How do I change my username or password?
Question:
How do I change my username or password?
Answer
Below are the steps on how to change your username or password in major operating systems, online services, and other locations. Keep in mind that unless you're the administrator or root of the system you, will need to know the password of the account before changing it into something else. Click on one of the below links to scroll down automatically to steps on how to change the username or password
Windows Vista and 7 users
Windows XP users
Windows 2000 users
Windows 95, 98, and ME users
Linux / Unix and most variants
BIOS passwords
Internet username and passwords
Online forums and accounts
Windows Vista and 7 users
Change password
Open Control Panel.
Click Add or remove user accounts.
Click the account you wish to change.
Click Change the password
Change username
Open Control Panel.
Click Add or remove user accounts.
Click the account you wish to change.
Click Change the account name
Windows XP users
Change password
Open Control Panel.
Double-click the Users Accounts icon.
Select the account you wish to change.
Select the option "Change my name" to change your username or "Create a password" or "Change my password" to change your password.
Note: Windows XP Home users can only change the Administrator password through Safe Mode.
Change username
Open Control Panel.
Double-click the Users Accounts icon.
Select the account you wish to change.
Click "Change My Name"
Enter the new name you wish to use and click the Change Name button.
Windows 2000 users
Change password
Microsoft Windows 2000 users can change their username by pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL while in Windows to open the Windows Security window. From this window click the "Change Password" button.
Enter your old password and the new password you wish to use.
Change username
In order to change the username of an account on Windows XP you will need to have an account with Administrator rights. If you're logged in as Administrator or have an account with Administrator rights, follow the below steps.
Open Control Panel.
Double-click the Users and Password icon.
Make sure "Users must enter a user and password to use this computer" is checked.
Highlight the account you wish to change the username for and click the Properties button.
Within the Properties you'll be able to change the User name.
Windows 95, 98, and ME users
Change password
To change your password or password settings in Windows 95, 98, or ME, follow the below steps.
Open Control Panel.
Double-click the Passwords icon.
In the Password Properties window, click the Change Windows Password button.
Note: The Windows password can also be changed through the Users icon in Control Panel.
Change username
You can change the user settings in Windows 95/98 through the Users icon in Control Panel. However, this does not allow you to change the actual username. If you need to change the username, we suggest you create a copy of your existing username and use the new user name. Below are the steps to do this.
Open Control Panel.
Double-click the Users icon.
Highlight the user you wish to make a copy of and click the Make a copy button.
Follow the wizard in creating a new user account.
Linux / Unix and most variants
Change password
Almost all Linux / Unix and variants have access to the passwd command. Enter this command at the prompt to change your password. You'll need to know the current password before being able to change the password to a new password.
passwd - entering just passwd would allow you to change the password. After entering passwd you will receive the following three prompts:
Current Password:
New Password:
Confirm New Password:
Each of these prompts must be entered and entered correctly for the password to be successfully changed.
passwd newperson
If you have just setup an account using the useradd command you would then type a command similar to the above command to set the password for the "newperson" account. Only root users have the ability to set passwords for other accounts..
Change username
In order to change the username you will need to have root or super-user access.
To change the username of an account, use the vipw command.
vipw
Running the above command would open an edit for the /etc/passwd and /etc/group files in vi. In order to change
To change the user settings, use the chfn command.
chfn
Running the command without any options will enable the user to change all the user information.
BIOS passwords
Change password
The system password that appears immediately after turning on the computer and CMOS / BIOS password are both changed through the CMOS Setup.
Change username
A computer BIOS does not have a username.Internet username and passwords
Changing your Internet username or password is really dependent on how your Internet Service Provider is setup and what their policy is for changing the username and password. Often, most ISPs will allow you to change your password whenever you need to; however, they will not allow you to change your account name.
Because every Internet Service Provider (ISP) and webhost is different, we suggest you contact the company for additional help with changing your username or password.
Online forums and accounts
Like the Computer Hope forums, most forums allow a user to change their password only through the profile or account settings. However, most companies will not allow you to change your username; usually, you must create new account to do this. If you need additional service with changing your username or password on another website, we suggest you contact the company or webmaster in control of that website.
