OFFXP: User Name and Company Name in Splash Screen Different from Names in "About" Dialog Box

When you view your company name in the startup splash screen for the Office programs, the name may be different from the name that appears in the dialog box when you click About program name on the Help menu. (For example, in Word 2002, you click About Microsoft Word 2002 on the Help menu, and the company name is different than the name in the splash screen.)The user name in both places may be different from the user name set in the Office installation program.

This behavior is caused by information left in the registry when Office is removed. The next installation prompts you for name and company name, but information in the registry is used for the splash screen. The new company name is displayed in the About program name dialog box.

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.

How to Change the Company Name in the Splash Screen

To change the company name in the splash screen so it correctly matches the company name in the About program name dialog box, follow these steps:

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. In the Open box, type Regedit and click OK.
3. Locate and select the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common\UserInfo
4. On the Edit menu, click Rename.
5. Type OldUserInfo and press ENTER.
6. On the Registry menu, click Exit.
7. Start one of the Office programs.
8. If the User Name dialog box appears, you can change the user name and initials, and then click OK. The company name in the splash screen is now the same as the company name in the About program name dialog box in all Office programs.

How to Change the User Name in the Splash Screen

To change the user name in the splash screen and the About program name dialog box, follow these steps:

1. Start Excel, PowerPoint, or Word.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
3. Do one of the following, depending on which program you are using:
   
   
   • In Excel, on the General tab, replace the text in the User name box with the correct name.
   • In PowerPoint, on the General tab, replace the text in the Name box with the correct name.
   • In Word, on the User Information tab, replace the text in the Name box with the correct name.

This changes the user name in all Office programs.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.