Changing Account name or migrating 2 new

this is not a new issue but wondering if one of you folks has a better solution.
I misnamed a User account, on a fresh install of XP Pro SP3, and wish to change it. unfortunately have installed a lot of personal files and apps.

my problem is that when one changes an Account name [just that, nothing more] the account is really just nicknamed or aliased, and it leads to confusion down the road since all the accounts data is still 'owned' by the original account name. its an ugly 'solution' that gets uglier with time and the inevitable troubles, cleanups, add-ons, etc.

someone tell me a better way.

if I setup a NEW account, is there anyway to "migrate" everything over to that new and have the registry intact? I think not... but thought I would ask

z

 

Greetings, zapp.

I don't have an XP machine handy, but I'm wondering if you could use the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard (FAST) to move everything to a flash drive (if the option for moving the files and settings from one account to another).

Maybe using the drive will simulate transferring from one computer to another. Just a thought.

 

That should have read:

Sorry. :-o

 

I ended up doing it the hard way, from 'scratch'. even then there were things to be fixed: i.e. the browsers had to be 'repointed' to a diff default directory. even after exterminating the old account, those settings persist.

the way the Microsoft article read was all wrong - essentially there was no diff between copy/paste and aliasing. when you move a system folder such as "My Music" the settings remain, which is exactly what needs to be avoided.

at least I know what I have now.

 

Yeah, sometimes it's easier to do it the hard way.

I remember the corrupted profile problem happened a lot with 98/ME/XP/Vista (not as much with Win 7/8) - often the recommended fix was simply to create a new profile and transfer everything, but as you've seen it's a lot more complex than merely 'moving' files.

Glad you're getting things sorted and thanks for the feedback.