removing XP user profiles

MNBOY · 01-31-2006, 02:15 PM

I bought a used laptop and was wondering if there is a way to get rid of the old user profiles. If I go into the control panel it just shows my own and the guest, but the computer is filled with files for an administrator profile and the profile of the old owner. Any way to get rid of these without screwing up a lot of stuff?

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snap-on · 01-31-2006, 02:19 PM

on xp there are 2 version. home and profesional.

on profesional you have to log in as the admin to delete other usr accounts. you can NEVER delete the admin account (although you can loose the password and be that way)

on home there is no real admin account. there is under safe mode but doesnt really work the same as the admin account in profesional (or if you used NT before) on home version the first person has "special" admin rights that can do a few extra things but certianly not as "strict" as the admin account on pro is.

if that makes any sence

snap-on · 01-31-2006, 02:20 PM

your best bet would be to reinstall the OS on the machine that way you dont have to worry about spyware, adware, etc that may have been on it when you got it.

**Tofer** · 01-31-2006, 02:21 PM

thats what i was thinking too.. reformat and start out clean

Epic Ed · 01-31-2006, 02:37 PM

Definitely wipe it out and do a clean install if possible. You'll thank yourself in the long run.

For Windows XP Pro, the quickest way to wipe profiles is the following:

- Right click "My Computer"
- Select "properties"
- Click on the "Advanced" tab
- Click on "User Profiles"
- Delete willy-nilly (except for yours and admin)

Churnd · 01-31-2006, 02:40 PM

Reformat if you can.

If not, try this:

Right click on computer
Click Manage
Expand "Users and Groups", then click on Users
Right click on the user you want deleted, then click delete
Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings
Find the folder named after the user you deleted
Delete that folder

This is assuming you are doing this from the Administrator account or through your own account with Administrative privileges. Do NOT delete the Administrator folder.

MNBOY · 01-31-2006, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snap-on

your best bet would be to reinstall the OS on the machine that way you dont have to worry about spyware, adware, etc that may have been on it when you got it.

That should work on the new one, although I guess I have to somehow make a backup first? It didn't come with any software except the stuff loaded on the HD, no disks or CD's. Now that I look at it it's actulayy running ME and not XP so I guess I'll want to upgrade anyway.
Unfortunately I also have an older laptop with the same problem, extra user profiles, and that computer is full of stuff I don't want to lose. I wasn't sure if I could just delete the folders for those extra profiles, never seems like the best idea to just start deleting stuff.

Churnd · 01-31-2006, 02:43 PM

Also, be forewarned that when you delete the profile's folder, you're deleting all the data that goes along with that profile, such as that users "My Documents" folder. Make sure you really want to get rid of it before you delete it.

Software will still be there, so you're ok on that one. If you don't have any of the CD's that came with the laptop, sounds like profile deletion will be your best bet.

Oh wait... you have ME? That's a whole new ballgame. Forget my instructions above. Profile deletion in ME is going to be a major PITA, and you'd be better off doing a clean install of XP provided you don't mind losing the software that came with it. You could always upgrade from ME (which I would never recommend) as a worse case scenario.

Epic Ed · 01-31-2006, 03:10 PM

You can save most user preferences and settings without much problem. Copying files and folder from one computer to another should be even easier. That's usually the most you can do to transfer dta from an old PC/laptop to a new one. I do this stuff for a living, and one of the most important things I'm tasked with is to try to get the new system to look and feel as comfortable and familiar as possible even though I'm often dealing with two completely dissimilar operating systems (ie., Win95/98 to WinXP).

The biggest obstacle you may have is reinstalling software. If you have no media (CD's, floppy's), then you can't reinstall the program! There's no way (for most programs) to simply "copy files" or "backup a program" and expect that you're going to be able to install it on a new computer. For example, you may be running Quickbooks on your old PC and you figure that it will be as simple as copying the Quickbooks directory on the old PC and moving it over to the new. No way. You can certainly move the database over, but you'll never be able to access that data until you reinstall the application. You need some sort of software media to do the reinstall.

If you have no CDs, no floppys, no floppys -- then you have no ability to reinstall the operating system and associated applications (like MS Office, etc.). If you need that stuff then it's time to buddy-up to your friendly neighborhood geek and see if you can pirat...errrrrrrrrr, borrow some of his software. Or, pony up the bucks to buy it new.

