Today's how-to is one more registry edit that I have used a few times now to change the registered name and registered company name that is stored in Vista. The first time I did this was because I had a typo in my own name. Yea, my own name. Chalk it up to fat fingers and not having my glasses on I suppose. Sure I could have just done a re-install, but that takes time and effort. I like quick and easy. Any way, this will work equally well for other situations where you wish to alter the original registrant info of your install quickly such as when transferring your system to another party, name change, etc. It's a registry edit so you will need to be comfortable using the regedit.exe utility. The last registry how-to for a while. I promise. Really.

GBM How-To Series # 18 : Changing the registered Name and Organization in Vista

Step 1: Start the registry Editor

Start the registry editor by entering regedit.exe into the "start search" bar of the Vista start menu. Sure there are other ways to get to it, but let's keep it simple for now.

Step 2 : Find the correct registry entry

Once in the registry editor, navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion key. Highlight the CurrentVersion key and look for the RegisteredOwner and RegisteredOrganization strings in the right window.

Step 3 : Edit the key

Right-Click and select modify on each or either of them to edit (or clear) the registered owner/organization information. Then OK when finished.

Step 4 : All Done

Once you are finished editing them, close the registry editor. No restart of your system is required for this fix.

Tips and Notes:

• If you have any doubts about editing the registry, BACK IT UP WITH THE EXPORT COMMAND!
• The Registry Editor will take you right back to the last place you were editing when you left.