Admin/Password issues...

[Ellegon]

OK...here's the deal. I have an old Pentium III/Windows XP Home Edition comp
that I have replaced with a newer Dual core/Vista comp. My girlfriend asked
me to set up the old comp for her to play games on. The problem is that when
I boot-up and it gets to the welcome screen, I can't remember the username
and password that I used to use. Its been over a year since I used this old
comp. I tried rebooting in safe-mode and entering "administration" in to the
username box, but before and/or sometimes after I click on "ok", the comp
reboots automatically and it won't stay in safe mode. What gives? I have
tried every solution that I can find listed within this forum, but can't find
an answer to fix this issue. Do I need to re-format the hard drive? If so,
can I do that without opening Windows? Can I do it with the XP installation
disc? Do I need to use this comp as a boat anchor? Its a good comp and I
can't see junking it just because I can't get "into" it. It seems that with
so may people offering advice on issues, there has to be someone that can
help me resolve this problem. If anyone needs more info, please reply and I
will provide all the info that I can. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

OK...here's the deal. I have an old Pentium III/Windows XP Home
Edition comp that I have replaced with a newer Dual core/Vista comp.
My girlfriend asked me to set up the old comp for her to play games
on. The problem is that when I boot-up and it gets to the welcome
screen, I can't remember the username and password that I used to
use. Its been over a year since I used this old comp. I tried
rebooting in safe-mode and entering "administration" in to the
username box, but before and/or sometimes after I click on "ok", the
comp reboots automatically and it won't stay in safe mode. What
gives? I have tried every solution that I can find listed within
this forum, but can't find an answer to fix this issue. Do I need to
re-format the hard drive? If so, can I do that without opening
Windows? Can I do it with the XP installation disc? Do I need to
use this comp as a boat anchor? Its a good comp and I can't see
junking it just because I can't get "into" it. It seems that with so
may people offering advice on issues, there has to be someone that
can help me resolve this problem. If anyone needs more info, please
reply and I will provide all the info that I can. Thanks in advance
for any help.

Go to http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ . There you will find
zip files that will let you create boot floppy disks or bootable CDs
that will enable you to reset any system password on an NT class
operating system.

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316941

Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

[Ellegon]

I appreciate tyhe attempt, but none of these methods works...I still get the
"Logon to Windows" screem with no way of getti g beyond it. I now have a
useless, Bill Gates approved, boat anchor.

 

[Ricky]

When you boot in safe mode you should use administrator instead of
administration to log on.
See if that makes a difference.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Yes, it is strange. In safe mode, the Welcome screen offers the
"Administrator" account. You don't get the dialog to type into.

 

[Ellegon]

Thanks Mark, but apparently I am not making myself clear here...It was a
mis-print when I typed "Administration", as I did enter "Administrator"...my
bad. It doesn't matter what you put into the user box, it just reboots all
by itself into regular mode, even tho' I am in safe mode. I don't even get
the chance to click on "yes"...it just reboots automatically. Also, the comp
won't allow me to boot off of the Windows XP disc...it just goes to the
normal start-up user/password screen. So, re-formatting off of the Windows
XP disc is not possible unless the instructions provided by other users and
Microsucks is lacking information that I am not privy to as of yet. There
has to be a solution to this issue other than taking it to a repair shop and
spending a ton of money that I don't have to begin with...and since I have
reformatted hard-drives before, this is becoming a moot point. I am very
tempted to see how well it bounces on the pavement in front of my house.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Then the point about failure to logon has nothing to do with the problem.
Failure to boot to the CD, (and the option to repair or reinstall) is a
failure of the BIOS to boot to CD.

bios setup access keys. Go to:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

 

[Ellegon]

Thanks for all of the help, Mark. Nothing is working and quite frankly, that
comp is old and out-dated. I have a new dual core/Vista machine that I use
and my girlfriend can just suffer...lol! Thanks to you and everyone else for
your time and helpful suggestions. Until mext time...Peace!!

Ellegon )0(