Wrong name appears when locking XP
I gave an older Dell computer to a friend who needed a PC. I uninstalled all of my apps and docs and then set up their apps and transferred their docs from the old PC to mine using the files and settings transfer wizard. Everything works fine. I set up user accounts for them, security levels, network settings, etc. There is a glitch, however: the friend would like to be able to lock the PC so that when she's not using it, her kids have no access to it. When the Windows Logo key + L is pressed, the login name still appears with my name. I thought, OK, maybe it's because I showed up as the registered user. So I went into the registry and changed the registered user name to theirs. Still no change. I have a feeling that it has to do with the default administrator account that was set up when Windows XP was installed. I'm really stumped as to how I can change the name so that it appears with theirs. If I try to change the name to their account (administrative privileges) with the proper password, Windows remains locked. Am I correct that it has to do with the default admin account at setup? If so, is there a registry edit that I can use to change the information? After going through all of the reinstallation of apps and docs, I would hate to have to backup the docs (many, many files, pix, and music) to reinstall Windows from scratch. Any help is greatly apppreciated.1 person got this answerI do too
March 21st, 2010 8:05pm

No, you are not correct about the built-in Administrator account. What happened is that you created the first user account (which is not the built-in Administrator) with your name. Then when you gave the computer to your friend, instead of correctly doing a clean install of Windows, you just renamed your user account to hers. You cannot change a user account name like that; it will make a cosmetic change only and the files/folders of the profile will remain as originally set up. Create a new, correctly-named user account and copy the files/settings from the old one to hers. 1. Log on as a user other than the user whose profile you are copying files to or from. 2. In Windows Explorer, click Tools, click Folder Options, click the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders, click to clear the Hide protected operating system files check box, and then click OK. 3. Locate the C:\Documents and Settings\Old_Username folder, where C is the drive on which Windows XP is installed, and Old_Username is the name of the profile you want to copy user data from. 4. Press and hold down the CTRL key while you click each file and subfolder in this folder, except the following files: * Ntuser.dat * Ntuser.dat.log * Ntuser.ini 5. On the Edit menu, click Copy. 6. Locate the C:\Documents and Settings\New_Username folder, where C is the drive on which Windows XP is installed, and New_Username is the name of the user profile that you created in the "Create a New User Profile" section. 7. On the Edit menu, click Paste. 8. Log off the computer, and then log on as the new user. Note: You must import your e-mail messages and addresses to the new user profile before you delete the old profile. For additional information see 313055 OLEXP: Mail Folders, Address Book, and E-mail Messages Are Missing After You Upgrade to Microsoft Windows XP MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
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March 22nd, 2010 2:36pm

Thanks so much. Will do that tomorrow. I should have done a clean install, but had too many other things going on in my life that have taken presidence and this was the easier way since I had antivirus and other apps already set up for her. I appreciate the step-by-step instructions. Sincerely, Miaclockman
March 24th, 2010 3:04am

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