locked out

[Tom Edwards]

In attempting to give my Windows 98se computer Lan access
to my 2000Professional computer:

I was exploring the Permissions settings and made a couple
of changes which I thought would eliminate the need for a
password. I believe I made changes to the logon for the
2000 computer while I was at it ..... figuring that if
this didn't work I could change them back to default.

Well this backfired big time. I'm now locked out. On
trying to boot it says: "The local policy of this system
does not permit you to log on" (without typing in a non-
existent password).

I think I trashed my C drive. Fortunately I don't keep any
critical files on C.

Do I have to re-install Windows, or even reformat (or with
my locked-out status will it even let me re-install??

Or - is there a way I can get back in?

Thanks for considering this.

 

[Steven L Umbach]

There a couple of ways to try and remedy the situation, unfortuneately they
involve the use of another W2K/XP Pro computer on the network or the
secedit.sdb file from another one. I will leave the link below anyhow.

http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBG/TIP3300/rh3361.htm

Reinstalling would fix the problem. You don't have to format as you could
reinstall into the existing \winnt folder that would be detected by the
install process which should preserve your data [unless encrypted with EFS
without an exported backup key]. Either way, you will first have to install
service pack and then all critical updates after the install and then
reinstall all your applications on top of themselves. Be sure you do not
connect to the internet until you have some sort of firewall
rotection. --- Steve

 

[Guest]

Tom, the original poster, again: feedback:

I am unfamiliar with command line calisthenics - also I
had just renamed that computer so my XP laptop which was
on the same lan would not find it, I figured - so I just
attempted to "repair" w2k from the disk. It was going
great, but when I tried to reboot: Still locked out.

So I reformatted, and now I'm in (that computer). Lotsa
web searching looking for my specialized drivers etc.

Thanks again

 

[Ahovi G. Kponou]

Hi Steve,

I noticed you responded recently to two similar questions
regarding being locked out from Windows 2000. In my
situation, I was trying to set up a home LAN with a new XP
laptop and an old W2K laptop linked by a Linksys router.
I created a new workgroup with the new XP computer and
that setup worked fine. However, I ran into problems with
my W2K laptop. It's a laptop from a former employer and I
believe it was set up originally in the company's domain.
First, I changed the name of the computer (from that
originally given by the administrator) and then I
attempted to switch the network settings from the old
company domain to the new workgroup so I could transfer
files between my two computers. After doing these
changes, I was prompted to restart the computer to have
them take effect. When I attempted to use my old W2K
password/username, it doesn't recognize them. I tried
every permutation of my "old
username"/"administrator"/"old computer name"/"new
computer name" in the user name field along with my old
password, but nothing works so I'm effectively locked out
of my system. Unfortunately, I don't remember the admin
password nor do I have W2K setup CD ROM's. What would you
suggest I do?

Thanks for your help.

-----Original Message-----
There a couple of ways to try and remedy the situation, unfortuneately they
involve the use of another W2K/XP Pro computer on the network or the
secedit.sdb file from another one. I will leave the link below anyhow.

http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBG/TIP3300/rh3361.htm

Reinstalling would fix the problem. You don't have to format as you could
reinstall into the existing \winnt folder that would be detected by the
install process which should preserve your data [unless encrypted with EFS
without an exported backup key]. Either way, you will first have to install
service pack and then all critical updates after the install and then
reinstall all your applications on top of themselves. Be sure you do not
connect to the internet until you have some sort of firewall
rotection. --- Steve

In attempting to give my Windows 98se computer Lan access
to my 2000Professional computer:

I was exploring the Permissions settings and made a couple
of changes which I thought would eliminate the need for a
password. I believe I made changes to the logon for the
2000 computer while I was at it ..... figuring that if
this didn't work I could change them back to default.

Well this backfired big time. I'm now locked out. On
trying to boot it says: "The local policy of this system
does not permit you to log on" (without typing in a non-
existent password).

I think I trashed my C drive. Fortunately I don't keep any
critical files on C.

Do I have to re-install Windows, or even reformat (or with
my locked-out status will it even let me re-install??

Or - is there a way I can get back in?

Thanks for considering this.

.

 

[Steven L Umbach]

See the two links below for tips to try. Renaming the sam account usually works on a
W2K computer if you follow the instructions because it must be done while the
operating system is not active. The other link is to a website that offers a free
program that can either be burned to a cdrom from the ISO image or used from a floppy
to boot the computer and reset the built in administrator password to null -
lank. --- Steve

http://securityadmin.info/faq.asp#password
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

Hi Steve,

I noticed you responded recently to two similar questions
regarding being locked out from Windows 2000. In my
situation, I was trying to set up a home LAN with a new XP
laptop and an old W2K laptop linked by a Linksys router.
I created a new workgroup with the new XP computer and
that setup worked fine. However, I ran into problems with
my W2K laptop. It's a laptop from a former employer and I
believe it was set up originally in the company's domain.
First, I changed the name of the computer (from that
originally given by the administrator) and then I
attempted to switch the network settings from the old
company domain to the new workgroup so I could transfer
files between my two computers. After doing these
changes, I was prompted to restart the computer to have
them take effect. When I attempted to use my old W2K
password/username, it doesn't recognize them. I tried
every permutation of my "old
username"/"administrator"/"old computer name"/"new
computer name" in the user name field along with my old
password, but nothing works so I'm effectively locked out
of my system. Unfortunately, I don't remember the admin
password nor do I have W2K setup CD ROM's. What would you
suggest I do?

Thanks for your help.

-----Original Message-----
There a couple of ways to try and remedy the situation, unfortuneately they
involve the use of another W2K/XP Pro computer on the network or the
secedit.sdb file from another one. I will leave the link below anyhow.

http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBG/TIP3300/rh3361.htm

Reinstalling would fix the problem. You don't have to format as you could
reinstall into the existing \winnt folder that would be detected by the
install process which should preserve your data [unless encrypted with EFS
without an exported backup key]. Either way, you will first have to install
service pack and then all critical updates after the install and then
reinstall all your applications on top of themselves. Be sure you do not
connect to the internet until you have some sort of firewall
rotection. --- Steve

In attempting to give my Windows 98se computer Lan access
to my 2000Professional computer:

I was exploring the Permissions settings and made a couple
of changes which I thought would eliminate the need for a
password. I believe I made changes to the logon for the
2000 computer while I was at it ..... figuring that if
this didn't work I could change them back to default.

Well this backfired big time. I'm now locked out. On
trying to boot it says: "The local policy of this system
does not permit you to log on" (without typing in a non-
existent password).

I think I trashed my C drive. Fortunately I don't keep any
critical files on C.

Do I have to re-install Windows, or even reformat (or with
my locked-out status will it even let me re-install??

Or - is there a way I can get back in?

Thanks for considering this.

.