Administrator Password

[Jane]

My Dell PC has recently crashed and has been unusable for
over 2months now. It fails to load up Windows XP due to a
missing/corrupt file. Was going to reformat the hard drive
but can't as it requests the administrator password. I
must have set that password up a year and a half ago and
didn't realise its importance and now have forgotten it.
Have tried all my usual passwords but with no luck. Is
there any way to obtain this password bearing in mind I
cannot access windows? Thanks for your help

 

[Iskandar Taib]

My Dell PC has recently crashed and has been unusable
for

over 2months now. It fails to load up Windows XP due to a
missing/corrupt file. Was going to reformat the hard drive
but can't as it requests the administrator password. I
must have set that password up a year and a half ago and
didn't realise its importance and now have forgotten it.
Have tried all my usual passwords but with no luck. Is
there any way to obtain this password bearing in mind I
cannot access windows? Thanks for your help

If you're going to reformat anyway, set up the machine to
boot from the CD (can't remember how it's done on a Dell -
it's in the CMOS setup), and run the Windows XP
reinstall from the CD.