TechTips - How to Change the User Registration Information in Windows XP

When you install Windows XP part of the installation process is to list the owner of the PC. Well this info is stored on the machine and when you open the properties of your computer it will be listed in the System Properties under the Registered to: section. I have been asked a lot by users how to change this information, mostly from people who bought PC's on Craigslist and want to have their name listed as the owner. It's actually a pretty simple task and I will explain two ways to make the change, one is doing the work yourself via the registry and the other is using a simple program to make the change.

So the first most method we will walk through is going into the registry and actually manually making the changes ourselves. Some people don't feel very secure making changes to the registry and you shouldn't do this unless you know what you are doing. Any mistake in the registry can really cause problems with your system. So I suggest knowing what you are doing, following the instructions very carefully and having a backup of your PC just in case you make a really bad mistake.

So to make the changes to reflect your name in the registration information page follow these steps:

Click Start

Click Run

Type Regedit

Hit Enter

Go to the KEY (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion)

Double click RegisteredOrganization

Type your Organization name in Value Data

Click OK

Double Click RegisteredOwner

Type your name in Value Data

Click OK

Close the Registry

Now you shouldn't have to reboot your PC for the changes to work (if they don't show then reboot) so we can check to see if it worked by Right Clicking on My Computer and choose Properties. Your name (or the one you entered) should now be listed in the Registered To section of the System Properties.

Now if you don't want to go in and edit the registry and risk making a mistake that could break your computer, then you are in luck because there is a free tool called the Registration Changer Utility (you must sign up to download the tool, its free and a good site)that can do the work for you.

After you download the program, extract it and install it you will open the program using the RegChange.hta file that is located in the folder you installed the program to. It's a very easy to use program and very straightforward, to change the info using the Registration Changer Utility follow these steps:

Double click the RegChange.hta Icon

Click the Radio button next to your version of windows (XP is mine)

Type Owner name (in text box labeled Owner)

Type Organization name (in text box labeled Organization)

Click OK

You will get a prompt telling you the registry will be changed (make sure you select the right version of Windows)

Click Yes

That is all there is to using the Registry Changer Utility, now you can check your system properties again and the information you entered in the program will be listed. You are now the registered owner of your Windows XP machine.

Well I hope one of these two methods of making this change gets the job done for you.