General questions about Windows 10

DR M · November 22, 2015, 09:44:54 AM

Good Morning, LzD Friends.

As I posted the previous days, I upgraded my Windows 7 Dell XPS laptop to Windows 10.

I downloaded Microsoft Tool, and I followed the procedure. Now, I'm running Windows 10, and I am OK with my new OS.

Although, I have (and I guess I will have) some questions, I would like to share with you.

1. During the procedure, I chose not to keep anything (files or programs). I wanted a clean install. Although, the procedure could not go further with this option, since the Window with these options appeared again and again. Finally, I clicked next, without knowing which option was saved. After the upgrade I realized that my C was full of things I had in the old OS. Even a Delfix log, we used with Corrine the past months. Also, there is a Windows.old folder in there. This was good, in my case, because I found in there NVIDIA Drivers, as well as my emails and contacts. My question is: By doing the upgrade, there is no way for a clean install? The only way for a clean install is installation from an external media, e.g. a usb drive?

2. Is there a way to ''clean'' all the old Windows files and folders from the computer now?

3. My user name is DR_WHO, but in users the name is shown as DR_WH. Why? What made this change?

Well, that's all for now. I would appreciate your help, as always.

Corrine · November 22, 2015, 02:18:29 PM

Hi, Panos.

The Windows.old file will remain for 30 days, providing you with the opportunity to roll back to your previous OS, should you desire. As to the difference in username, are you using your Microsoft Account or a local account to log on to the computer?

DR M · November 22, 2015, 02:27:04 PM

Hi, Corrine.

For a couple of days I used my Microsoft account. Then, I created a local account to log on the computer.

Digerati · November 22, 2015, 04:39:44 PM

I have no idea why your username would have changed. That is odd. I can only guess you unknowingly left out the "O" - assuming your system was malware free before you started.

Note to do a real "clean" install, there are different steps you must take - including formatting the drive before you begin to have a "clean disk" if you really want a "clean install". If you don't format the drive first, many old files will remain - even though they will not be registered in the new Windows 10 Registry. As far as W10 is concerned, it is still a "clean install" because it is not aware of these files and programs.

Because your W10 is an upgrade, you MUST have a valid W7 or W8.1 license before formatting or you will not be able to prove you have a valid upgrade path. There are several tutorials out there, if you want to start over.

How to do a clean install of Windows 10

As Corrine noted, the windows.old folder will automatically be deleted after 30 days. But if you are 100% certain you will not be rolling back to your previous version of Windows, you can manually delete it.

You can also manually delete any old files you know for a fact you don't want, or need. If not 110% sure, I recommend you rename the files or folders first. Then delete them at a later date if everything still works. What I do to folders or files I am not sure of is just append the file or folder name with the date and the word delete.

Examples:

Then in a week or two, or whenever I stumble on the file or folder again, I can easily see what my intentions were, and how long ago I tagged those files. If no problems, I know they are safe to finally delete them. But if a program breaks, or I discover I need that folder or file, I can easily see the original file or folder name, and just rename it back and be good to go. Note I use "-" instead "\" to avoid any issues with the directory tree.

DR M · November 22, 2015, 05:04:02 PM

Thank you, Digerati, and thank you for your reply.

Quote from: Digerati on November 22, 2015, 04:39:44 PM
I have no idea why your username would have changed. That is odd. I can only guess you unknowingly left out the "O" - assuming your system was malware free before you started.

The different name is only inside the folder Users. When I go to Accounts, and when the computer starts, the name is OK. I have no idea why.

No chance for me to do a clean install now. I spent a lot of time reinstalling my programs. It was a great opportunity when I took the decision to upgrade. I thought that by choosing Not keeping anything I would have had a clean install.

I don't know if it's OK to delete all the folders/files with an old date in the C. I attach the content of C to see that are many things in there, and of course, I have not idea what is useful or not.

DR M · November 22, 2015, 05:53:40 PM

I'm sorry. Here are the attachments.

Digerati · November 22, 2015, 06:12:39 PM

I don't understand what advice you are seeking. I already told you what I would do and that is to rename the files and/or folders I am unsure of.

The only files I would dare tell you now are safe to delete are the .txt files and those in your temp folder.

