Change user folder name of Administrator account

denisl · Feb 7, 2012

Hello -
When I did my initial install of Win7 (fresh install) I created my Administrator account with the name of "Denis". I would like to change the name of the Administrative account to "denisl". I went into control panel and changed the account name, which worked, but the folder remained named as "Denis" under the "users" folder. How do I rename the folder named "Denis" to "denisl"?

Thanks!

koolkat77 · Feb 7, 2012

take a look at this tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/147545-user-profile-folder-change-user-account-folder-name.html

denisl · Feb 7, 2012

ok, I followed the instructions and it appears to have worked just fine. There is one slight concern...
The instructions, Step 22, say that for the built-in Administrator account to use the Local Security Policy Editor to change the name. This is Win7 Home Premium (not Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise). Can I just skip that step or is there an alternative procedure?

Brink · Feb 7, 2012

Hello Denis,

That's great news.

Yes, you would skip step 22 since your "Denis" administrator account is not the built-in "Administrator" account.

denisl · Feb 7, 2012

perfect. Thank you!

Brink · Feb 7, 2012

You're welcome. I'm glad that we could help.

koolkat77 · Feb 7, 2012

good to know

denisl · Feb 8, 2012

Something interesting which makes me think my username change is not 100% complete.

I'm using Macrium Reflect to run an image backup - which works fine.
I am now scheduling a daily backup through Macrium which will execute a XML file called "My Backup".
Under the Macrium scheduler, a dialog box opens and asks for details to run the XML file job/backup.
There is a box that says "Run as user" and there is a pre-loaded text in the box which is computername\user
The user is "Denis", not "denisl". Where is Macrium reading the old user of "Denis"? I just installed Macrium free version today, after changing the user name from Denis to denisl.

Thanks

Brink · Feb 8, 2012

Denis,

The only true way to stop that would be to create a new account and delete the old account afterwards.

What you mention falls into the same thing in the blue NOTE box at the top of the tutorial below with permissions still referenced with the original account name.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/147545-user-profile-folder-change-user-account-folder-name.html

denisl · Feb 8, 2012

Ok, that makes sense and is something I could live with. I looked at the security tab of my user folder and just like it's stated in the tutorial - the owner is the old name.

Out of curiosity, how would I delete the Administrative user, now "denisl", and create a brand new one thus deleting all references to the old "Denis" name?

This is a brand new fresh install of Win7 so there is not much that I need to preserve under "denisl" or "Denis".

Brink · Feb 8, 2012

denisl said:
Ok, that makes sense and is something I could live with. I looked at the security tab of my user folder and just like it's stated in the tutorial - the owner is the old name.

Out of curiosity, how would I delete the Administrative user, now "denisl", and create a brand new one thus deleting all references to the old "Denis" name?

This is a brand new fresh install of Win7 so there is not much that I need to preserve under "denisl" or "Denis".

It would be easier if you used a different name, but to be able to use "denisl", you would have to create a new administrator account named something different as a workaround account, delete the "denisl" account while logged in only the workaround account, create a new administrator account named "denisl", then delete the workaround accout while logged in only new "denisl" account.

denisl · Feb 8, 2012

Ok I think I should attempt that. For some reason Macrium is not working...
Here is the dialog box I was referring to where it's pre-populating my old user name of "Denis"
I have no password set for the renamed account of "denisl"

Here is what I get when I hit next

I changed TRANSAM-2\Denis to TRANSAM-2\denisl and the same error message is encountered.

Do you agree with my course of action?

denisl · Feb 8, 2012

Can someone smarter than I take a look and let me know if my plan will work.. Thanks.

Current environment:
User1: denisl, administrator, original name Denis
User2: tempadmin, administrator, original name tempadmin

Goal:
Have a Administrative user with name of denisl and NO legacy references (i.e. right click properties, security tab of denisl folder) to the user Denis

Procedure:
1. save any user files under user "denisl" (i.e. pictures, songs, etc)
2. reboot Win7 in safe mode
3. login as "tempadmin"
4. Delete user "denisl" from Control Panel
5. reboot normal mode, verify only user is now "tempadmin"
6. Control Panel - create user - denisl, Administrator
7. copy back files previously saved in step 1

Note: I followed this procedure already but would like to get rid of all references to the original user name Denis. These are all administrative accounts. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium.

Thanks

Brink · Feb 8, 2012

You could, but there's no need to boot into Safe Mode.

Procedure:
1. Save any user files under user "denisl" (i.e. pictures, songs, shortcuts, etc)
2. Log off of "denisl"
3. login as "tempadmin"
4. Delete user "denisl" from Control Panel
5. Verify only user is now "tempadmin" in C:\Users folder
6. Control Panel - create user - denisl, Administrator
7. copy back files previously saved in step 1

denisl · Feb 8, 2012

I logged in as tempadmin. Went to control panel. Deleted user "denisl" - was asked if I wanted to save files, I said yes. It said account denisl was deleted. I saw a folder on my desktop named "Denis" (the original name) - which was empty! No biggie, I already saved everything. Went to C:/users and "denisl" is still there! with a padlock next to it. However, "denisl" is not listed as a user in control panel or when I logoff and have only tempadmin as an available login.

I right clicked on "denisl" under C:\users and looked at the security tab of properties and I didn't see any reference to Denis.

So, what next? force the delete of the denisl folder?

Brink · Feb 8, 2012

Open the "denisl" folder and approve to open it if prompted. Afterwards, close and delete the "denisl" folder.

denisl · Feb 8, 2012

ok that worked - except I cannot delete my McAfee Vault folder located in Documents.
I think it is looking for the original user ID from "Denis" with the correct permissions to delete.
I renamed denisl to something different and was able to create a new user denisl and all looks good.

Any ideas on how to delete the McAfee Vault file/folder so I can clean up the old denisl folder?

Thanks

Brink · Feb 8, 2012

You may have to delete it from within the settings of McAfee.

If not, then you might see if you may be able to delete it with the free program Unlocker.

Change user folder name of Administrator account

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