administrator password not accepted at boot Windows XP Pro SP2

[Albert]

I recently added password to the administrator account on Windows XP Pro SP2;
at reboot the password was not accepted; how can I get access to my computer?

Many thanks,

Albert

 

[Malke]

I recently added password to the administrator account on Windows XP Pro
SP2; at reboot the password was not accepted; how can I get access to my
computer?

Apparently you are entering an incorrect password. Make sure your caps lock
isn't on. Log into another user account with administrative privileges and
do:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type "mmc" (without the quotation marks), and then click
OK to start MMC.
3. Start the Local Users and Groups snap-in.
4. Under Console Root, expand "Local Users and Groups", and then click
Users.
5. In the right pane, right-click Administrator, and then click Set
Password.
6. Click Proceed in the message box that appears.
7. Type and confirm the new password in the appropriate boxes, and then
click OK.

If you only have the one user account (and now you can see why having only
one user account is foolish, so make an extra one after you get into the
system), use NTpasswd to change the built-in Administrator account's
password to a blank.

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

Then go to the User Accounts applet in Control Panel and set passwords that
you will remember and make other desired changes.

Malke

 

[Albert]

Thanks Malke,

unfortunately (and foolishly) I only have the admin account on the PC; I
will thus have to go the "NTpasswd" route.

One item of importance that I did not mention: after having defined the
admin pasword in windows, I selected the "protect files with password option"
and since this took a long time I looked in Task Manager and saw program not
responding.
I then very foolishly (I admit) stopped the file-password protection with
"end program" and rebooted the machine with the previously mentioned results.
also, I DO remeber the admin password; it's just not accepted..

Am I in for a complete reinstall?

Albert

 

[JohnB]

And you tried a blank password also?

Thanks Malke,

unfortunately (and foolishly) I only have the admin account on the PC; I
will thus have to go the "NTpasswd" route.

One item of importance that I did not mention: after having defined the
admin pasword in windows, I selected the "protect files with password
option"
and since this took a long time I looked in Task Manager and saw program
not
responding.
I then very foolishly (I admit) stopped the file-password protection with
"end program" and rebooted the machine with the previously mentioned
results.
also, I DO remeber the admin password; it's just not accepted..

Am I in for a complete reinstall?

Albert

 

[Malke]

Thanks Malke,

unfortunately (and foolishly) I only have the admin account on the PC; I
will thus have to go the "NTpasswd" route.

One item of importance that I did not mention: after having defined the
admin pasword in windows, I selected the "protect files with password
option" and since this took a long time I looked in Task Manager and saw
program not responding.
I then very foolishly (I admit) stopped the file-password protection with
"end program" and rebooted the machine with the previously mentioned
results. also, I DO remeber the admin password; it's just not accepted..

Am I in for a complete reinstall?

No, I don't think so. I would go with NTpasswd because it takes about 2
minutes to change the Administrator's password to a blank. The alternative
would be to do a System Restore but you'll still need to get into the
computer unless you have some heavy-duty rescue software like the old ERD
Commander.

Some tips for using NTpasswd (which obviously you'll need to get from a
working computer):

1. Download the bootable CD .iso.

2. You need to burn this as an image, not as data. That means using
third-party burning software such as Roxio, Nero, or one of the free
programs like CD Burner XP Pro or Deep Burner.

3. Set your computer to boot from the optical drive first, put the NTpasswd
CD you made in the drive, and boot to it. You can basically follow the
defaults. Don't be upset that this is Linux and command line. It is very
clear what to do. The only place people tend to get messed up on is that to
change the password to a blank (which is what you should do) you need to
type the asterisk - * - not just leave it blank. Then type the exclamation
point - ! - to quit and then say Y to make the change. Just read the
instructions carefully and you'll be OK.

And definitely make yourself a couple of extra user accounts. You don't ever
need to log into them - unless there is an emergency like this one and then
you'll be glad you made them.

Malke