[Gram123]

Hi.
My PC was built to my specifications, and this included a copy of Windows being installed. This turned out to be W98 First edition, although I'd've preferred SE or W2000.

Anyway, the point is that it is registered to the builder of the PC. When I right click on My Computer, it says someone elses name, and when I go to shut down it gives me the option to log off that name too.

Can I change this to my own name without reinstalling Windows? I have my own copy of W98 FE, but it was not the copy used for first installation.

Ta

Gram

[Bryan]

Start>Run, key in Regedit and press enter. Now in the Left pane, double left click on each of these til you see the contents of the "Current Version" key in the Right pane.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Then in the Right pane you should see "Registered Owner". Right click on it and select Modify and change it to what you'd like.

[AcaCandy]

To change the registered owner of Windows95/98, do the following:

1) Click Start, Run
2) Type regedit, click OK
3) Click the + sign next to the following: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows
4) Click CurrentVersion
5) Double-click Registered Owner in the right window
6) Type in the new name and click OK

Well, I guess that's a consensus....Bryan beat me....

[Edited by AcaCandy on 08-09-2001 at 07:30 PM]

[Bryan]

Then to change the User Logon, first be sure your set to "All Users of this PC use the same Preferences ....". Click on Start>Settings>CP>Passwords. Now click on the UserProfiles tab. If it doesn't have " All Users of ... use the Same..."selected, select that option and click on Apply.

Also, check under the Network icon on the ControlPanel. What's listed for "Primary Network Logon". If it's "Windows Logon" or "Microsoft Family Logon" then do this,

Start>Find>Files, key in *.pwl and press enter. Now rename any .pwl files found to .old and be sure to rename them all. For example, Bryan.pwl would be renamed to Bryan.old

Then on your StartMenu click on "Logoff ...." A Logon box should appear. Enter your New user name and leave the password blank. Click on OK.

When your done, restart the PC to be sure a logon box doesn't appear at each startup of Windows. Also be sure after Windows starts up, that the "Logoff...." option on your StartMenu now shows your New user name. That's important.

Let us know what happens.


[Edited by Bryan on 08-09-2001 at 07:07 PM]

[Gram123]

Thanks guys, that did it!
All present and correct.

Gram