[Help]My Computer Has A First Name...

[TEAMAVALOS]

I purchased a used computer, and it has someone elses name. When I print items at work I would check the print status, and it shows a name that is not mine is next in line, or if I download something, it would put it in "Missys Folder." Well, I am NOT Missy!

Please help!

Thanks!!!!

Title Edited - Please follow the forum rules from now on

-- Martin L

[eyeball]

right click my computer and under the computer name tab you should be able to change the computer name, but i think you are alos refering to my documents as it says "missy" for this you will need to create a user for yourself ( go to control panel and user accounts)

thanks

[WolfX2]

well if it is used, i recommend whipping the system clean then re-installing windows!

You can customize it further to YOUR likeing and the system performance will in-prove dramatically! and it gives you the feeling that YOU just bought a NEW computer!

If you choose to do that, after the fact make sure you follow this guide

Edited February 16, 2006 by wolf74481

[Jeremy]

I would also recommend you reformat.

Performance Tips

1. Use CCleaner to clean out temp/cache/MRUs and the registry.

2. Use RegSeeker to further clean the registry.

3. Use NT Registry Optimizer to compact the registry.

4. Disable all visual effects (including themes) except for "Show Windows Contents While Dragging".

5. Set the page file's initial and max value the same. Reboot.

6. Remove all files from the Prefetch folder or disable it entirely if you have a lot of RAM (512 MBs or higher).

7. Defrag with PerfectDisk and use the SmartPlacement method and also enable aggressive free space consolidation. Then enable an "offline" defragment of your page file and system files at next boot-up.

As for Antivirus, do not use Norton. If you must use a huge mainstream product, go with McAfee Virus Scan 2006. If you want something easier on resources, go with NOD32. Leo Laporte, a good friend the Windows XP Security Guru, Steve Gibson (www.grc.com) also uses it. Other good ones are Avast!, Kaspersky, and BitDefender. Don't use AVG because it doesn't detect as many malicious files as Avast. Click here for proof of that.

I'd also suggest getting a router, as it acts naturally as a hardware firewall, which IMHO is essential these days. Essentially, it "labels" all outgoing packets (traffic/bandwidth) from your PC and checks for all incoming packets for these labels. If the incoming labels don't match the outgoing labels, those packets are discarded. However, since a router can only monitor incoming traffic, it is still recommended that you run a software firewall for the purpose of monitoring outgoing traffic. Even though you have a router, something you deliberately allow onto your system from a p2p program or website may contain malware of some sort and it may attempt to immediately "call home". With your software firewall (I highly recommend Sygate Personal Firewall, it was bought by Symantec but v5.6 is still the best IMHO and yes I've tried Kerio) in place, it will notify you of anything that wants to send traffic out. If you see something you don't recognise or are suspicious of, deny it access.

For spyware use Ad-Aware SE, Spybot 1.4, CWShredder, HijackThis and M$ AntiSpyware.

Wow, I went on quite a speel for just agreeing with what someone else said, lol.

[WolfX2]

@Jeremy - thats ok, I love it when people agree with me