DR M · November 22, 2015, 06:58:24 PM

Quote from: Digerati on November 22, 2015, 06:12:39 PM
I don't understand what advice you are seeking. I already told you what I would do and that is to rename the files and/or folders I am unsure of. The only files I would dare tell you now are safe to delete are the .txt files and those in your temp folder.

Thank you, and I apologize for all these questions.

As for the name, it seems that if you first use a Microsoft account, then windows will use the first 5 letters to create the account name. Now, I'm trying to find if there is a way to change this.

Links:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_security/account-name/5b3a349f-3115-4e4e-a536-0e7b533e06a8?auth=1
http://www.tenforums.com/user-accounts-family-safety/19884-windows-10-changed-my-user-name.html?s=c52ac799bbcb2b68d91d6c61b6bb9fd9 (the last comment).

Digerati · November 23, 2015, 06:53:24 PM

Okay, it seems Windows truncates the name to about 5 characters. Not sure I understand why, but okay.

I use a local account so not sure if you can change it.

Corrine · November 23, 2015, 07:26:25 PM

When I created Windows 10 Insider Preview on a separate partition, I used my Microsoft Account -- it uses the display name for my account (Corrine) for my user folder without truncating it.

DR M · November 23, 2015, 08:57:16 PM

Quote from: Corrine on November 23, 2015, 07:26:25 PM
When I created Windows 10 Insider Preview on a separate partition, I used my Microsoft Account -- it uses the display name for my account (Corrine) for my user folder without truncating it.

Unfortunately this is not happening now... At the moment I will stop trying to fix it, because I got very frustrated.
Even when I create a local account, no new account is added in Users. There is only DR_WH account. Mpliahhhh!!! >:( If I used my full real name (10 digits-Panayiotis) it would be Panay????? This is not good! :o

DR M · November 25, 2015, 07:10:29 PM

Re: General questions about Windows 10

Can you please tell me if this procedure about renaming the name in Users folder is safe? I found it somewhere in the web, but I want to be sure first.

1. Log in from Microsoft account.
2. Create another local account, name it (from Other Users option) and make it as administrator account.
3. Copy everything from the existing account into the new local account.
4. Log in with the new local account.
5. Delete the account with the wrong name.
5. Log in with Microsoft account.

Corrine · November 26, 2015, 01:56:23 AM

Quote from: DR M on November 25, 2015, 07:10:29 PM
I found it somewhere in the web

Do you remember where you found it?

I also found this thread. Not: It is important to read the complete thread, particularly the part about changing user folder name in safe mode.
Rename User Account Folder in Windows 10 Preview - Microsoft Community

DR M · November 26, 2015, 03:12:48 PM

Quote from: Corrine on November 26, 2015, 01:56:23 AM
I also found this thread. Not: It is important to read the complete thread, particularly the part about changing user folder name in safe mode.
Rename User Account Folder in Windows 10 Preview - Microsoft Community

Hi, Corrine, and thank you for the link! In fact, I got so enthusiastic about the solution described there, so I started doing things without reading the whole thread! Yes, there are definitely several problems when someone follow the steps in the first answer, as well as in the edited post. I have a lot of work today, so I will stop, and continue tomorrow. As for the solution I described above, is from the Ten Forums site, and from reddit. I will find the links later.

DR M · November 28, 2015, 06:14:38 PM

Corrine,

Now, I'm in trouble, for sure.

I tried follow the steps in the article, starting from renaming the account:
Method 2:

Press Windows Key + R combination and then type netplwiz in the Run dialog box. Click OK. If prompted for UAC, click Yes.
Now in the User Accounts window, check Users must enter a user name and password to enter this computer, if it is unchecked.
In the User Name section, select the user name to which you want to change the name and click Properties.
In the Properties window, in the User name field, provide the desired user name. Then click Apply followed by OK.
Reboot to see the change.

I didn't reboot, because I realized that I can not use the start button, the search button and the store button. I tried to revert what I did, but there is no user account any more in the window shown with the command netplwiz. Now, I don't know what is going to happen if I shut down the computer!!!

PLEASE, HELP! (I didn't make system restore!!!)