How to Rename User Accounts in Windows 2000 Active Directory (260390)

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When you rename Active Directory user accounts, you can rename the following four items:

• Common Name (CN) or directory object name: This is the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) name of the object as it is stored in Active Directory.
• Full name: By default, this is the combined first name and last name specified for the account.
• User logon name: This logon name uses the following format: username@domainname. This name is also referred to as User Principal Name (UPN).
• User logon name (before Windows 2000): This is the NetBIOS style user logon name used in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Windows 95/98 and other clients previous to Windows 2000. This logon name uses the following format: domainname\username.

Renaming any one of these accounts does not automatically rename the other accounts. If you click a user account and then click Rename on the Action menu (or right-click the user account in the Active Directory Users and Computers Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, and then click Rename), only the CN of the object in Active Directory is changed by default. You are then presented with a Rename User dialog box that allows you to change the display name, user logon name, and user logon (pre-Windows 2000) name.

If you want to change the name that a user types when logging on to a Windows 2000 Active Directory domain, you must change the appropriate user logon name field.

If you want to rename either of the user logon fields without renaming the full name, use the following steps:

1. Click the appropriate user name and then click Properties on the Action menu (or right-click the user name, and then click Properties).
2. In the user account properties, click the Account tab and make the appropriate user logon name changes.
3. Click OK to apply the changes, and then close the dialog box.

For additional information about the two user logon types in a Windows 2000 Active Directory domain, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: