old computer password?

[Patty]

My neighbor gave my son a PC with windows XP on it but her son passed away
awhile ago and we can't boot it with out the name and password.
Can my son just buy windows XP and put it in? Or is there some way around
this? He's 15 and could really use it for school.


Patty

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Patty;
Something here should help:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/lostpass.htm

 

[Patty]

Thanks, I'll give it a try in the morning and let you know.
Patty

 

[Steve N.]

My neighbor gave my son a PC with windows XP on it but her son passed away
awhile ago and we can't boot it with out the name and password.
Can my son just buy windows XP and put it in? Or is there some way around
this? He's 15 and could really use it for school.


Patty

With obtaining a used PC it is best to do a clean install of the OS
anyway; you never know what problems you may have inherited with it. Did
it not come with an XP CD or recovery CD?

Steve

 

[Patty]

He got some software and cables from her but nothing for recovery.If we
purchase win XP do we need a complete system CD or just the upgrade? Will
the PC open the disk at boot?

I don't mind buying the disk if it will work for sure.

Patty

 

[Malke]

He got some software and cables from her but nothing for recovery.If
we purchase win XP do we need a complete system CD or just the
upgrade? Will the PC open the disk at boot?

I don't mind buying the disk if it will work for sure.

Patty

You can use a retail upgrade version of XP if you have qualifying media.
Here is a link explaining that:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/upgrading/matrix.mspx

Normally, you simply boot with the XP cd and do the installation. Here
is a link explaining how to do a clean install (recommended strongly
when you get a used pc):

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Malke

 

[Sharon F]

He got some software and cables from her but nothing for recovery.If we
purchase win XP do we need a complete system CD or just the upgrade? Will
the PC open the disk at boot?

I don't mind buying the disk if it will work for sure.

Patty, might as well wait until you see what you've got. Some of the
systems with XP pre-installed have the recovery program on the hard drive
in a hidden partition. Some of these also include a utility for creating a
restore/recovery disk so look for that too.

If you find out you have none of those things once you're up and running,
either contact the computer manufacturer for replacement CDs or spend some
bucks on a new copy of XP. If you take this last route (purchasing your own
copy), suggest getting a full version since you don't have the media
required for the underlying product that qualifes for the upgrade package.
The upgrade package won't install unless you can produce that during setup.

 

[Alex Nichol]

My neighbor gave my son a PC with windows XP on it but her son passed away
awhile ago and we can't boot it with out the name and password.

Try this: the hidden account called 'Administrator' may let you in.
Boot, hitting F8 as BIOS info goes to black to get the Menu and take
Safe Mode. That should then at 'Welcome' include an icon for
'Administrator'; if not hit CTL-ALT-DEL twice to get a logon dialog,
enter the explicit name
Administrator
and assume that password is null, so Enter immediately. From that,
Start - Run and run
control userpasswords2
and you can select any user account and Reset Password

Once in, make a new account in Control Panel - User accounts and end by
deleting the old one and its personal files