XP registration and activation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Ok I bought a referbished/returned Hp computer the other day with win XP oem
software already installed on it. After setting up the system I looked at
system information and noticed that my system and windows is already
registered to the previous user. Is there a way for me to change that
information? Please note my system did not come with windows disks (HP does
not provide disks for refurbished systems) I can do a restore from the
provided partition that comes with HP systems (F10 restore) but Im not sure
if that will help.
 
Erinelsa,
By the way, if your PC came with a CD Writer, you should check with HP, and see if there is a way to copy the Restore (Hidden) partition to a CD, as a backup. If for some reason your PC's hard drive goes "south", you will need to find another method to reinstall the OS, after replacing the HDD. Or you will be force to buy another copy of Win XP.

--

Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>
<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>
 
Erinelsa said:
Ok I bought a referbished/returned Hp computer the other day with
win
XP oem software already installed on it. After setting up the system
I looked at system information and noticed that my system and
windows
is already registered to the previous user. Is there a way for me to
change that information? Please note my system did not come with
windows disks (HP does not provide disks for refurbished systems) I
can do a restore from the provided partition that comes with HP
systems (F10 restore) but Im not sure if that will help.
Click to expand...


With second-hand computers, particularly if acquired from
strangers, 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. Some unscrupulous people could even sell a
used computer preconfigured with the necessary key-loggers and spyware
to collect your personal information for future use.

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, some read it only
during installation, and some don't read it al all.

The C:\Documents and Settings\Username folders _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

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having
both at once. - RAH
 
Back
Top