administrator password in Recovery console

[Guest]

I'm trying to do a 'repair install' from the winxp home cd, after I choose
"R" to repair from the recovery console; a prompt comes up asking for the
administrator password. I didn't set a password, I am the administrator and
only user. I've tried leaving it blank and just pressing enter but it just
goes to the command prompt. Is there a command that I am supposed to type to
continue?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

 

[Nepatsfan]

(e-mail address removed),

I'm trying to do a 'repair install' from the winxp home cd,
after I choose "R" to repair from the recovery console; a
prompt comes up asking for the administrator password. I
didn't set a password, I am the administrator and only user.
I've tried leaving it blank and just pressing enter but it
just goes to the command prompt. Is there a command that I
am supposed to type to continue?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

To perform a repair install you don't enter the recovery
console. You pressed R at the wrong screen. Follow this
procedure:

Restart your computer and boot from the XP installation CD.
At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, hit Enter.
Hit F8 to accept the license agreement.
You should next see a screen which shows the XP installations
present on your computer. Highlight the one you want to repair
and now hit the R key.

Take a look at these articles for more info:

Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP
How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q315341&ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

FYI, I hope you've backed up any important files before
following this procedure. While your data should be safe,
there's always the possibility that something could go wrong.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Guest]

Wow what a quick response! Thank you soo much. That is working so far.
Now if I didn't want to do a repair but I did want to use the recovery
console, How do I satisfy that password glitch, when none has been set?

Thanks again for solving my original problem.

 

[Nepatsfan]

That "command prompt" you saw in your earlier attempt,
C:\Windows>, was the Recovery Console. The steps you took were
exactly what should be done when the administrator account has
a blank password. There's no "password glitch", just hit Enter
when it asks for a password.

Recovery Console provides an environment where you can obtain
access to limited areas on your system. Recovery Console uses a
special set of commands. To view the commands enter Help at the
prompt. To see help for a specific command enter Help followed
by the specific command, e.g. Help Attrib. Enter Exit to leave
the Recovery Console and restart your computer.

Here are some articles with more info:

Recovery Console overview
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...en-us/recovery_console_overview.mspx?mfr=true

Recovery Console commands
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ocs/en-us/recovery_console_cmds.mspx?mfr=true

Good luck

Nepatsfan

(e-mail address removed),