pre owned pc

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Guest

I've just bought a 'new' PC with XP pre-installed.
It had been sold previously and returned but Windows seems to have been
registered to the previous people.
1, will this cause a problem with other software (Office?)
2, can this be changed?
 
Dave said:
I've just bought a 'new' PC with XP pre-installed.
It had been sold previously and returned but Windows seems to have been
registered to the previous people.
1, will this cause a problem with other software (Office?)
2, can this be changed?
Click to expand...

Unless you know it's a completely clean install, you might want to format
the hard drive and reinstall clean anyway. You never know what sort of bugs
a previous owner might have acquired along the way.
 
Dave said:
I've just bought a 'new' PC with XP pre-installed.
It had been sold previously and returned but Windows seems to have been
registered to the previous people.
1, will this cause a problem with other software (Office?)
2, can this be changed?
Click to expand...


With second-hand computers, especially if acquired from strangers
but perhaps even if acquired from a family member or friend, your wisest
course of action would probably be to format the hard drives and start
fresh. You don't want to get in trouble because the original owner may
have filled the hard drive with kiddie porn, or have problems because
the original owner downloaded/installed viruses or other malware.

Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

However, to fix the "Registered to" information for WinNT/2K/XP,
you can use Start > Run > Regedit.exe to edit:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\RegisteredOwner

and:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current
Version\RegisteredOrganization

How this will affect the name displayed in previously installed
applications will vary depending upon each individual program; some
read the registered owner information dynamically, while others read
it only during installation.

The user profile folders (C:\Documents and Settings\Username)
_cannot_ be renamed, 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).

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

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