and install Windows XP cleanly. While you could remove old accounts, etc - it will be better for everyone in the long run if it is a clean install and actually just belongs (completely) to your grand daughter. Would also be wiser to have it updated to service pack 3 (no - I still don't see any reason it cannot be SP3 - AFAIK - there is not going to be a hardware limitation that would stop you from being able to install SP3.) Once Windows XP is installed - install Service Pack 2 (if your CD did not include it) followed by Service Pack 3. Then - install the hardware device drivers. Motherboard chipset, video device(s), audio device(s), network device(s), bluetooth(if it has it), etc. You may even want to update the BIOS (not really something you have to be concerned with the OS for most of the time - but not a bad idea if alreay doing all the rest. Make sure it stays plugged into power/fully charged during all of that. Now that you have a fully working Windows XP with Service Pack 3 and all device drivers and such - now make sure the Windows XP Firewall is enabled, No Exceptions for that, and connect the system to the Internet. Check for Windows Updates (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com), install everything you find. There will be many. 80+ at least. Take as many reboots and recheck as it needs to get every single Critical update at least - and look through the optional. Do *NOT* get any of the hardware drivers at this time. Always get your hardware drivers from the manufacturer of said product. Microsoft likely did not make and thus does not directly support whatever hardware you have. Once you have all the hardware drivers installed, Windows XP Firewall enabled (no exceptions) and Windows XP fully updated and patched - now install a decent AntiVirus software. Avira AntiVir is a good free one. eSet NOD32 (AntiVirus only) is a good pay one. Set them to automatically update. You may want to go ahead and install MalwareBytes as well. The free version if you just want to be able to cleanup after infestations or check periodically (manually) to make sure it stays clean OR better yet - pay the $30 U.S. and get active AntiMalware Protection to run alongside the AntiVirus protection. With eSet NOD 32 (AntiVirus only) and MalwareBytes (pay) - I seldom see infestations/infections despite the users habits. It happens (because the human factor overrides everything) - but less often. Now you have a system that is fully updated, clean, and protected. My suggestion is to keep the account you have been using as a backup and now create a regular user account for your grand daughter to use on a daily basis. This account should have regular user priviledges (not administrator) - that will protect the computer even more and make her think about things a liottle more before installing them because she will have to log off/log on as the other account to do so at the very least. Once you create the other account, log off and test it, then log back in with your administrative account and install whatever other software you will need/want.-- Shenan Stanley MS-MVP --How To Ask Questions The Smart Wayhttp://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html