[Dexter_m]

not that i have a personal problem using system recovery, it's just that every attempt to do so on my HP Pavilion dv9700 pre-loaded with Vista home premium has failed. at start-up i press F11 and nothing. i hold F11. Nothing. i press repeatedly. you guessed it. Nothing. i try to access it in windows. Nothing. so, i surmise this is not an option. even though the "Recovery Partition" on drive has 1.81GB of 11.6 GB left and appears fine. so you can see why i'm stumped. the name was pre loaded with the company's name in place where mine should be. just for clarity's sake, C:users/This is the one/... so how do i do this. i've tried creating another user then copying everything from the main user folder into the other then deleting main user, but there were folders/files that didn't want to go. so, without restoring to the factory settings and imputing all info fresh (unless someone can resolve my system recovery problem. how do i change the name of the main user?
help me, please.
thanx

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just cruising the site and came across a similar problem... " take ownership of the files, and then assign yourself rights to delete or modify..." would this work in my case? where as i couldn't delete the main user folder after copying it to new user? if i took ownership it sounds as though i could save myself some hassle. however, i've always been a firm believer that the easy way only appears that way. ~sigh~
impatiently,
dex

[Dexter_m]

just cruising the site and came across a similar problem... " take ownership of the files, and then assign yourself rights to delete or modify..." would this work in my case? where as i couldn't delete the main user folder after copying it to new user? if i took ownership it sounds as though i could save myself some hassle. however, i've always been a firm believer that the easy way only appears that way. ~sigh~
impatiently,
dex

[hfcg]

Hey Dexter-M,
Not sure that I realy understand what the issue is here.
You want to change the user name from your company to yours, or set up another account?
Any ways, now not being a smart alack here, since this is a company computer,

the name was pre loaded with the company's name in place

You should not make any changes to it, and you should have your companys adminastrator or IT dept. do this for you.

[Dexter_m]

sorry for the confusion. but no, it has the company/business name of where i bought it (easyhome). i wish i had an IT dept. at my disposal! hah. anyway, let me try to clarify. the main user for the computer is like this...C:\users\Easyhome\etc...\
you see now? hope this clears things up. thank you for your reply. btw, adorable cat.
dex

[hfcg]

Ahh, you bought the display model.
And they did not give you any recovery disc.
Click here to order the recovery disc for your computer.
I am guessing that is what you wish to do.

[Dexter_m]

no credit card. and no pay pal. so, is there another way? and out of curiosity, why isn't my recovery manager that built into the software working? probably any number of reasons... anyway, i really appreciate the speed of the reply. so, even if there's some work involved is there another way around this predicament? i'm great at following lengthy directions...lol
thanx again
dex

[hfcg]

No credit card?
Go to wal-mart or walgreens or what ever and buy a prepaid visa card. order the disc and throw the card away.
I do not know why the recovery manager is not working. I think that it is because it was a display model and they where not to sell it.
Did you try pressing F12?
How about F8 for the boot options menu? Some times there is a recovery option here.
But it would be wise to have the recovery disc, and always back up your data.

[Dexter_m]

tried F8. gave me the boot/repair options as you said. but when i tried to use the recovery option it told me to insert disc because due to a hardware or software change it couldn't do it without. and i didn't do a hardware change. F12 was nothing. computer started up normally.
~sigh~
looks like i'm going to have to try ordering the bloody things. i really don't want to spend anymore money on this thing. so if there is something i can do simply to rid myself of this folder and put the data into another one without the registry giving me problems i'd love to try it.
i'd really like to know what the [bleep] they did to the drive on this thing. so does this mean that i can delete the recovery section on the drive since i can't use it? this would free up 11.6 GB of precious mp3/.iso space.
dex

[hfcg]

I realy do not want to tell you to delete the recovery partition because I am not there to see everything.
You can try this,
Even though you log in as an Admin with the account you have, it has limits. This is something Vista did to protect you from yourself. In other words, you don't have full administrator priveleges.

