How to change "joe blow's documents" to "jane doe's...

Hi All,

I was the middle man for a computer purchase for a friend. The store installed XP and used my name - so now it says, "Steve's documents" all over the place. These places it says my name, they aren't 'right clickable' in the sense that they can't be changed that way.

Is there some way I can change the name entry in the registry? My friend would really rather see "Laurie's computer" and such...

Would that latest Tweak UI program do that? I don't run XP, so unfortunately I can't try...

Thanks for the hints,

Best,
Steve

 

You know, XP has this way of only wanting one person using, if you try to change anything like that, XP will probably assume your friend is using the software illegally and lock her out. XP also has a way to spying on you, crashing, and generally corrupting over time. I suggest you do your friend a real favor and format the hard drive.

Once done, install Linux for her if she has half a brain, and Win2K if she dosn't.

BDBD

 

Alternatively, ignore the idiotic comments above and modify the RegisteredOwner and RegisteredOrganization strings in this key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]

If you prefer, you can use this file to make the changes.

 

Now now, no need to be insulting. I know many people who switched to Linux from XP and are VERY happy with it. Its just that it requires a little more computer knowledge than most people have. It can do just about whatever XP can, and more. Alterntively, I know many people who have switched from Win2K to XP, just to go back again. People who were unimpressed with XPs lack of stability and outright pushing its Activation on people who never asked for that in an OS. I'm not talking about average users either, I'm talking about professional programmers. And the question people ask is: what do I need XP for? What can it do for me that I can't do with my last OS? The answer is: Lock you out if you change the hardware! You call that innovation?

BDBD

 

Read this thread and you'll see that I'm not a fan of Windows. However, suggesting a format and a switch of OS in response to a simple question really is not helpful.

 

Maybe you havn't tried RedHat 8.0 yet, or Mandrake 9.0. Linux has come a long way since RH6.2. Doing simple tasks is as simple as in Windows now. The transition could be very simple to someone who has a bit more than an average users experience. Now you gave 2 points as to why you switched. 1.) the kids wanted games. Now, using Wine, and Winex, windows games can be run on Linux. Not every game, but most of them, and perhaps all of them in the near future. As far as falling behind in school goes, if your kids can get it done on Linux, they should be able to get it done on Windows no problem. 2) Office formats. Open Office for Linux has been released, and it supports Windows file formats. I've been using it for just that all week. It works. Its very stable. But it is not as fast as MS Office. It never freezes or anything, but still dosn't quite have MS Office's speed. But, this is not enough to compel one to use Windows.

The reason I tell people to switch is that the story by the first poster your link is all too common. I do agree that maybe switching OSes to kill off a problem with the user name is a bit extreme, but I also think such a move may just be best in the long run. Installing a new OS really only takes about an hour.

BDBD

 

HI There,

you wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Alternatively, ignore the idiotic comments above and modify the RegisteredOwner and RegisteredOrganization strings in this key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Thank you very much for the tip. When I do that, is that going to change the actual folder name? Is the machine going to look for c:\steves documents\file.doc and roll over when \steves documents aren't there?

(To the fellow who suggested the reformat of the hard drive: How much time do you have, surfing a forum where you have nothing helpful or constructive to say? I think people posting here are looking for help with XP, not advice on which OS to use. )

 

Which version of XP is it?

 

XP Home

 

The above steps will change only the registered owner and not the names attached to any folders and, AFAIK, there’s no easy way to change these. What I think you’ll need to do (and I’m not using an XP machine at present so cannot put this to the test) is to create a new account in the correct name and then, using a third account, copy over the existing profile into that new account.

HTH.