Can I just rename the users profile folder?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kelvin
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Kelvin

My user profile on my XP machine was giving me trouble so I created a new
user for myself and at least part of the issues are resolved.

My new profile is kjsmith and my original profile was ksmith. can I rename
my old profile old_kjsmith and rename the new profile ksmith?

Will this work?

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3, on a Windows 2003 domain.

Any help would be appreciated!

Kelvin
 
Kelvin said:
My user profile on my XP machine was giving me trouble so I created a new
user for myself and at least part of the issues are resolved.

My new profile is kjsmith and my original profile was ksmith. can I rename
my old profile old_kjsmith and rename the new profile ksmith?

Will this work?

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3, on a Windows 2003 domain.

Any help would be appreciated!

Kelvin
Click to expand...

Yes, you can but you have to reboot the machine and log on as Administrator.
Keep in mind that by renaming the profile folders, you end up where you
started from because you restore the troublesome profile . . .
 
Kelvin said:
My user profile on my XP machine was giving me trouble so I created a new
user for myself and at least part of the issues are resolved.

My new profile is kjsmith and my original profile was ksmith. can I rename
my old profile old_kjsmith and rename the new profile ksmith?

Will this work?

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3, on a Windows 2003 domain.

Any help would be appreciated!

Kelvin
Click to expand...
You can rename the two user accounts. However, the change does not affect
the security id's which still own the files. Hence, the change is purely
cosmetic, and the old files do not move.

If you want to move the files from the old account to the new account, you
login to the new account and take ownership of the files and folders in the
old account that you wish to move.

The procedure for doing this is described in the Help & Support article "How
to take ownership of files and folders".
 
hi kelvin



i think you need to work carefully with my instructions to not make a mess

anyway i dont think it worth the work but this depends on you



1. reboot your system

2. login using a third administrative account (other than these two), also
as you a part of a domain... if the network admin can help you, you can do
this without logging in (using domain admin account)

3. go to this key in the registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\{every profile SID}

4. change the value of [ProfileImagePath] under the BOTH SID's to whatever
folder you want

5. dont forget to also rename the folder and make them EXACTLY as you insert
in the registry

6. login normally

good luck



Fadi
 
Your method does the opposite of what the OP wanted: Instead of renaming the
user's profile, it changes the registry entry to point to the new profile.
The end effect is, of course, the same, except that the user name will be
different from the profile folder name.

Fadi said:
hi kelvin



i think you need to work carefully with my instructions to not make a mess

anyway i dont think it worth the work but this depends on you



1. reboot your system

2. login using a third administrative account (other than these two), also
as you a part of a domain... if the network admin can help you, you can do
this without logging in (using domain admin account)

3. go to this key in the registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\{every profile SID}

4. change the value of [ProfileImagePath] under the BOTH SID's to
whatever folder you want

5. dont forget to also rename the folder and make them EXACTLY as you
insert in the registry

6. login normally

good luck



Fadi



Kelvin said:
My user profile on my XP machine was giving me trouble so I created a new
user for myself and at least part of the issues are resolved.

My new profile is kjsmith and my original profile was ksmith. can I
rename my old profile old_kjsmith and rename the new profile ksmith?

Will this work?

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3, on a Windows 2003 domain.

Any help would be appreciated!

Kelvin
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I'm trying to get the folder and the user name to be the same as it used to
be.

I want both to be "ksmith"

That's my goal anyways...

Kelvin


Pegasus said:
Your method does the opposite of what the OP wanted: Instead of renaming
the user's profile, it changes the registry entry to point to the new
profile. The end effect is, of course, the same, except that the user name
will be different from the profile folder name.

Fadi said:
hi kelvin



i think you need to work carefully with my instructions to not make a
mess

anyway i dont think it worth the work but this depends on you



1. reboot your system

2. login using a third administrative account (other than these two),
also as you a part of a domain... if the network admin can help you, you
can do this without logging in (using domain admin account)

3. go to this key in the registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\{every profile SID}

4. change the value of [ProfileImagePath] under the BOTH SID's to
whatever folder you want

5. dont forget to also rename the folder and make them EXACTLY as you
insert in the registry

6. login normally

good luck



Fadi



Kelvin said:
My user profile on my XP machine was giving me trouble so I created a
new user for myself and at least part of the issues are resolved.

My new profile is kjsmith and my original profile was ksmith. can I
rename my old profile old_kjsmith and rename the new profile ksmith?

Will this work?

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3, on a Windows 2003 domain.

Any help would be appreciated!

Kelvin
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
even you can change the user name ... as the SID will still the same

Fadi

Pegasus said:
Your method does the opposite of what the OP wanted: Instead of renaming
the user's profile, it changes the registry entry to point to the new
profile. The end effect is, of course, the same, except that the user name
will be different from the profile folder name.

Fadi said:
hi kelvin



i think you need to work carefully with my instructions to not make a
mess

anyway i dont think it worth the work but this depends on you



1. reboot your system

2. login using a third administrative account (other than these two),
also as you a part of a domain... if the network admin can help you, you
can do this without logging in (using domain admin account)

3. go to this key in the registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\{every profile SID}

4. change the value of [ProfileImagePath] under the BOTH SID's to
whatever folder you want

5. dont forget to also rename the folder and make them EXACTLY as you
insert in the registry

6. login normally

good luck



Fadi



Kelvin said:
My user profile on my XP machine was giving me trouble so I created a
new user for myself and at least part of the issues are resolved.

My new profile is kjsmith and my original profile was ksmith. can I
rename my old profile old_kjsmith and rename the new profile ksmith?

Will this work?

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3, on a Windows 2003 domain.

Any help would be appreciated!

Kelvin
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Kelvin said:
My user profile on my XP machine was giving me trouble so I created a new
user for myself and at least part of the issues are resolved.

My new profile is kjsmith and my original profile was ksmith. can I rename
my old profile old_kjsmith and rename the new profile ksmith?

Will this work?

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3, on a Windows 2003 domain.

Any help would be appreciated!

Kelvin
Click to expand...


The user profile folders (C:\Documents and Settings\Username)
_cannot_ be renamed, without risky registry edits, 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. You can then delete the old user
account(s), after copying the desired data from the old to the new.

HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279783

How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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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
 
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