Guest Bob Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password and now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her original XP disk, does she have any other way of getting to reset her password. She of course did not leave a hint as she was going to remember the phrase. Any ideas? I told her to sleep on it over night and a good change the phrase will come back to her. Am I overlooking something obvious. She has her original installation XP disk. Bob
Guest Ron Badour Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Re: Password http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=321305 is an article that deals with a forgotten password. -- Regards Ron Badour MS MVP 1997 - 2008 "Bob" <bobl@efn.org> wrote in message news:Q5-dne38vqHQVdfVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.chambers2... >I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password >and now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her >original XP disk, does she have any other way of getting to reset her >password. She of course did not leave a hint as she was going to remember >the phrase. > > Any ideas? I told her to sleep on it over night and a good change the > phrase will come back to her. > > Am I overlooking something obvious. She has her original installation XP > disk. > > Bob >
Guest Nepatsfan Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Re: Password "Bob" <bobl@efn.org> wrote in message news:Q5-dne38vqHQVdfVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.chambers2... >I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password and >now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her >original XP disk, does she have any other way of getting to reset her password. >She of course did not leave a hint as she was going to remember the phrase. > > Any ideas? I told her to sleep on it over night and a good change the phrase > will come back to her. > > Am I overlooking something obvious. She has her original installation XP > disk. > > Bob > She can try logging on with the built-in Administrator account and going to Control Panel -> User Accounts to change the password. How she logs on with the Administrator account depends on what version of XP she has installed on the laptop. Note: If XP Professional is installed on the laptop and she encrypted any files, resetting her password will cause problems in accessing those files. XP Home Edition To logon with the built-in Administrator account in XP Home Edition you have to restart the computer and boot into Safe Mode. To start in Safe Mode, reboot your computer and start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything displayed on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter. Click on the Administrator icon. Unless you changed it, the password should be blank. XP Professional Restart your computer. If the Welcome screen is displayed, hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination twice. This should bring up the Log on to Windows dialog. Enter Administrator in the User Name box. If you set up a password for this account, enter it now. Otherwise, leave the password box blank. If she's still locked out of the laptop, take a look at these web sites for information on creating a bootable CD that will let her reset passwords. Offline NT Password & Registry Editor http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ Ultimate Boot CD for Windows® http://www.ubcd4win.com/howto.htm Good luck Nepatsfan
Guest Anna Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Re: Password "Bob" <bobl@efn.org> wrote in message news:Q5-dne38vqHQVdfVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.chambers2... >I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password >and now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her >original XP disk, does she have any other way of getting to reset her >password. She of course did not leave a hint as she was going to remember >the phrase. > > Any ideas? I told her to sleep on it over night and a good change the > phrase will come back to her. > > Am I overlooking something obvious. She has her original installation XP > disk. > > Bob Bob: Assuming your friend can't come up with her password and the other responses to your (her) query aren't sufficient to resolve the problem so that she's able to once again have a bootable, functional system...consider the following: Access the following website: http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/ and download the freely available program that will allow you to create a bootable CD that with which you will be able to reset your password. We prepared step-by-step instructions for using this program for some local PC users. Hopefully it will be of some use to you and your friend (or others interested in this issue). And you will help her with this, won't you? 1. On the top of the webpage click on the "Bootdisk" button. 2. In the "Download" section of that page click on the cd070927.zip file and download it to your Desktop. Note it's a ZIP file so the contents of that file will have to be extracted. 3. I assume you know how to do this by merely right-clicking on the ZIP file, click on Extract All, Next, Next, Finish. 4. A folder will be created on your Desktop titled "cd070927". 5. Inside that folder will be the cd070927.iso file. It's this .iso file that allows you to create a bootable CD from that .iso image. 