changing a users "default" directory.

Posted: 01-11-2005, 06:04 PM

Bruce Bowler

Guest
Posts: n/a

Well, I messed up a bit and can't figure out an easy way to fix it. I
hope there's a guru out there who can point me in the right direction.

I have 2 computers, one running w98 and a new one running XPpro. The new
one is replacing the old one and should, from a network point of view, be
a clone of the old one.

The old computer is named BRUCE and has a share called BRUCEC. The
username on the old one is BCB.

I know what I should have done, but didn't was rename the old one to
something else and call the new one BRUCE, but I didn't. I called the new
one BCB (not realizing that there couldn't be a username the same as the
machine name - STUPID rule) and by the time I got to the point where I
figured that out, I couldn't get back to the "What do you want to call
this macine" screen to call it something else, so ended up calling the
user account BCB1.

I got all the data copied from the old machine to the new machine, renamed
the old machine to BRUCEOLD, renamed the new machine to BRUCE, renamed the
user BCB1 to BCB, but all of the registry keys etc still reference
BCB1 and the folder BCB1 is a "system folder that cannot be renamed or
deleted". How to I make it so that the folder BCB1 is named BCB and all
the crap that points to it points to BCB instead? I can't believe there's
not an easy way to change the "default directory" for a user.

Note this system is not part of domain, it's a stand alone, but connected
to the internet, machine.

Thanks!
Bruce

--
+-------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
Bruce Bowler | The Atomic Age is here to stay but are we? -
1.207.633.9600 | Bennet Cerf
bbowler@bigelow.org |
+-------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

Responses to "changing a users "default" directory."

Nepatsfan

Guest
Posts: n/a

Re: changing a users "default" directory.

Posted: 01-12-2005, 02:48 AM

This is a lot of work to accomplish something that is really
cosmetic but if you really want to then here's what you should
do:

Logon with the built in Administrator account. (You can also
logon with an account that has administrative privileges as long
as
it's not one of the BCB accounts).
Rename the original account back to BCB1 (the one whose name you
changed).
Create a new user called BCB (the account name you want).
Logon as BCB then logoff.
Log back on with the Administrator account.
Follow the procedure on this web page to copy the info from BCB1
to the new BCB account:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151

Logoff and log back on with the new BCB account. See if
everything made the move. Keep in mind that, as the Microsoft
article mentions, you're going to have to import email messages
and addresses before you delete the old account.

Also, whenever you post to any newsgroup, don't include your real
email address and phone number. Not unless you like spam.

--
Nepatsfan
"Bruce Bowler" <bbowler@bigelow.org> wrote in message
news

an.2005.01.11.19.04.43.165959@bigelow.org...

> Well, I messed up a bit and can't figure out an easy way to fix
> it. I
> hope there's a guru out there who can point me in the right
> direction.
>
> I have 2 computers, one running w98 and a new one running
> XPpro. The new
> one is replacing the old one and should, from a network point
> of view, be
> a clone of the old one.
>
> The old computer is named BRUCE and has a share called BRUCEC.
> The
> username on the old one is BCB.
>
> I know what I should have done, but didn't was rename the old
> one to
> something else and call the new one BRUCE, but I didn't. I
> called the new
> one BCB (not realizing that there couldn't be a username the
> same as the
> machine name - STUPID rule) and by the time I got to the point
> where I
> figured that out, I couldn't get back to the "What do you want
> to call
> this macine" screen to call it something else, so ended up
> calling the
> user account BCB1.
>
> I got all the data copied from the old machine to the new
> machine, renamed
> the old machine to BRUCEOLD, renamed the new machine to BRUCE,
> renamed the
> user BCB1 to BCB, but all of the registry keys etc still
> reference
> BCB1 and the folder BCB1 is a "system folder that cannot be
> renamed or
> deleted". How to I make it so that the folder BCB1 is named
> BCB and all
> the crap that points to it points to BCB instead? I can't
> believe there's
> not an easy way to change the "default directory" for a user.
>
> Note this system is not part of domain, it's a stand alone, but
> connected
> to the internet, machine.
>
> Thanks!
> Bruce
>
> --
> +-------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
> Bruce Bowler | The Atomic Age is here to stay but are
> we? -
> 1.207.633.9600 | Bennet Cerf
> bbowler@bigelow.org |
> +-------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
>

Bruce Bowler

Guest
Posts: n/a

Re: changing a users "default" directory.

Posted: 01-12-2005, 12:19 PM

On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 22:48:56 -0500, Nepatsfan put fingers to keyboard and
said:

> This is a lot of work to accomplish something that is really cosmetic but
> if you really want to then here's what you should do:

thanks for the info. Yes, it's only cosmetic, but it bugs me :-)

> Keep in mind that, as the Microsoft article mentions, you're
> going to have to import email messages and addresses before you delete the
> old account.

Only if you use MS mail products, which I don't/won't

> Also, whenever you post to any newsgroup, don't include your real email
> address and phone number. Not unless you like spam.

I've been around long enough to know that/ignore that. That's what spam
blockers are for...

--
+-------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
Bruce Bowler | Life is a gamble, at terrible odds. If it was a bet
1.207.633.9600 | you wouldn't take it - Tom Stoppard
bbowler@bigelow.org |
+-------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

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