Lost password

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Someone gave me a computer with XP that requires a password to be entered,
but they don't know the password. Computer administrator is not on the
welcome screen...how can I get in without knowing the password?
 
For XP Pro, press CTRL-ALT-DEL twice at the welcome screen. You'll get the old Windows 2000 sytle logon. Enter Administrator and try leaving the password blank.

For XP Home, you must boot the computer into Safe Mode. Press the F8 key between the BIOS Post screen and XP actually starting to load. The Administrator account will appear on the Welcome Screen.
 
Doug,

It's xp pro. Tired your first solution, but it still asks for a
password....what's the next step?
 
5hulses said:
Someone gave me a computer with XP that requires a password to be entered,
but they don't know the password. Computer administrator is not on the
welcome screen...how can I get in without knowing the password?
Click to expand...


If the person who gave you the computer doesn't know any of the
passwords needed to use the computer, you might want to verify that
he/she had a legitimate right to that computer, before doing anything
else. Your local police should be able to tell you if it was stolen.

With second-hand computers, especially if acquired from strangers
but even if acquired from a family member or friend, your wisest course
of action would probably be to format the hard drives and start fresh.
You don't want to get in trouble because the original owner may have
filled the hard drive with kiddie porn, or have problems because the
original owner downloaded/installed viruses or other malware.

Anyway, to answer your question:

How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your
Password Expires
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q321305


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH
 
RECOVER rather than RESET XP passwords.

The tool allows you to recover the old password rather than resetting it and doesn't need any hacks like opening user manager via vunrabilitys in the spool service or using SAFE mode or an admin account. The service is at:

http://www.loginrecovery.com

It only takes about 5 mins to use and is simply a download of a floppy disk image and then all the rest is done from there. While it is a commercial service it is done for free if you wait around two days.

It's helped me hundreds of times in the past and I hope that it will help you!
 
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