You can log on as a full admin a few different ways. One way is to simply unhide the true admin logon in a cmd.

click the start menu.
In the bottom search bar type cmd (don't hit enter)

cmd will show in the list on top .. right click on it and click to run as administrator

the command panel will open
type this command exactly as it appears here.. or just copy and paste it in the cmd panel

net user administrator /active:yes

hit enter and it should tell you it completed successfully.

close the cmd panel and log off of windows.

When you log back on you should have a new Admin log on.

Log on as admin and try to run your program that way.

It might be a good idea to keep your regular user logon and use that for normal functioning.
You might also want to create a password for the admin logon and only use that for technical purposes.
If this creates an admin account for you, go in to the control panel and select user accounts.
Delete the other user account but select to save the files.
I am confused though, can you boot in to Windows?
Try to create (unhide) the administrator account, and let me know what happens from there.

[hfcg]

This applies to Vista as well
When the computer is first turned on it logs in with an "account" through which it accesses and displays the Desktop. This is where you control your computer, starting and stopping programs, creating, editing or deleting documents, working with pictures, listening to music, browsing the World Wide Web (that's where the WWW in http:// www..... comes from) and all the other things you can do with a computer.

If there is only one user account and no password, XP will login directly to the Desktop without you having to do anything. If you have assigned a password then XP will require you to enter the password to login. If there is more than one user account then you must click on the account you want to login with and then enter the password if one is assigned.

The accounts most Windows XP users are familiar with are:

• Administrator
• Limited User
• Guest

There are a few others that you should be aware of but we will not do more than mention them here:

• HelpAssistant: Used to remotely access & work on your computer
• Support_38: Used to remotely access & work on computers run as Servers
  HelpAssistant and Support_38 are created only for a brief period of time when you give permission for a remote Tech to access and work on your computer. (for instance, when you call Microsoft or Dell or HP) These user accounts will be removed at the end of the permitted service call performed by the remote Tech.
• Asp.net: Created when you install .Net Framework and after update of .net Framework 1.1
  Sometimes owner/users are "surprised" by the sudden appearance of a new account named Asp.net. This account ordinarily appears after downloading Microsoft updates that include .Net Framework 1.1. The .Net Framework files are a set of tools provided by Microsoft to allow for easy and advanced creation of Websites developed by the owner of the computer. Asp.net Account is SAFE. It is a Limited User Account. I does not get accessed unless the owner intentionally selects to use it in the development of web page content. It can be safely removed.
  For information about Removing Asp.net: http://www.mvps.org/...wsXP/aspdot.php

Accounts with Administrator privileges have access to everything:

• Operating system
• Add or Remove hardware
• Add or Remove software
• Modify the registry
• Add, remove or change other Accounts
• Add, remove or change all files on the hard drive

This type of privileged Account should be password-protected, and is used to make changes to the computer, like installing new software, changing system configurations, trouble-shooting and repair, and updating system and security utilities.

Limited User Accounts are restricted in their ability to install new software, and to make changes in the operating system and registry. Limited User Accounts can only gain access to files saved in that same account and some files intentionally designated as shared with others. Limited User Accounts can (and should) be password protected so that other Limited Users cannot see the documents and files created and saved in the account. However, Administrator Accounts may have access to information from all accounts on a computer, including Limited User Accounts.

Guest accounts have a lower level of privilege and are generally used by individuals who drop by and need to temporarily use a computer to create/print a document, look up something on the internet, or check their email. But the Guest account cannot directly make changes to the computer or files belonging to others. If the owner is concerned about people abusing their machine, the Guest account can be turned off in Control Panel / User Accounts.

Whenever an application is opened (for instance, by clicking on a Desktop icon or an internet link), it gains the same level of privilege as the owner/user account through which it was opened, (Administrator, Limited User, Guest).

