Resolved from XP network machine to standalone

Hi duub. Since you obtained an office computer that was probably on a domain you should make sure that the computer is a member of a Workgroup and not a Domain.

To do this click Start< Right click My Computer and click Properties. Click the Computer Name Tab and then click the Change button. Now select the option that allows the computer to be a member of a Workgroup. Name the Workgroup whatever name you wish. When done click ok to close the window.

Now moving onto your firewall issue. To clear local Group Policy settings for the Windows Firewall, use the Local Computer Policy snap-in and set all the settings in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections\Windows Firewall and in the Domain Profile and Standard Profile folders to Not Configured.

To do this click Start< Run and type gpedit.msc and hit enter. Navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections\Windows Firewall. Double click on the Domain Profile folder and right click on each setting, click Edit, and make sure all firewall settings are set to Not Configured. Then click the Back arrow and double click on the Standard Profile folder and repeat the process.

When done close the Group Policy Editor and reboot the computer.

 

Start in Safe Mode, logon as Administrator. The password is either blank or you must obtain it from the IT guys at work. Once logged in, create a new user account and that will be your login.

 

If changing from the Domain to a Workgroup allowed you to change the Windows Firewall settings then no you don't have to follow the instructions that I posted above.

Take a look here, How to create and configure user accounts in Windows XP.

Click Start< My Computer. The files should be under this directory: C:/Documents and Settings/user name/Desktop.

 

These file belong to the old account. They exist in the location Evan showed you in his above post.

However, you may or may not be able to use any of those files until you take ownership of them.

How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP

 

If you want to free up disk space follow these steps:

1. Click Start< Control Panel< Add/Remove Programs and uninstall any programs that you don't use.
2. While in the Add/Remove programs window click the button that says Add/Remove Windows Components and uncheck the checkboxes next to Indexing Service, MSN Explorer, and Windows Messenger. Then click the Next button. When the wizard finishes click the finish button to close the window. 3. Download and run ATF Cleaner. Save the program to your desktop. Run the program and when it opens select all the checkboxes in the program then hit the empty selected button. Download it from here, ATF Cleaner.
4. Run Disk Cleanup. Click Start< All Programs< Accessories< Sytstem Tools< Disk Cleanup. When its done calculating how much free space you can save make sure you check all the checkboxes except for compress old files on the Disk Cleanup tab. Now click the More Options tab and under System Restore click the cleanup button. When it asks you if you want to delete all but the most recent restore point click Yes. Now click ok on the Disk Cleanup window to allow Disk Cleanup to remove unnecessary files from the computer.
5. Download and run Auslogics Disk Defrag. Make sure to uncheck any toolbars in the installtion wizard as they are not needed. After the installation finishes, open the program. When you open the program click on Settings< Defrag Priority and select High Priority. Then click on Settings< Program Settings< Algorithms Tab. Select the Delete temporary files before defragmenting checkbox and select the Move system files to the beginning on the disk checkbox. When done click Ok to close the Settings window. When you are ready to start the defragmentation process select the small down arrow next to the word Defrag and select Defrag and Optimize. The process could take a long time so please be patient. Download it from here, Auslogics Disk Defrag.
6. Also backup and transfer any personal files to external harddrives or USB drives and then remove the copies of those files from your harddrive to free up disk space.

 

No Problem. So is this thread resolved or do you have any other questions?

 

Thanks for the update.

Since this issue is now resolved, please mark this thread as 'Resolved'.