Ed

MNBOY · 01-31-2006, 03:21 PM

I think I'm gonna wait until a buddy that does this stuff for a living can come by and help. The user accounts and the user profiles don't match up, there seems to be several admin accounts..... more than I want to tackle. On top of that the UPS guy just showed up with this:

http://www.officemax.com/max/solutio...ceeldfgndfkk.0

I won it in a contest last summer and had just about forgotten about it and it just got delivered a couple minutes ago. I was going to sell it off when it got here but didn't know what model it was. I'll have to do some research and see if it's worth keeping and using instead of the laptop.
Thanks for the help guys.

Churnd · 01-31-2006, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBOY

I think I'm gonna wait until a buddy that does this stuff for a living can come by and help. The user accounts and the user profiles don't match up, there seems to be several admin accounts..... more than I want to tackle. On top of that the UPS guy just showed up with this:

http://www.officemax.com/max/solutio...ceeldfgndfkk.0

I won it in a contest last summer and had just about forgotten about it and it just got delivered a couple minutes ago. I was going to sell it off when it got here but didn't know what model it was. I'll have to do some research and see if it's worth keeping and using instead of the laptop.
Thanks for the help guys.

Not bad for a free machine! I say fire it up and use it a while... see how you like it. IMO it'd be worth more to keep than to sell... but that's just me.

Epic Ed · 01-31-2006, 04:12 PM

Eh -- that AMD Sempron is their version of the Celeron; an economy processor. Other than that, other components (like RAM) are upgradable. I'd probably keep the new PC since you'll have a licensed version of Windows XP Home that you can run.

Ed

01-31-2006, 02:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
snap-on Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: STL MO Posts: 2,382	on xp there are 2 version. home and profesional. on profesional you have to log in as the admin to delete other usr accounts. you can NEVER delete the admin account (although you can loose the password and be that way) on home there is no real admin account. there is under safe mode but doesnt really work the same as the admin account in profesional (or if you used NT before) on home version the first person has "special" admin rights that can do a few extra things but certianly not as "strict" as the admin account on pro is. if that makes any sence __________________ 94 EX cab, 5speed, V6, locked, ARB bar, NWOR headers 92 4runner, auto, V6, OME suspension, Downey headers

01-31-2006, 02:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
snap-on Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: STL MO Posts: 2,382	your best bet would be to reinstall the OS on the machine that way you dont have to worry about spyware, adware, etc that may have been on it when you got it. __________________ 94 EX cab, 5speed, V6, locked, ARB bar, NWOR headers 92 4runner, auto, V6, OME suspension, Downey headers

01-31-2006, 02:21 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tofer Super Moderator Staff Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Tacoma WA. Posts: 6,905	thats what i was thinking too.. reformat and start out clean __________________ 94 4runenr: all the good stuff....... 89 4runner: 3.0, Auto, 5.29 lockright f/r. 31x10.5 wildcountry ATs. 81 2wd pickup: 22R \| 5-sp \| long bed \|Civic SI seats \| LockRight \| Hella 500s pacific-crawlers.com For all your Trail-gear and HID lighting Solutions Needs check out yotaworks.com Online store coming soon :)

01-31-2006, 02:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
Epic Ed Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 654	Definitely wipe it out and do a clean install if possible. You'll thank yourself in the long run. For Windows XP Pro, the quickest way to wipe profiles is the following: - Right click "My Computer" - Select "properties" - Click on the "Advanced" tab - Click on "User Profiles" - Delete willy-nilly (except for yours and admin) __________________ '95 4Runner\|32x11.5 BFG TA KOs\|Hi-flow Cat\|Dynomax muffler; 2.25" exhaust\| Downey Headers\|4.88 gears \|Detroit EZ locker \|Detroit TruTrack\|BJ spacers\|Downey HD coils\|2" rear spring spacers\|Rancho RS9000X/RS5000s\|WARN hubs\|TJM T15