Unhappily, virus and spyware scripts can behave just like deliberately installed applications like Word, MediaPlayer, and Outlook email client. Viruses and spyware gain the same level of access and privilege to the computer as the active account possesses. Thus, if the user encounters a malware risk while operating in a Limited User Account, exposure is Limited.

By comparison, if the user encounters malware while logged into the computer with an Administrator Account, the malware has access to the operating system, registry, control configurations, and can more easily cause greater damage.

Because spyware and virus risk is now a fact of life for computer users, it is more appropriate (highly recommended) to conduct most all routine computer activities including internet browsing and email, while logged in on a password protected, Limited User Account. The owner is wise to routinely use a password-protected Limited User Account login, and will still be able to use most all of the computer's installed application software for their ordinary computer purposes, while retaining a level of extra security. The owner can assign their preferred level of privilege to any/all accounts by using the options in Control Panel / User Accounts, but must do so while logged into an Administrator Account. If you don't know what privilege your account has, you can take a look in Control Panel / User Accounts.

You can logon to the Administrator account in Windows XP Home by booting to Safe Mode. With XP Pro, you can logon to the Administrator account by pressing the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keyboard combination twice while on the Welcome Screen. Change the Account name to Administrator and enter the password you assigned (to protect it from abuse) and press the Enter key or click on OK.

Food for thought: XP provides three ways to logon (or login).

• Automatic logon to desktop (which has already been covered).
• Logon screen where you click on the account to login with (and enter password if one assigned)
• Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to login

To force XP to use the Logon Screen, do the following:

• Click Start then Run.
• In the Open box, type control userpasswords2 and click OK.
• In the dialog box that appears, check the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer check box, and then click OK.

To force XP to require the user to press Ctrl+Alt+Del to logon:

• First you need to switch to the Classic Logon and Logoff screens as follows:
  
  • Click Start then Control Panel.
  • Double-click User Accounts.
  • Click Change the way users log on or off.
  • Remove the check from the Use the Welcome screen check box.
  • NOTE: If you disable the Welcome Logon screen, you also disable the Fast User Switching option.
• Now make this registry change to force the use of Ctrl+Alt+Del:
  
  • Click Start then Run, type regedit and click OK.
  • Select the Winlogon subkey at the following registry location:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
  • Click Edit, click New, and then click DWORD value.
  • Change the value name to DisableCAD and press ENTER.
  • Keep the data value set to 0 which is displayed as 0x00000000(0).

Note: Any time you change the registry, it's a good idea to make a full backup first, in case you make a mistake. ERUNT is an excellent program to use to do this. During the Install process, allow it to add an entry to your Startup folder. That way you will get a complete registry backup each time you boot. Takes only a few seconds to run and has no visible impact on boot time performance.

To learn more about configuring User Accounts read the Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279783

or this useful article:

Understanding User Accounts in Windows XP

................................................................................
This article collaborative effort of Ztruker and Doug

[hfcg]

This should be the same for Vista.
Here's another way to copy the settings from the original account to your new account:

• Ensure you've added a new user account and that you've logged in using that account at least once - this will create the folder under Documents and Settings
• Reboot the computer.
• Sign in with an account that is neither the old or the new account. This prevents "file in use" errors while copying. (NOTE: If you don't have another account, you can create a third one or you can boot into Safe Mode and log with the ADMINISTRATOR account.)
• Browse to c:\documents and settings\OldUserAccount
• Select everything in that folder except the three files called ntuser.dat, ntuser.dat.log, and ntuser.ini. (These may be hidden files, so if you don't see them, open My Computer, Tools menu, View tab, check "Show Hidden Files/Folders")
• Copy all those files into c:\documents and settings\NewUserAccount
• Reboot the computer and log in with your New user account.
• Once you confirm that all your documents are located in My Documents of the New user, you can delete the old profile (And the third account you created in Step #3 if it was needed).

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