Renaming a User Account Does Not Automatically Change the Profile Path

ID: Q227933

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

SYMPTOMS

When you rename a user account in Windows 2000, it does not automatically change the user's profile path.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem:

Click the Start button, point to Programs, and then click Administrative Tools. (The Administrative Tool used depends on the role of the server.)

For for a Stand-alone Server, click Computer Management, click System Tools, and then click on Users.

For a domain controller, click Active Directory Users and Computers, and then click on the User's Organizational Unit (OU).

Right-click the renamed user, and then click Properties.

Click the Profile tab, and then update the Profile Path to the correctly-named path.

Rename the folder on the hard drive that still points to the old user name. Updating the profile path without updating the folder name creates a new folder in the \\servername\sharename with the new user name and orphan the old user name's profile folder.

Follow the profile path of \\servername\sharename\username by opening Windows Explorer.

Start Windows Explorer.

Click the drive that has the profiles shared out as \\servername\sharename. Then locate and select the user's folder that is to be renamed.

Rename the folder to make it identical to the new user name. Save the changes and test the user accounts profile. If additional validation is necessary, log on as the new user name and make a change to the desktop, which should be written back to the Roaming Profile when you log off. Log off, and then log back on to the computer to verify that the change took place.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be by design in Windows 2000.

Additional query words:

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug