cannot access administrator account in safe mode

  • Thread starter Thread starter wetpaws
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wetpaws

how do I access my admin account in safe mode"\? I tried rebooting my
computer doing the F8 thing and then when safe mode menu comes up I pick safe
mode and when it starts up in safe mode i still cannot access the
administraot account.
 
wetpaws said:
how do I access my admin account in safe mode"\? I tried rebooting my
computer doing the F8 thing and then when safe mode menu comes up I pick
safe mode and when it starts up in safe mode i still cannot access the
administraot account.
Click to expand...

Version of XP? Antivirus/antispyware programs installed and/or run? The
answer to:

The First Question Of Troubleshooting: If the problem is new, what changed
between the time things worked and the time they didn't?

The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the malware/virus
status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what programs (and
versions) did you use to determine this?

Be sure the computer is clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Any other administrative accounts on the system?

More details are necessary in order for us to help you.

Malke
 
My version of xp is microsoft xp professional and the type of antivirus is
ad-aware and AVG. the awnser to problem one is nothing changed. I shut down
my computer as normal every night and when I got up in the morning I turned
it on and that is when the trouble started. I did get an email the night
before but my antivirus popped up and said that it was infected so I deleted
it, closed doen my comp andthat was it.the awnser to problem two is not sure.
my antivirus and ad-aware shows nothing no virus's or anything so they say.
No I don't thing there is anymore administrative accounts on the computer
just mine. I hope this helps you help me.
 
wetpaws said:
My version of xp is microsoft xp professional and the type of antivirus is
ad-aware and AVG. the awnser to problem one is nothing changed. I shut
down my computer as normal every night and when I got up in the morning I
turned
it on and that is when the trouble started. I did get an email the night
before but my antivirus popped up and said that it was infected so I
deleted it, closed doen my comp andthat was it.the awnser to problem two
is not sure. my antivirus and ad-aware shows nothing no virus's or
anything so they say. No I don't thing there is anymore administrative
accounts on the computer just mine. I hope this helps you help me.
Click to expand...

You don't need to access the built-in Administrator in Safe Mode in XP Pro.
At the Welcome Screen do Ctrl-Alt-Del twice. This will give you the classic
logon box. Use "Administrator" (without the quotes) for the username and
enter whatever password you assigned. If you didn't assign a password,
leave it blank.

Malke
 
I tried what you suggested and it never changed anything. as soon as I type
in administrator the box pops up that says my user name and\
or my password is incorrect. I am getting real frusterated. tried
downloading trend micro housecall to scan my comp. but says I am not allowed
to do it. I guess the guest has very lomited access.
 
wetpaws said:
I tried what you suggested and it never changed anything. as soon as I
type in administrator the box pops up that says my user name and\
or my password is incorrect. I am getting real frusterated. tried
downloading trend micro housecall to scan my comp. but says I am not
allowed
to do it. I guess the guest has very lomited access.
Click to expand...

You can try one more thing. You can blank the built-in Administrator's
password with NTpasswd and then try and log in. If this works, scan your
computer more thoroughly for malware (see link below). If it doesn't work,
then probably the account is irrevocably corrupted. Since you were using
the built-in Administrator for your daily work (always a bad idea) instead
of a separate account, you're SOL if you can't log into it. You can't
create a new administrative user account from the Guest account (which
should be disabled anyway for security purposes) or a Limited account.

To set a blank (null) password for the built-in Administrator account:

Download the bootable CD .iso, burn with third-party burning software (as an
image, not as data), boot with the media you created. You may need to
change the boot order in the BIOS or get a temporary boot order menu with a
special keypress. NTpasswd will run. Follow the instructions carefully.

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

If you are able to log into the built-in Administrator account by doing the
above (and presumably that account was what you were using), create an
emergency administrative account now. Call it "Tech" or "CompAdmin" or the
like. You don't even need to log into it; it should just be there for
emergencies such as this one.

Be sure the computer is clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

If you can't log in even after you've used NTpasswd, back up your data using
a Linux Live CD such as Knoppix or a Bart's PE and copy the data to an
external hard drive. Then do a clean install of Windows. If you have an OEM
machine (HP, Dell, etc.) use whatever method was provided by the OEM to
restore the computer to factory condition. Otherwise:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand

Doing all this requires a certain level of computer skills. You know
yourself best and whether taking the machine to a competent local computer
tech (not a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place) is the better
solution for you.

Malke
 
hi,
i recently obtained a virus - trojan
and my anti virus could not get rid of it
so i system retsored but now the laptop only loads to the first two starting
screens and just keeps replaying them
i tried starting it up in safe mode still does the saem thing any suggestions?
 
joet said:
hi,
i recently obtained a virus - trojan
and my anti virus could not get rid of it
so i system retsored but now the laptop only loads to the first two
starting screens and just keeps replaying them
i tried starting it up in safe mode still does the saem thing any
suggestions?
Click to expand...

Your post has nothing to do with the original poster's issue. Make a new
post about your problems including all pertinent details so someone can
help you. These links will show you what to include:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Usenet
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375 - How to Ask a Question

Malke
 
There are CD's out there that can allow you to boot into a project that will
allow you to change the password. But that may be hard for you to come by.
If all else fails, format and start fresh.
 
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