Administrator login password problems

[Guest]

Hi,
I am in a blind panic because i cannot get into my home computer. i have
forgotten my login password and i did not keep a back up of it, so i cant log
on at all.
i am the administrator/owner, so it is a dreadful thing to be locked out of
my own pc.
there is no way to get a hint or anything because i simply cannot log on at
all.
do you have any advice pls.
urgent because everything is in my home pc.

thanks
suzanne
Galway
Ireland.

 

[WTC]

Hi,
I am in a blind panic because i cannot get into my home computer. i
have forgotten my login password and i did not keep a back up of it,
so i cant log on at all.
i am the administrator/owner, so it is a dreadful thing to be locked
out of my own pc.
there is no way to get a hint or anything because i simply cannot log
on at all.
do you have any advice pls.
urgent because everything is in my home pc.

Hi suzhannah,

How to log on to Windows XP if you forget your password or if your
password expires
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321305

Use "Method 2" from the KB article.

 

[JS]

Remember as mentioned above: The default password is a blank (no password
required).

Also See: Forgotten your Windows XP Home password
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894902/en-us
and: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894901/

For XP Pro users:
You do not need to go into Safe Mode.
At the Welcome Screen, do/press the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys twice to display the
Windows logon box.
Type in "Administrator" (without the quotes) and 'if' you assigned a
password when you set up Windows, then enter it. (Note: by default the
password is blank, no password need be entered)

Once your in, then:
Click Start/Run/and type in: Control Userpasswords2 and then press OK
Next click on the Advanced tab and then click Manage Passwords.

Also see: How to log on to Windows XP if you forget your password or if your
password expires
(This Microsoft article applies to both XP Home and Pro)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321305/en-us

JS

 

[JS]

The first part of my earlier post that was missing is below:

For XP Home users:
Boot the computer into Safe Mode
Do this by pressing the F8 key after the Power On Self Test is finished,
until the Start menu appears.
This will get you to the correct menu window.
Once in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account
and any other accounts.
(Note: Accounts are displayed alphabetically).
Use the Up/Down arrow keys to highlight the 'Adminstrator' account;
Remember as mentioned in the earlier post: The default password is a blank
(no password required).

JS

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi,
I am in a blind panic because i cannot get into my home computer. i have
forgotten my login password and i did not keep a back up of it, so i cant
log
on at all.
i am the administrator/owner, so it is a dreadful thing to be locked out
of
my own pc.
there is no way to get a hint or anything because i simply cannot log on
at
all.
do you have any advice pls.
urgent because everything is in my home pc.

thanks
suzanne
Galway
Ireland.

You can change the password from outside the account, either from the
(actual) Administrator account, which in XP Home is available only in Safe
Mode and by default has no password, or by way of a password reset utility.
Those are available on a number of Linux CDs.

However, you don't mention whether you have XP Home or Pro. If you have XP
Pro, there's a potential issue that you must be aware of, and that has to do
with the encrypting file system. If you chose to encrypt files, changing
the password from outside the account will instantly prevent you from ever
seeing the contents of those files again in unencrypted format. The only
exception will be the unfortunately unusual situation where you actually did
finish the task and export the account certificates, and can re-import them.

So, if you have XP Pro, pause before you reset the password, and think of
whether you encrypted. If you even think you might have, and didn't make
the certificate export diskette, do NOT reset the password. Instead, to
get working, clone the disk to another drive, use that drive, and reset the
password on the cloned disk. Set the original drive aside and do nothing
with it for a while. Then, you can easily figure out what is missing, and
make attempts at leisure to guess the password. Protect the original
drive.

Hopefully, this won't apply to you, but if it does, you must be aware of the
risk. Too late is definitely too late.

HTH
-pk