In trouble again! Need your expertise guys!

six-h

Distinguished Member
Hi Guys, hope you are all well!:smile:
I'm just tidying up an old machine that I've brought back to life before giving it to someone who'll appreciate it! :smile:
I've not had the time to do a re-install, but it's running reasonably well with XP Home SP 3 I've just had to sort out a few driver issues, and have also removed all traces of the previous owner, for the sake of both parties.

My problem is that there were originally three accounts in existance, one Pasword protected Admin (Name: Shelly) and two unprotected user accounts.
I've managed to delete the user accounts, though one was a pig to get rid of!
The Admin account, I have just changed the Name to "Rick" who will be the new owner, and removed Shelly's photo replacing it with one of the default pictures.

I thought that I had thoroughly "de-personalised" it......until I took a look at Task manager.....all processes are still being attributed to the user name "Shelly"!:S
How do I eradicate this?
I expect it will require me to somehow "edit" the Admin profile, so how do I do that? :huh:
 
You wont be able to without a reinstall. The name change is only cosmetic. The folders, files and processes will still be shown as run by "Shelly" since that is what they were originally set to.
 
The best thing to do here is to create a new user profile for the administrator and delete the old one (instead of renaming Shelly to Rick).
 
Thanks Mak 2.0, thought there might be a registry hack...(If I was brave enough!)

I think that Mahmoud's suggestion is probably the most painless way to go. (Thanks Mahmoud!)
I'll try that but not looking forward to customising it from scratch!
Is there maybe some way of "porting" the settings from the "Shelby" account to the new "Rick" account, rather than having to completely re-configure it?
 
Hey! Mak 2.0, that looks very likely!
Can I ask your opinion on this part of the instructions.

Copy files to the new user profile
  1. Log on as a user other than the user whose profile you are copying files to or from.
Having created the new Admin Account in Rick's name, is this telling me I need to create yet another admin level account just to move the settings....presumably I could then delete that account?

Also, are the references to "Domain" and "Workgroup" computers likely to be significant?


Addendum:


That help and support link sounded very promising but unless I have done something wrong, (which is highly likely!), then it doesn't seem to work:-

In order to carry out the transfer from Admin "Shelly" to a New Admin Account "Rick" I deduce that I must first create the target Admin account "Rick".
I will also need another Admin level account, say,"Geoff" as the vehicle to transfer the requesite files from "Shelly" to "Rick".

Then afterwards, just to tidy up, Logged in as "Rick" comlpete with all settings transferred, I can delete both "Geoff" and the original "Shelly" accounts, leaving just the Admin account "Rick", which will then be the only user listed in Task Manager.

Sounds simple but it fell at the first hurdle!
C:\Docs & Settings has a selection of "User" files:- Owner, Default User, All Users, Administrator (Presumably this one is the one you use when in Safe Mode).
The only "Named" user accounts seem to be "Geoff" which I was using at the time, and "Rick" inside which is nested "Shelly".
There seems to be no trace of the additional "Rick" admin account I set up to receive the settings from the original "Shelly" Admin Account.

I don't want to damage the current installation, so do you have any ideas?
 
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You need to create the account and at least log into them once to create their user profile folders. After that you use the Shell account "Geoff" to transfer the files.
 
What you can do is backup your docs, pics & other items of importance, and do a total reinstall, if you have either a reinstall disc, retail disc or recovery partition. It would be best to download the drivers for your computer from the OEM, unless your already have a driver disc. Even if you do have a driver disc, I'm positive that there's been many updates, but it would get you going.

Todo has a free backup program that not only does full image backups, but files also. I've used Todo for a couple of years now, and recommend their software. I usually do a fresh install of my OS at least once a year, and keep my data on a separate partition. This way, my data isn't affected by reinstalling the OS.

http://www.todo-backup.com/business/free-backup.htm


B
est of Luck,
Cat
 
Thanks Mak 2.0, Got fed-up with crouching on the floor to work with that PC so I deleted the accounts I had set up and just left it as is.
The guy I'm giving the machine to can't collect until next weekend, so I will doubtless try again in a day or so....just don't want to be beaten by it!
Thanks for your advice, I'll post back when my knees have recovered and I try it again!! lol

Addendum:

Thanks catilley 1092, and welcome to this happy band! :smile:

TBH I've had a belly full of sorting out driver problems with this machine, I do have a "Vanilla XP Home" install disk but this machine was reasonably "clean" when it came to me, I've just scanned it with a few AV/spyware progs and tidied it up.

I too set out with similarly high ideals, assigning apps and data to their own sectors but it's a bit like herding cats!

I've not given up, but shall we say I turn a blind eye to that which I cannot control! lol
 
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