Member Avatar for mattyd

Hello,

To begin, I am a registered member but have not been here in awhile - I have misplaced my login credentials and must post anonymously.

I recently purchased a new laptop and am cleaning up my old one and giving it to a friend. This older laptop runs Windows 10.

The issue seems simple but I have researched it and cannot get the change(s) to take.

When the machine boots to the login screen it has been showing my name and picture; I am trying to alter it to show HER name and picture. The picture part works. I cannot get the name change, though.

I attempted the following:

  1. I created a new admin account for her (at the moment I am also still an admin on the old machine)
  2. I created a new online Microsft account for her; new email, etc. The name, online in the Microsoft account is her name, but when I reboot it still displays my name.
  3. I have have tried various changes last night on the old machine (I cannot remember them all now). Although many online tutorials claim that one may change the usename via the machine settings on Win10, this no longer seems to be the case; I suppose this has to do with updates, system changes and that those videos are out-dated.

Simply put, I just want her name and picture to display when the old machine boots, not mine.

Note: I have both she and I set as admins on the old machine. Also, I have disabled password capabilities for login (Her account was never logged into via her new account/pass, etc. Could this be the issue?)

I am a bit frazzled with this seemingly simple task. Thank you in advance for any assistance.

Matty D.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Joe_10

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Member Avatar for LaxLoafer

Unfortunately I don't yet have access to Windows 10, but here are a couple of things you might want to try that worked for earlier versions...

To change the 'registered owner', open the registry editor (regedit) and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
Look for the 'RegisteredOwner' key.

To change an account name, instead of going through 'User Accounts' in the control panel, try opening a command prompt and typing control userpasswords2. With a bit of luck a more advanced user account dialog will appear.

Edited by LaxLoafer because: Spelling.
Member Avatar for mattyd

Thank you for the help and info, LaxLoafer.

But, as I learned in school for software: "Never mess with the registery unless you are totally sure what you are doing." In my case, I am not familiar enough with the registry to attempt such changes.

Also, and this is simply directed at Microsoft: Why in the world would they make such a simple feature (changing a user name) unavilable when up until a few months ago you could do it via Control Panel > User Accounts? Thanks for the non-stop updates, MS. :/

Edited by mattyd
Member Avatar for LaxLoafer

It should be noted that messing around with the registry can potentially cause your system to stop working properly. Before editing the registry it's normally advisable to create a backup.

But, as I learned in school for software: "Never mess with the registery unless you are totally sure what you are doing."

Yes, such advice is appropriate if you don't want people to learn. How can you become totally sure you know what you're doing without gaining practical experience?

Why teachers don't want students experimenting freely on school computers is understandable. But we're talking about your computer here, aren't we? I think you can safely handle this one. Changing the registered owner is about as trivial as registry editing gets.

commented: Not good -2
Member Avatar for mattyd

@ LaxLoafer,

Why do I not attempt a registry edit even if is "trivial" as you say? I am not comfortable doing so, possibly ending up permanently locked-out of my laptop should something be done incorrectly. That is not trivial at all.

Also, you made a statement, above ^: "With a bit of luck"

Luck? Is that how you program or fix a machine? No, I will wait for more sound advice.

Member Avatar for Joe_10

Try this. I may have missed this but did you say you added the account to the win 10 machine?

login to the win 10 machine.
goto settings
accounts
family and other users
add the account there
sign out of the admin account
sign in under the new account.

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