Unable to log on

[Ken]

All of a sudden, when I turn on my office computer running
Windows 2000, I get a "Log on to Windows" screen Showing
User Name as Administrator and asking for a Password.
There is no password on the system which is a stand alone
computer. Pressing enter or putting in a default password
results in the message "The system could not log you on.
Make sure your user name and domain are correct, then type
your password again..." As I said, I never set up a
password on this computer and my only option is to shut
the computer down or restart, which results in the same
thing. I can't even boot up into a DOS prompt. Any ideas
as to how to overcome this problem and get back on my
computer? I found this on the computer Monday morning
after the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanks for any assistance.

 

[Paul [MSFT]]

Hi Ken,

Microsoft has no steps for getting past a lost password for Windows - even
if it appears that your <null> password has changed. There may be 3rd party
solutions available (Internet Search) but again, I cannot recommend any.

If you need to access all the data on the system you might try a parallel
install. We do this routinely for OS troubleshooting.

Please see the following information:

266465 HOW TO: Perform a Parallel Installation of Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=266465

=========

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=========
Paul Hayes, MCSE
Product Support Services
Microsoft Corporation
(e-mail address removed)