Admin now has two names (newcomer to Vista)

Hello all,

This might be sucking eggs for somebody out there, but I'm a little baffled.

I've just purchased a shiny new ThinkPad, loaded with Vista Business.

The sales person had already unpacked and set up the OS, naming the machine
and creating a default admin user.

As with XP when first setting that up, I proceeded to rename the Admin
account to my own name, then add another couple of standard accounts for
family members.

All this worked fine, but when I have a file-system level browse through the
PC I see the directory structure and user name is still 'myt61', the name the
tech/sales guy had used at setup.

SO, right now all the shiny appendages to Vista are calling me 'Mark', but
down at at the shop floor this PC still thinks i'm 'myt61'.

The 'Users' folder has a subdirectory for each of the new users I've
created, plus one named 'myt61'. Similarly, the 'Advanced System Options >
Users' dialogue lists me as 'myt61'...even though the shiny new Vista user
admin system calls me 'Mark'.

How can I rename in such a way that this thing actually takes me seriously?

Thanks in advance,


Mark H
London

Mark H wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> This might be sucking eggs for somebody out there, but I'm a little baffled.
>
> I've just purchased a shiny new ThinkPad, loaded with Vista Business.
>
> The sales person had already unpacked and set up the OS, naming the machine
> and creating a default admin user.
>
> As with XP when first setting that up, I proceeded to rename the Admin
> account to my own name, then add another couple of standard accounts for
> family members.
>
> All this worked fine, but when I have a file-system level browse through the
> PC I see the directory structure and user name is still 'myt61', the name the
> tech/sales guy had used at setup.
>
> SO, right now all the shiny appendages to Vista are calling me 'Mark', but
> down at at the shop floor this PC still thinks i'm 'myt61'.
>
> The 'Users' folder has a subdirectory for each of the new users I've
> created, plus one named 'myt61'. Similarly, the 'Advanced System Options >
> Users' dialogue lists me as 'myt61'...even though the shiny new Vista user
> admin system calls me 'Mark'.
>
> How can I rename in such a way that this thing actually takes me seriously?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
>
> Mark H
> London



The user profile folders (C:\Users\Username) are protected system
files and _cannot_ be renamed, without risky registry editing, even if
the associated user account has been. So, your best course of action
would be to log on using the built-in Administrator account, create a
new user account, with the username desired. Once you've logged in
using this new account (and transfered any data you need to preserve,
you can then delete the old user account(s).


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

Mark,

As you have seen 'renaming' an account simply changes the 'friendly' name
used, it does NOT rename the directory in which the account was created in
the first place.

If you want the friendly name and the \users\name to match you will have to
create a new account and delete the old account.

BE SURE you do NOT delete ALL the admin accounts! Create the new account,
make sure it behaves and is an administrator before you delete the old
account.
..

When you delete the current myt61 account it will ask if you want to delete
the users data, say no (unless there is nothing there that you need).
You can then take possession of the old data and transfere it to your new
account as necessary.

Michael

"Mark H" <> wrote in message
news:7923D3DF-6452-4CB9-AC0A-...
> Hello all,
>
> This might be sucking eggs for somebody out there, but I'm a little
> baffled.
>
> I've just purchased a shiny new ThinkPad, loaded with Vista Business.
>
> The sales person had already unpacked and set up the OS, naming the
> machine
> and creating a default admin user.
>
> As with XP when first setting that up, I proceeded to rename the Admin
> account to my own name, then add another couple of standard accounts for
> family members.
>
> All this worked fine, but when I have a file-system level browse through
> the
> PC I see the directory structure and user name is still 'myt61', the name
> the
> tech/sales guy had used at setup.
>
> SO, right now all the shiny appendages to Vista are calling me 'Mark', but
> down at at the shop floor this PC still thinks i'm 'myt61'.
>
> The 'Users' folder has a subdirectory for each of the new users I've
> created, plus one named 'myt61'. Similarly, the 'Advanced System Options
> >
> Users' dialogue lists me as 'myt61'...even though the shiny new Vista user
> admin system calls me 'Mark'.
>
> How can I rename in such a way that this thing actually takes me
> seriously?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
>
> Mark H
> London

"Mark H" <> wrote in message
news:7923D3DF-6452-4CB9-AC0A-...
> Hello all,
>
> This might be sucking eggs for somebody out there, but I'm a little
> baffled.
>
> I've just purchased a shiny new ThinkPad, loaded with Vista Business.
>
> The sales person had already unpacked and set up the OS, naming the
> machine
> and creating a default admin user.
>
> As with XP when first setting that up, I proceeded to rename the Admin
> account to my own name, then add another couple of standard accounts for
> family members.
>
> All this worked fine, but when I have a file-system level browse through
> the
> PC I see the directory structure and user name is still 'myt61', the name
> the
> tech/sales guy had used at setup.
>
> SO, right now all the shiny appendages to Vista are calling me 'Mark', but
> down at at the shop floor this PC still thinks i'm 'myt61'.
>
> The 'Users' folder has a subdirectory for each of the new users I've
> created, plus one named 'myt61'. Similarly, the 'Advanced System Options
> >
> Users' dialogue lists me as 'myt61'...even though the shiny new Vista user
> admin system calls me 'Mark'.
>
> How can I rename in such a way that this thing actually takes me
> seriously?
>


Others have pointed out why this happens and how to fix it. I just wanted to
point out it's not a Vista problem but a Windows problem. It's been this way
since at least Windows 2000 and probably NT. Windows doesn't really care
what the name of your account is but goes by a SID (security identifier)
that is unique to each user.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca