System Locked-No Admin PW

[mark]

After installing a Linksys Wireless card, I received a
message "176 The system had been tampered with."
"Enter Administrator Password."
I have never, and intentionally did not set a password
when I re-installed XP.
Is there a way to over-ride this message. I've tried to
perform a clean install at start-up. NO Luck, does not
recognize Boot Disk.

I get this message during boot-up (Black Screen), and it
won't allow me to go any further.

 

[Robert Kahl]

I do not believe this is a XP related error message, but rather an error during boot reported by your BIOS (IBM perhaps?)
You need to enter your password for the system setup, not your XP admin password.

 

[Colin Nash [MVP]]

Is this message coming up from within Windows itself?

It looks more like this is a BIOS error code and it wants you to enter the
password that has been set to protect the BIOS setup screens.

This has nothing to do with Windows at all. If you really don't know the
password for this, you can override it by clearing the CMOS. Inside the
case, find the CMOS clear jumper (you may need to consult the manual for
your motherboard.) The jumper is usually near the battery or the BIOS chip.
With the power off (!) move the jumper to its alternate position for a few
seconds and then put it back. Then plug the system back in and power it up.
You may need to reset your clock after this.

I hope this isn't too confusing. If you aren't comfortable with this kind
of tinkering with the hardware, you could always bring the system to a
qualified computer technician.