User Accounts - query

gregrocker · 11 Oct 2010

Matt, it is a bit confusing:

The accounts created for the owner during install are quasi-Admin accounts which still don't have all of the permissions of the master hidden Administrator that some of us run under (at our own risk).

I only create standard accounts for non-owner Users who need to be restricted in using someone else's computer, even perhaps within a family.

I believe you deleted the account correctly in User Accounts and that leftovers are common. Many times when I delete an account I find the User file there and simply delete it after checking for contents.

WindowsStar · 11 Oct 2010

IcarusII said:

Hi there,

Ive literally just installed W7. I made a classic error when during installation I was asked for a user name. I forgot this would be the user name given to the administrator account

So now i have an Administrator account called 'Matthew'...which i didnt want at all. i want 'Matthew' to be my normal user account name (non admin).

I also have a Guest account - but I havent yet activated it.

I have read through the user account tutorials regarding changing the name, but they only detail how to change the name of either the guest account (if you havent activated it) and the built in administrator account (which is not activated by default).

this is just the bog standard admin account that W7 launches with. however I have read somewhere that even though you change a user account name and it changes in the login screen it is still tied to the original name....and i guess all the user folders have the wrong name?

This sounds like a mess. Can I change the administrator account name that I accidentally mis-named during installation and have everything set as if i had named it properly during installation?

thanks,

Matt

Sorry, I did not see this sooner but for future reference the simplest way to have fixed this would have been to create a NEW account, call it whatever you want, add it to the Administrators Group, then remove Matthew from the Administrators Group and add Matthew to the Users Group. This way you would have the account you wanted as the Administrator and Matthew would be a standard user, without the need to delete any accounts. :)

Bare Foot Kid · 11 Oct 2010

Good one WS, I feel bad I didn't think of that.

IcarusII · 12 Oct 2010

Thanks Windowstar - as I read the first few words of the bit saying 'the simplest way to have....' the rest of your post formed in my head ahead of my eyes reading it.

So obvious in retrospect - yet utterly elusive at the time.

Glad to know the way you suggested it would work in the future tho - thanks for posting.

Barefoot Kid: dont worry :) Cest la vie. Ive learned loads by doing things the longer way. Amongst the things ive learned is to be patient and wait for the shorter ways to show themselves! hehe

Matt

Bare Foot Kid · 12 Oct 2010

IcarusII said:

Thanks Windowstar - as I read the first few words of the bit saying 'the simplest way to have....' the rest of your post formed in my head ahead of my eyes reading it.

So obvious in retrospect - yet utterly elusive at the time.

Glad to know the way you suggested it would work in the future tho - thanks for posting.

Barefoot Kid: dont worry :) Cest la vie. Ive learned loads by doing things the longer way. Amongst the things ive learned is to be patient and wait for the shorter ways to show themselves! hehe

Matt

gregrocker · 12 Oct 2010

Some people like to reinstall like it's a favorite toy. I never got past that as my favorite aspect of Windows. Even now with images stored for every install, I can't wait to get to Palm Springs tomorrow for my friend's dualie wipe/reinstall, then to my folks later this month to reinstall Dad's Vista also due to fake AV rootkit, then to OKC to clean reinstall my friend's 7....

Install obsessives are rare enough that we get special perks like a friend's guest house for the winter in Florida, lots of nice big dinners, and cushy guest rooms to come and visit. I've never gotten around to charging for it, but it's a charmed life for an early retiree and Windows 7 has made it perfect.

IcarusII · 12 Oct 2010

Retiree?

Greg i had you pegged for mid 30's mate. All the surfin pics and all. unless you are just one of those wealthy people who get to retire in their mid 30s and we all just stare jelously at you!

Matt

gregrocker · 12 Oct 2010

Not wealthy, just thrifty. I live a spartan lifestyle, traveling as a backpacker. "Retired" way early.

IcarusII · 12 Oct 2010

the power of thrift is often undervalued. Ebay can probably save an average western male about £5-10 k per year if they can resist the urge not to buy new everything in the shiny shops.

Oh hang on. I get you now. Its ok...I wont give it away. Spartan lifestyle. Yep. Six pack? Sword? run around with a beard fighting battles where you are massively outnumbered yet somehow win through?

YOU ARE SPARTA.

Doh! i gave it away.