AMLien said:
So here's my question...
My problem is not only that I don't know the administrator password (which I
believe is set to be blank), it's that anytime I try to do something that
requires administrator privileges (like even activating the hidden
Administrator account in Vista so I can go in and fix my personal account
settings), it's not asking for my Administrator password, but my ASP.NET
password.
I've gathered from other research today that that's some useless user that
gets created when you install certain software and you don't even need it,
but now I can't delete it because I can't do that without my regular
Administrator privleges. So do you know if this password cracker will crack
the ASP.NET user's password too? At least then maybe I could get past the
annoying popup that's not letting me even TRY most of the fixes I've seen
today.
I'm seriously thinking I may be looking at a complete reinstallation, which
would really not be cool since my Dell came preloaded and I don't HAVE the
installation disks. Ugh.
Unfortunately, the Linux password crackers (and both NTpasswd and
Ophcrack are great and free) aren't going to help you because it isn't a
password issue. It's an issue of not having an enabled Administrator
account. I have some fairly lengthly notes about dealing with this
problem from MVP Jimmy Brush. After you get done with all this, I
*strongly* suggest you make at least one (maybe two) extra user accounts
with administrative privileges for emergencies. Here are my notes and I
hope they work for you:
By default, the following conditions are true in Windows Vista:
The built-in administrator account is disabled.
The built-in administrator account cannot log on to the computer in safe
mode.
Note: In some cases, Windows Vista may determine, during an upgrade from
Microsoft Windows XP, that the built-in administrator account is the
only active local administrator account. In this situation, Windows
Vista leaves the built-in administrator account enabled. Additionally,
Windows Vista puts this account into Admin Approval mode.
Note: Safe Mode is supposed to re-enable the built-in admin account in a
bind, but it's got a bug where if you've got a non-welcome screen (and
hence unaccessible) admin account - such as a Media Center Extender
account - Safe Mode will not re-enable the built-in admin, and you will
be locked out.
If users have lost all their administrator accounts and the built-in
Administrator is disabled (as it is by default), Jimmy Brush has come up
with a fix.
Tutorial and fix -
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/Administration/locked_out_of_admin.aspx
Under certain circumstances, you may find yourself without the ability
to log in as an administrator. Some situations include:
* You upgraded from Windows XP, and your administrator account is
gone or disabled
* You demoted all administrator accounts to standard users
* Your administrator account was somehow disabled
* Your administrator account was hidden from the welcome screen,
and you are now unable to use it from inside of your standard user
account(s)
* When attempting to run an administrative utility, you are
required to enter the password for a hidden account called "ASP.NET
Machine Account"
* You receive an error when trying to run an administrative
program, preventing you from changing system settings and running many
programs
In order to fix this problem, you will need to log in to the hidden
"Administrator" account that is on your computer. This account will
allow you to run administrative programs and change system settings so
that you can fix your computer. This will require restarting your
computer, so you may wish to print these instructions for your convenience.
Malke
