Change Name of User Profile Folder in Windows 10  

I've just done a clean re-install of Win10 using the same MS A/C & Windows choose a stupid profile name so I want to change it before I start to re-install all my software, etc.

I can follow all of the steps in 1st post of this thread except for Step 14 ... "Verify the OneDrive folder location for your account ..."

How do I get the "This is your OneDrive folder" as shown in the screenshot for Step 14?

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I've also looked at the Change Location of OneDrive Folder in Windows 10 and for Windows 10 20H2 MS in their wisdom has changed things.

Brink said:

Hello dcv, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)

Usually, you will only need to change the folder name and folder path for the ProfileImagePath value as in the tutorial since this is what everything references. There may be a few rare exceptions for old programs that do not fully support Windows 10 though.

I got 212 references to the old name. I did this procedure on a nearly clear system. I thought everything went well. Then noticed apps not working because they had links to that old username. Now i checken my regedit i see 212 instances of that old name. Also my search did work properly anymore, i rebuild the index a couple times and sort of worked. THen noticed that search in the settings didnt show anything. When i looked at a random video about a blank search window i went looking around in folders close to that key. I found a couple keys within the microsoft\search folder also pointing to the old username. I updated the name and then search in the settings started to work again. I still have other issues with the search, it doesnt find everything like i supposed to. For instance, "create restore point", wont show.

I havent worked with windows in over 17 years. I really find it retarded that simply changing a username cant be done and when done one needs to do so much hustle to get it working. How did they aprove it that when setting up your account it automatically takes the first 4 letters?!?!?!

Can we simply find/replace those instances? Ill have a couple backups of the regedit if shit happens. Im not sure if this is a wise decission to make though. On the otherhand, those links all point to a none excisting user folder currently.

I did that exact same thing to change this current and first user. I almost have everything working. Its just that apps from the control panel dont show when i do a search. I can reach them ofcourse by simply search control > create restore point. But thats to many clicks for me.

The issue i had with that other method that i didnt allow me to setup the account without a space between name and surname. Thats why i went on adjust the first account and doing some work in the regedit.

Perhaps i just should move and forget about it... just live with it.

TOday i thought perhaps its linked to the issue that Cortana doesnt show or seems to be existing on this laptop any more. I I tried installing the standalone but that doesnt solve the issue neither.

I did go over the parts of the regedit and did get small stuff like missing icons working again. Man so much stuff is linked there, its so weird compated to OSX?!?!

Just as a footnote, if you didn't use the user account management to change the NAME on the profile, you will still see the same name after changing the user profile name on switching users.

Reading all 27 pages of this thread, there's many people who can't delete their profile because it's locked because perhaps the user is still logged in, somehow, automatically, in the background.

Brink suggests using safe-mode which does help eliminate many reasons that an account may be auto-logged-in not by you.

Here's one of those reasons.

In Task Scheduler you can store a username password and have that user log in and run a task even if the user themselves is not logged in, eg, you have logged in as another user.

Here's what the screen looks like double-clicking (ie going into editing mode) on such a task in Task Scheduler ("aatask" in the example):



In the above example, "userNN" will log in to run this task, even if another user logs into the PC proper. Thus, C:\users\userNN will be locked. Or if you delete it, it will be recreated automatically when this task runs, even if you yourself are logged in as a different account.

I would suggest checking all the tasks in the "Task Scheduler Library" (folder on the left in Task Scheduler) and other folders if there are any. There's too many to check in the "Windows" folder.

This utility Task Scheduler Viewer for Windows 10 / 7 / 8 / Vista is another way to search for strings in the whole task scheduler. Might help you.

MontgomeryMinds said:

Reading all 27 pages of this thread, there's many people who can't delete their profile because it's locked because perhaps the user is still logged in, somehow, automatically, in the background.

Brink suggests using safe-mode which does help eliminate many reasons that an account may be auto-logged-in not by you.

Here's one of those reasons.

In Task Scheduler you can store a username password and have that user log in and run a task even if the user themselves is not logged in, eg, you have logged in as another user.

Here's what the screen looks like double-clicking (ie going into editing mode) on such a task in Task Scheduler ("aatask" in the example):



In the above example, "userNN" will log in to run this task, even if another user logs into the PC proper. Thus, C:\users\userNN will be locked. Or if you delete it, it will be recreated automatically when this task runs, even if you yourself are logged in as a different account.

I would suggest checking all the tasks in the "Task Scheduler Library" (folder on the left in Task Scheduler) and other folders if there are any. There's too many to check in the "Windows" folder.

This utility Task Scheduler Viewer for Windows 10 / 7 / 8 / Vista is another way to search for strings in the whole task scheduler. Might help you.

That is truly "Windows" crazy!!!!