01-31-2006, 02:40 PM	#6 (permalink)
Churnd Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Hattiesburg, MS Posts: 4,093	Reformat if you can. If not, try this: Right click on computer Click Manage Expand "Users and Groups", then click on Users Right click on the user you want deleted, then click delete Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings Find the folder named after the user you deleted Delete that folder This is assuming you are doing this from the Administrator account or through your own account with Administrative privileges. Do NOT delete the Administrator folder. __________________ -Chris If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. Click here to search! My Website

01-31-2006, 02:43 PM	#8 (permalink)
Churnd Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Hattiesburg, MS Posts: 4,093	Also, be forewarned that when you delete the profile's folder, you're deleting all the data that goes along with that profile, such as that users "My Documents" folder. Make sure you really want to get rid of it before you delete it. Software will still be there, so you're ok on that one. If you don't have any of the CD's that came with the laptop, sounds like profile deletion will be your best bet. Oh wait... you have ME? That's a whole new ballgame. Forget my instructions above. Profile deletion in ME is going to be a major PITA, and you'd be better off doing a clean install of XP provided you don't mind losing the software that came with it. You could always upgrade from ME (which I would never recommend) as a worse case scenario. __________________ -Chris If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. Click here to search! My Website Last edited by Churnd; 01-31-2006 at 02:45 PM.

01-31-2006, 03:10 PM	#9 (permalink)
Epic Ed Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 654	You can save most user preferences and settings without much problem. Copying files and folder from one computer to another should be even easier. That's usually the most you can do to transfer dta from an old PC/laptop to a new one. I do this stuff for a living, and one of the most important things I'm tasked with is to try to get the new system to look and feel as comfortable and familiar as possible even though I'm often dealing with two completely dissimilar operating systems (ie., Win95/98 to WinXP). The biggest obstacle you may have is reinstalling software. If you have no media (CD's, floppy's), then you can't reinstall the program! There's no way (for most programs) to simply "copy files" or "backup a program" and expect that you're going to be able to install it on a new computer. For example, you may be running Quickbooks on your old PC and you figure that it will be as simple as copying the Quickbooks directory on the old PC and moving it over to the new. No way. You can certainly move the database over, but you'll never be able to access that data until you reinstall the application. You need some sort of software media to do the reinstall. If you have no CDs, no floppys, no floppys -- then you have no ability to reinstall the operating system and associated applications (like MS Office, etc.). If you need that stuff then it's time to buddy-up to your friendly neighborhood geek and see if you can pirat...errrrrrrrrr, borrow some of his software. Or, pony up the bucks to buy it new. Ed __________________ '95 4Runner\|32x11.5 BFG TA KOs\|Hi-flow Cat\|Dynomax muffler; 2.25" exhaust\| Downey Headers\|4.88 gears \|Detroit EZ locker \|Detroit TruTrack\|BJ spacers\|Downey HD coils\|2" rear spring spacers\|Rancho RS9000X/RS5000s\|WARN hubs\|TJM T15

01-31-2006, 03:21 PM	#10 (permalink)
MNBOY Contributing Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 786	I think I'm gonna wait until a buddy that does this stuff for a living can come by and help. The user accounts and the user profiles don't match up, there seems to be several admin accounts..... more than I want to tackle. On top of that the UPS guy just showed up with this: http://www.officemax.com/max/solutio...ceeldfgndfkk.0 I won it in a contest last summer and had just about forgotten about it and it just got delivered a couple minutes ago. I was going to sell it off when it got here but didn't know what model it was. I'll have to do some research and see if it's worth keeping and using instead of the laptop. Thanks for the help guys. __________________ ____________________ Greg 93 4x4 pickup

01-31-2006, 04:12 PM	#12 (permalink)
Epic Ed Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 654	Eh -- that AMD Sempron is their version of the Celeron; an economy processor. Other than that, other components (like RAM) are upgradable. I'd probably keep the new PC since you'll have a licensed version of Windows XP Home that you can run. Ed __________________ '95 4Runner\|32x11.5 BFG TA KOs\|Hi-flow Cat\|Dynomax muffler; 2.25" exhaust\| Downey Headers\|4.88 gears \|Detroit EZ locker \|Detroit TruTrack\|BJ spacers\|Downey HD coils\|2" rear spring spacers\|Rancho RS9000X/RS5000s\|WARN hubs\|TJM T15

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