Guest paoloricardo@gmail.com Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 A friend was given a laptop which had previously been connected to a local network. It still has network domains and the previous user's login. We cannot access the 'My Documents' folder since the setup assumes we must be connected. Is there any way I can 'un-network' the various settings and establish the laptop as a standalone, unconnected PC? I am not a networking expert and did not want to change/delete anything for fear of messing things up.
Guest sgopus Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 RE: Disentangling network set up get a new copy of XP, make sure you have all the drivers needed for the hardware, wipe the previous install and install new. "paoloricardo@gmail.com" wrote: > A friend was given a laptop which had previously been connected to a > local network. It still has network domains and the previous user's > login. We cannot access the 'My Documents' folder since the setup > assumes we must be connected. > > Is there any way I can 'un-network' the various settings and establish > the laptop as a standalone, unconnected PC? > > I am not a networking expert and did not want to change/delete > anything for fear of messing things up. >
Guest paoloricardo@gmail.com Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Re: Disentangling network set up On Oct 8, 3:24 pm, sgopus <sgo...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > get a new copy of XP, make sure you have all the drivers needed for the > hardware, wipe the previous install and install new. > > "paolorica...@gmail.com" wrote: > > A friend was given a laptop which had previously been connected to a > > local network. It still has network domains and the previous user's > > login. We cannot access the 'My Documents' folder since the setup > > assumes we must be connected. > > > Is there any way I can 'un-network' the various settings and establish > > the laptop as a standalone, unconnected PC? > > > I am not a networking expert and did not want to change/delete > > anything for fear of messing things up. Is that the only way to do it?
Guest Malke Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Re: Disentangling network set up paoloricardo@gmail.com wrote: > On Oct 8, 3:24 pm, sgopus <sgo...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: >> get a new copy of XP, make sure you have all the drivers needed for the >> hardware, wipe the previous install and install new. >> >> "paolorica...@gmail.com" wrote: >> > A friend was given a laptop which had previously been connected to a >> > local network. It still has network domains and the previous user's >> > login. We cannot access the 'My Documents' folder since the setup >> > assumes we must be connected. >> >> > Is there any way I can 'un-network' the various settings and establish >> > the laptop as a standalone, unconnected PC? >> >> > I am not a networking expert and did not want to change/delete >> > anything for fear of messing things up. > > Is that the only way to do it? Basically, yes. The laptop was a domain member. There will be many restrictive settings, etc. that will be difficult, if not impossible, to undo. Your friend should do this the right way. http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What you will need on-hand Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
Guest paoloricardo@gmail.com Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Re: Disentangling network set up On Oct 8, 11:11 pm, Malke <ma...@invalid.invalid> wrote: > paolorica...@gmail.com wrote: > > On Oct 8, 3:24 pm, sgopus <sgo...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > >> get a new copy of XP, make sure you have all the drivers needed for the > >> hardware, wipe the previous install and install new. > > >> "paolorica...@gmail.com" wrote: > >> > A friend was given a laptop which had previously been connected to a > >> > local network. It still has network domains and the previous user's > >> > login. We cannot access the 'My Documents' folder since the setup > >> > assumes we must be connected. > > >> > Is there any way I can 'un-network' the various settings and establish > >> > the laptop as a standalone, unconnected PC? > > >> > I am not a networking expert and did not want to change/delete > >> > anything for fear of messing things up. > > > Is that the only way to do it? > > Basically, yes. The laptop was a domain member. There will be many > restrictive settings, etc. that will be difficult, if not impossible, to > undo. Your friend should do this the right way. > > http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html- Clean Install How-Tohttp://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows- What > you will need on-hand > > Malke > -- > MS-MVP > Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! > FAQ -http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ Malke: thanks. I'll follow your advice.
Guest EncinoMan Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 Re: Disentangling network set up On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:11:04 -0700, Malke <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote: >paoloricardo@gmail.com wrote: > >> On Oct 8, 3:24 pm, sgopus <sgo...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: >>> get a new copy of XP, make sure you have all the drivers needed for the >>> hardware, wipe the previous install and install new. >>> >>> "paolorica...@gmail.com" wrote: >>> > A friend was given a laptop which had previously been connected to a >>> > local network. It still has network domains and the previous user's >>> > login. We cannot access the 'My Documents' folder since the setup >>> > assumes we must be connected. >>> >>> > Is there any way I can 'un-network' the various settings and establish >>> > the laptop as a standalone, unconnected PC? >>> >>> > I am not a networking expert and did not want to change/delete >>> > anything for fear of messing things up. >> >> Is that the only way to do it? > >Basically, yes. The laptop was a domain member. There will be many >restrictive settings, etc. that will be difficult, if not impossible, to >undo. Your friend should do this the right way. > >http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To >http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What >you will need on-hand > >Malke This is not necessarily true. It could be just as simple as going to My Computer/Properties/Computer Name tab/Change button. Then move it from a Domain to a workgroup you designate. Reboot and it will be done. Now you may still be unable to access the My Documents folder, but at that point just login as Adminstrator and take Ownership of those folders, and voila, it's done. Of course the Domain policy may keep the OP from being able to do this, but usually not.
Guest Bruce Chambers Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 Re: Disentangling network set up paoloricardo@gmail.com wrote: > A friend was given a laptop which had previously been connected to a > local network. It still has network domains and the previous user's > login. We cannot access the 'My Documents' folder since the setup > assumes we must be connected. > > Is there any way I can 'un-network' the various settings and establish > the laptop as a standalone, unconnected PC? > > I am not a networking expert and did not want to change/delete > anything for fear of messing things up. With second-hand computers, especially if acquired from strangers but perhaps even if acquired from a family member or friend, your wisest course of action would definitely be to format the hard drives and start fresh. You don't want to get in trouble because the original owner may have filled the hard drive with kiddie porn, or have problems because the original owner downloaded/installed viruses or other malware, or misconfigured the networking. -- Bruce Chambers Help us help you: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375 They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers. ~ Denis Diderot
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