XP Home - Changing the name of user accounts and admin acc..

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin (More info?)

This article describes how to take ownership of a file or folder
to which you have been denied access:

How to Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&Product=winxp

How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151&Product=winxp

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/defaul...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Atisavn" wrote:

| Equipment description:
|
| Dell Dimension 8200
| Windows XP Home Edition SP2
| Non-Networked just connected to DSL Internet connection.
|
| My sister-in -law's husband just recently passed away, he was the one who
| looked after all the settings and installs on their computer. My
| brother-in-law must have changed the name of the administrator account
| because we can't log on as it and administrator does not show up in the
| documents and settings folder. She tried to change the name of the user
| account from his to hers by using the "change user name" feature. This
| worked in so much as it changed the name on the log on screen but nothing
| else, when you look for it in users in control panel only his name, another
| user(which I assume is the administrator), and guest appear. It did however
| create another folder in her Documents and settings folder with the new name,
| the original user name's folder remained. There is another folder there
| which I assume to be the administrator account, but when I click on it I get
| an error message stating that access is denied. The problem is that when she
| utilizes certain applications(MS Outlook, Word etc) it automatically places
| the original user name into things which frustrates her to no end. Also,
| other applications give her error messages stating that they can't find the
| proper folder to store stuff in (My Docs). Basically I want to start fresh
| with regards to the user accounts but not have to wipe out her hard drive and
| reload everything! Is there a simple way of doing this? I realize that
| there are SID's invloved but there must be a way!!! I have tried a few
| things I know how to do with XP Pro, but alas the two versions are just not
| the same in this respect! How do I reset the main admin account? I even
| tried setting up a new user with admin privileges but I still can't access
| the two folders in documents and settings that have admin rights with out
| getting the access denied error. Looking at some of the help questions on
| microsoft's website I was led to believe that I could rename these folders
| in this manner or delete them.
|
| Help!!!!!

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin (More info?)

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> This article describes how to take ownership of a file or folder
> to which you have been denied access:
>
> How to Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&Product=winxp
>
> How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151&Product=winxp
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
>
> Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/defaul...
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Atisavn" wrote:
>
> | Equipment description:
> |
> | Dell Dimension 8200
> | Windows XP Home Edition SP2
> | Non-Networked just connected to DSL Internet connection.
> |
> | My sister-in -law's husband just recently passed away, he was the one who
> | looked after all the settings and installs on their computer. My
> | brother-in-law must have changed the name of the administrator account
> | because we can't log on as it and administrator does not show up in the
> | documents and settings folder. She tried to change the name of the user
> | account from his to hers by using the "change user name" feature. This
> | worked in so much as it changed the name on the log on screen but nothing
> | else, when you look for it in users in control panel only his name, another
> | user(which I assume is the administrator), and guest appear. It did however
> | create another folder in her Documents and settings folder with the new name,
> | the original user name's folder remained. There is another folder there
> | which I assume to be the administrator account, but when I click on it I get
> | an error message stating that access is denied. The problem is that when she
> | utilizes certain applications(MS Outlook, Word etc) it automatically places
> | the original user name into things which frustrates her to no end. Also,
> | other applications give her error messages stating that they can't find the
> | proper folder to store stuff in (My Docs). Basically I want to start fresh
> | with regards to the user accounts but not have to wipe out her hard drive and
> | reload everything! Is there a simple way of doing this? I realize that
> | there are SID's invloved but there must be a way!!! I have tried a few
> | things I know how to do with XP Pro, but alas the two versions are just not
> | the same in this respect! How do I reset the main admin account? I even
> | tried setting up a new user with admin privileges but I still can't access
> | the two folders in documents and settings that have admin rights with out
> | getting the access denied error. Looking at some of the help questions on
> | microsoft's website I was led to believe that I could rename these folders
> | in this manner or delete them.
> |
> | Help!!!!!
>
>

Thanks,
I will try that the next time I am able to get access to her machine. I was
trying to do this remotely, but it looks like I will have to go on locally to
do this.