6. Hopefully, you have a CD-burning program, e.g., Nero, Roxio, etc., that allows you to merely double-click on the .iso file and the program will open and create a bootable CD from that .iso image. If you don't have such a program perhaps you have a friend or acquaintance who does and he or she can help you with creating the bootable CD. There are other programs available on the net that allow you to do this as well but these third-party programs that I've mentioned make it a very simple & straightforward process. Now that you've created the bootable CD that's designed to reset your password, insert the CD in your optical drive and boot to it. The following are step-by-step instructions for using the program. The example involved is a single-partitioned HDD, but the basic steps are the same for any size HDD, except where the drive is multi-partitioned. If the latter is the case the steps will be slightly different but they will not be unduly complicated or substantially different under those circumstances. As you progress through the screens the information provided and steps involved look more complicated than they really are. In virtually every step during the process you, as the user, will simply be pressing the Enter key or some other simple keystroke. So please don't be unduly concerned as you look through the following. Relax, and take your time during the process. 1. Hopefully your PC is set up so that it will boot to a bootable CD. If it's not, change the motherboard's BIOS boot priority setting so that the CD-ROM is first in boot priority. 2. Boot to the password reset CD. At the first screen you will see the "boot:" prompt. Press Enter. 3. The next prompt ("Step ONE") will be "Select: [1]". Press Enter. 4. The next prompt ("Step TWO") will be "What is the path to the registry directory? (relative to windows disk) [WINDOWS/system32/config]:". Again, press Enter. 5. The next prompt will follow text "Select which part of registry to load, use ..." and list three options. The default prompt will reflect the first option ("Password reset ..."), indicating "[1]". Again, press Enter. 6. The next prompt at "Step THREE" will indicate "What to do? [1]". Again, press Enter. 7. A bunch of information will follow with the final line displaying the prompt, "or simply enter the username to change [Administrator]". Type your user name, e.g., ANNA, and press Enter. Ensure you've correctly entered your user name in the proper case (uppercase or lowercase as you have originally set it). 8. More information will follow ending with the following prompt... "Please enter new password:". Type an * (asterisk or star) and press Enter. 9. The next prompt will be... "Do you really wish to change it? (y/n) [n]". Type y and press Enter. (You'll receive the confirmation "Changed!") 10. The last line of the following prompt will read... "or simply enter the username to change [Administrator]". Type ! (exclamation point) and press Enter. 11. The last line of the next prompt will read... "What to do? [1]" . Type q and press Enter. 12. The next prompt ("Step FOUR") will read... "About to write file(s) back! Do it? [n]". Type y and press Enter. 13. At this point you should get the "EDIT COMPLETE" message with the following prompt... "You can try again if it somehow failed, or you selected wrong New run? [n]" Just press Enter. 14. The final prompt will be a "#" signaling that the program has finished its work. Remove the CD from your optical drive and reboot. Hopefully your Administrator's password has now been reset to a blank password and you should gain access to your system. Anna
Guest Bob Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Re: Password Thank you all for your help. The solution that worked was to go into F8 and Safe Mode and then to the Administrator password which we had left blank when it was set up a year ago....There is one happy student who has not lost all of her stuff. Bob "Bob" <bobl@efn.org> wrote in message news:Q5-dne38vqHQVdfVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.chambers2... >I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password >and now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her >original XP disk, does she have any other way of getting to reset her >password. She of course did not leave a hint as she was going to remember >the phrase. > > Any ideas? I told her to sleep on it over night and a good change the > phrase will come back to her. > > Am I overlooking something obvious. She has her original installation XP > disk. > > Bob >
Guest Nepatsfan Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Re: Password You're welcome. On a side note, now would be a good time to point out to your friend the value of backing up important files. That way when something like this happens in the future, she wouldn't have to worry about losing all her stuff. Nepatsfan "Bob" <bobl@efn.org> wrote in message news:C9CdnZv15PovfdfVnZ2dnUVZ_tDinZ2d@posted.chambers2... > Thank you all for your help. The solution that worked was to go into F8 and > Safe Mode and then to the Administrator password which we had left blank when > it was set up a year ago....There is one happy student who has not lost all of > her stuff. > > Bob > > "Bob" <bobl@efn.org> wrote in message > news:Q5-dne38vqHQVdfVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.chambers2... >>I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password and >>now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her >>original XP disk, does she have any other way of getting to reset her >>password. She of course did not leave a hint as she was going to remember the >>phrase. >> >> Any ideas? I told her to sleep on it over night and a good change the phrase >> will come back to her. >> >> Am I overlooking something obvious. She has her original installation XP >> disk. >> >> Bob >> > >
