Hi Mindylea,
I think you have two issues - lets try to solve both ways:
1) Lost password - there are quite a few ways to get around this, the page at:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/lostpass.htm
is referred to in these newsgroups a fair amount and gives some good tips to
help you out of a tricy situation
2) Can't re-install - there are a few possibilities here - it could be that
the disk with your system is not quite the correct version - there are a few
different versions, and as you are asking for help here I'm guessing this
isn't something like a Dell system. Another possibility is that you have an
XP version which is only for installing on a blank disk (I saw this a lot in
Win 98 & ME) and won't install if you have the O/S already installed - then
you could either buy a new hard disk (which is cheaper than a new O/S and
install to that (though it might still not work!), format your existing disk
with some other tools and start afresh (though, again, this still might not
work!) or buy a new copy of the O/S. IF you have a boxed copy of Windows XP
you are probably entitled to telephone support from Microsoft, if you have an
OEM version (the cert on your PC with the s/n says OEM or the PC makers name)
then they should provide support.
If I haven't managed to get you out of a hole yet, then please post a reply
with any more info that you can and I'll try a little more.
Regards,
Jason