Can I give a new user account the same name as an old, deleted one?

Can I create a new user account with the same name as an old, deleted one?

I'm willing to make registry modifications to do so if that is the only way.

You see, I had to delete a couple of user accounts from my computer in a manner that was unorthodox, because Windows 7 itself would not delete them the normal way. It worked out fine, and they have been off of my computer for years now, but I have noticed that there are still registry entries pointing to them.

I'm nearing the end of a 2-3 week process of cleaning up my computer, and I'm going to be backing up my hard drive for the first time (don't worry about that, I've been going through this whole ordeal with cleaning up my computer, on another forum, and that's going to be all set), and after I do so I would like to create a non-administrator account (for the first time for me really outside of academic or business settings) and use that as my everyday account.

My question is: can I give the new user account the same name as the first account that was ever on this computer (that was deleted years ago by me)?

If I have to make registry edits, I (with prudence and caution) will do so, because I really would prefer to call the new account the same name that I gave the first account on this computer nine or ten years ago.

Set a system restore point and then give the new user account a go.

Yes, there is nothing preventing you from doing so. As long as the old account is gone, you can create a new one with the same name. Just take into account that the new account will be totally independent of the old one, there will be no files or anything like permissions or the like assigned to the new account, it'll be a brand new one.

townsbg said:

There will be a unique ID assigned to the [...] account and that's done in the user database

Is this, perhaps, related to the "Account Unknown (L-0-1-23-[mindless string of numbers]" (not exactly what it was, but it was basically that. I didn't want to give what it actually called the account just in case there was anything personally identifiable in the information) garbage that I sometimes see under the security tab in the properties window for a file?

If so, how can I get rid of said garbage? It is an eyesore for anyone who might see it, including myself.

Hi

User account identifiers, SID's, for each begin S-1-5-21-xxxxxxx-xxxxxx, where x is unique to each

more info here
User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded.
(option2)

User Account - Delete



Roy

townsbg said:

Please explain what you are wanting to do now. Are you still wanting to recreate the account or are you wanting to delete it from the registry? If you are wanting to delete it you should be able to but you might want to backup the registry first.

Well, I am still intending to create a new user account with the same name as an old one (not with the same ID, though, of course).

However, I really would like to remove the remnants of those old user accounts (I had two before this current one) that I had to remove previously through unorthodox means (manual deletion of most of it). I had to use unorthodox means because the accounts refused to be deleted the normal way.

In any case, the old accounts are gone now. However, some remnants of them remain, it seems, in the permissions tab in the properties of some files.

My question was: how do I get rid of those remnants? Is it possible?

RoWin7 said:

Would you consider using a different name for the new account? Like [oldusername]2?

I'd rather not do that. I have a system image of my computer, mind you, so I wouldn't be too worried about causing needless problems with my computer. That doesn't mean that I would be careless, of course. I just wanted to put the fact that I have a full system image of my computer out there.

torchwood said:

User account identifiers, SID's, for each begin S-1-5-21-xxxxxxx-xxxxxx, where x is unique to each

[...]

User Account - Delete

As I am using Windows 7 Home Premium, I don't have the "Local Users and Groups Manager".