Guest Plato Posted June 8, 2008 Posted June 8, 2008 Re: Password Bob wrote: > > I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password and > now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her BIOS password or windows password? -- http://www.bootdisk.com/
Guest Lisa Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 Re: Password Nepatsfan Thank you for your help you probably saved me about 50.00 from not having to take my computer to a computer repair shop...You are AWESOME!!! Thanks so much "Nepatsfan" wrote: > "Bob" <bobl@efn.org> wrote in message > news:Q5-dne38vqHQVdfVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.chambers2... > >I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password and > >now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her > >original XP disk, does she have any other way of getting to reset her password. > >She of course did not leave a hint as she was going to remember the phrase. > > > > Any ideas? I told her to sleep on it over night and a good change the phrase > > will come back to her. > > > > Am I overlooking something obvious. She has her original installation XP > > disk. > > > > Bob > > > > > She can try logging on with the built-in Administrator account and going to > Control Panel -> User Accounts to change the password. How she logs on with the > Administrator account depends on what version of XP she has installed on the > laptop. Note: If XP Professional is installed on the laptop and she encrypted > any files, resetting her password will cause problems in accessing those files. > > XP Home Edition > > To logon with the built-in Administrator account in XP Home Edition you have to > restart the computer and boot into Safe Mode. > To start in Safe Mode, reboot your computer and start tapping the F8 key as soon > as you see anything displayed > on the screen. > Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup Options menu appears. > Use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to select Safe Mode. > Hit Enter. > Click on the Administrator icon. > Unless you changed it, the password should be blank. > > XP Professional > Restart your computer. > If the Welcome screen is displayed, hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination > twice. > This should bring up the Log on to Windows dialog. > Enter Administrator in the User Name box. > If you set up a password for this account, enter it now. Otherwise, leave the > password box blank. > > If she's still locked out of the laptop, take a look at these web sites for > information on creating a bootable CD that will let her reset passwords. > > Offline NT Password & Registry Editor > http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ > > Ultimate Boot CD for Windows® > http://www.ubcd4win.com/howto.htm > > Good luck > > Nepatsfan > > > >
Guest Nepatsfan Posted August 23, 2008 Posted August 23, 2008 Re: Password You're welcome. Nepatsfan "Lisa" <Lisa@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:0E2D5466-A945-402B-97B4-F51B932A43CA@microsoft.com... > Nepatsfan > > Thank you for your help you probably saved me about 50.00 from not having to > take my computer to a computer repair shop...You are AWESOME!!! Thanks so much > > > > "Nepatsfan" wrote: > >> "Bob" <bobl@efn.org> wrote in message >> news:Q5-dne38vqHQVdfVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.chambers2... >> >I have a friend who I gave a Dell Laptop to and she changed her password and >> >now has forgotten it...other than reformatting and putting on again her >> >original XP disk, does she have any other way of getting to reset her >> >password. >> >She of course did not leave a hint as she was going to remember the phrase. >> > >> > Any ideas? I told her to sleep on it over night and a good change the >> > phrase >> > will come back to her. >> > >> > Am I overlooking something obvious. She has her original installation XP >> > disk. >> > >> > Bob >> > >> >> >> She can try logging on with the built-in Administrator account and going to >> Control Panel -> User Accounts to change the password. How she logs on with >> the >> Administrator account depends on what version of XP she has installed on the >> laptop. Note: If XP Professional is installed on the laptop and she encrypted >> any files, resetting her password will cause problems in accessing those >> files. >> >> XP Home Edition >> >> To logon with the built-in Administrator account in XP Home Edition you have >> to >> restart the computer and boot into Safe Mode. >> To start in Safe Mode, reboot your computer and start tapping the F8 key as >> soon >> as you see anything displayed >> on the screen. >> Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup Options menu appears. >> Use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to select Safe Mode. >> Hit Enter. >> Click on the Administrator icon. >> Unless you changed it, the password should be blank. >> >> XP Professional >> Restart your computer. >> If the Welcome screen is displayed, hit the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination >> twice. >> This should bring up the Log on to Windows dialog. >> Enter Administrator in the User Name box. >> If you set up a password for this account, enter it now. Otherwise, leave the >> password box blank. >> >> If she's still locked out of the laptop, take a look at these web sites for >> information on creating a bootable CD that will let her reset passwords. >> >> Offline NT Password & Registry Editor >> http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ >> >> Ultimate Boot CD for Windows® >> http://www.ubcd4win.com/howto.htm >> >> Good luck >> >> Nepatsfan >> >> >> >>
Recommended Posts