Reconfiguring (?) a used laptop

Hi
Not sure if I am titling this correctly, if not, sorry in advance.
I have a used Lenovo T43 that I bought that has Windows XP Pro loaded but has the previous company's IT settings still in effect.
I'd like to get rid of the old "NT"-esque log-in and have it run as a non-NT machine.
Not sure if I am explaining this well. But what I have done in the past is wiped the harddrive completely and reinstalled windows. But when I did that I lost all of the IBM/Lenovo functionality and had to reinstall all the drivers etc.
Is there a simple way to just get rid of the NT functionality so when I boot I dont go through the IT policy screen, user ID/Password log-in?
Thanks in advance.
aTALL1

 

Well, it depends--your description is somewhat unclear.

Right click on MY COMPUTER, choose PROPERTIES.

Under computer name, change from DOMAIN to WORKGROUP (call it anything or match your home workgroup name).

It will tell you you need to reboot, do so

 

I would recommend just doing the wipe, but what you can do is go to the control panel, open user accounts, click change the way users log on, and make sure the welcome screen is checked off to be used.

Also, make sure you're not part of a domain. Go to computer properties (right click my computer, hit properties) go to the computer name tab, and remove yourself by clicking change.

 

First, thanks for the quick replies.
To clarify, when I log on, I get the IT security statement, hit enter and get the user log on. I can get logged on to the machine, but I want to get rid of at least the security statement screen, and if possible the log on screen too. I want to uninstall the P2P (not sure that's accurate description either) application Timbuktoo.
I hope that clarifies somewhat...
Thanks again!

 

you can remove using registry editor , here is how (always take a backup to be safe )

Open up regedit.exe through the run box, and then browse down to the following key:

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

on the right side you should see a keys called LegalNoticeCaption and LegalNoticeText



Just double click them clear the values in it

do a restart and these msgs should have disappeared but if still they comes up again, do the same steps in here too

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system

 

new problem: i changed the domain, edited to my home workgroup, rebooted. Now I still have the security message (ctrl+alt+del) and get the logon, but it wont accept my user id and password now. I seem to be locked out...
suggestions?

 

get into safe mode and login as administrator , then goto user accounts or computer mangement console ( right click my computer icon and click manage )

then check select the users and groups > then select each user and see if its locked out

 

Make sure in the dropdown box you have selected local machine.
Also have you tried my method for disabling the W2K style logon?

 

Wouldn't a clean reinstallation have been easier?

 

Is it a novell login or windows login?