Bally,
1)What version of windows is running on that laptop?
2)Set the machine up to do automatic updates during times that you are not expected to be using it, like 3 in the morning or something.
3)If it is "whenever she turned it on it did Windows Updates like crazy" there is something else going on. Maybe the updates are failing so it has to keep on trying.
4)Kyle..to say that there is 100 new updates a day is nonsense. The only time I've had a pc reboot on me is after doing a manual update and even then I told it to reboot.
5) Changing the machine name is not a registry hack.
You can change the username. But it will not change the default user directory name. That has to be done in the registry.
Yes, having it updates while you are away from the pc at late hours will work also, that is if they want to do that.
And yes, it will reboot after apply the automatic updates. Which is why I have it set to manually do it. It has happen to me on numerous occasions, as well as others. There are times where you will get a pop up saying that the PC will reboot in such time, like 10 minutes for example; but that doesn't always happen. And even when that does happen, it doesn't give you a choice to cancel the reboot.
Maybe saying that there are 100 updates a day seems a little far fetched, but it sure as hell seems like it, as windows is constantly sending out updates.
Here is how to chang the default user directory in windows. This example gives it for windows 7, but it is basically the same with other versions.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/147545-user-profile-folder-change-user-account-folder-name.html