Microsoft KB Archive/290528

Knowledge Base

How to change the company name and user name in Office XP programs

Article ID: 290528

Article Last Modified on 12/4/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Office XP Professional Edition
• Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage
• Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition
• Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q290528

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

IN THIS TASK

SUMMARY How to Change the Company Name How to Change the User Name Information

• In Microsoft Excel 2002
• In Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
• In Microsoft Word 2002

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how to change the name of the company in Office XP after Setup by modifying the Windows registry. This article also explains how to change the user name information.

NOTE: In earlier versions of Office, if you want to change the company name that is displayed on the Office splash screens and in the About program name dialog box on the Help menu (where program name is the program that you are using), you must remove Office, run Setup again, and then type a new company name.

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How to Change the Company Name

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To change the company name that is displayed in the Office programs, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit and then click OK.
3. Try to locate and select the following key. If the key is not present, go to step 6. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\< GUID> where <GUID> is the Product Code for the version of Office that is installed; for example, {90280409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0050048383C9}. More than one GUID may be listed under the Uninstall subkey. If you see more than one, select each GUID until you find the one that has the correct product name listed for the DisplayName value; for example, "Microsoft Office XP Professional."
4. Double-click RegCompany in the Name column.
5. Change the text in the Value data box, click OK, and then go to step 9.
6. NOTE: Follow this step (6) only if you were unable to locate the key in step 3.
   

Locate and select the following key. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Installer/Userdata/S-1-5-18/Products/< GUID>/InstallProperties where <GUID> is the product code for the version of Office that is installed; for example, {9040820900063D11C8EF00054038389C }. More than one GUID may be listed under the Uninstall subkey. If you see more than one, select each GUID, and then look in the InstallProperties folder until you find the one that has the correct product name listed for the DisplayName value; for example, "Microsoft Office XP Professional."

1. In the Name column, double-click RegCompany.
2. Change the text in the Value' data box, and then click 'OK.
3. Locate and select the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common\UserInfo
4. On the Edit menu, click Rename.
5. Type OldUserInfo, and then press ENTER.
6. On the Registry menu, click Exit.
   

When you start an Office program, the company name that is displayed reflects the change that you made in step 5.

NOTE: After you follow these steps, if the company name is changed in all programs except one, locate the following key, delete it, and then restart Office HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\<OfficeApp>\UserInfo where OfficeApp is the Microsoft Office program that still displays the incorrect company name. back to the top

How to Change the User Name Information

You can change the user name information in Microsoft Excel 2002, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, and Microsoft Word 2002. You only have to change the user name in one of these programs to change it for the other Office XP programs. To change the user name information, follow these steps.

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In Microsoft Excel 2002

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Type the user name information in the User Name box.
4. Click OK.

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In Microsoft PowerPoint 2002

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Type the user name information in the Name box.
4. Click OK.

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In Microsoft Word 2002

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the User Information tab.
3. Type the user name information in the Name box.
4. Click OK.

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Additional query words: OfficeKBHowTo OFFXP username inf

Keywords: kbpubtypekc kbmsccsearch kbhowtomaster KB290528

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