Administrator Password

[Jason]

I was working on my computer the other day and a restart
was required after Microsoft updates were installed. I
restarted my computer and I got a couple of messages.
First it told me that I had an invalid Boot.ini. It
proceeded to tell me that windows could not start because
the following file was missing or corrupt: Windows\System32
\Hal.dll. According Dell and Microsoft's knowledge base
all I needed to do was use the recovery cd to repair the
file. Unfortunately for me, it asks for an Administrator
password. I have no idea what that password is. I do not
recall setting this up when I first got my computer. I am
very good at writing that kind of stuff down when
required. I cannot find that info. Is there anyway to find
that information or is there anyway to bypass the password
to repair my system? I have backed up my files somewhat
recently, but there are files that I have that I'd like to
keep. A format of the hard drive is an option, but I'd
like to leave that as a last resort. Any thoughts or
comments are appreciated. Thanks

 

[Tony Talmage]

I believe the Administrator password is blank by default. If you do not
recall specifically setting the Administrator password, chances are it is
still blank.

--
Tony Talmage
Web Developer
Graphic Education Corporation
http://www.graphiced.com
(888) 354-6600

 

[rifleman]

|I was working on my computer the other day and a restart
|was required after Microsoft updates were installed. I
|restarted my computer and I got a couple of messages.
|First it told me that I had an invalid Boot.ini. It
|proceeded to tell me that windows could not start because
|the following file was missing or corrupt: Windows\System32
|\Hal.dll. According Dell and Microsoft's knowledge base
|all I needed to do was use the recovery cd to repair the
|file. Unfortunately for me, it asks for an Administrator
|password. I have no idea what that password is. I do not
|recall setting this up when I first got my computer. I am
|very good at writing that kind of stuff down when
|required. I cannot find that info. Is there anyway to find
|that information or is there anyway to bypass the password
|to repair my system? I have backed up my files somewhat
|recently, but there are files that I have that I'd like to
|keep. A format of the hard drive is an option, but I'd
|like to leave that as a last resort. Any thoughts or
|comments are appreciated. Thanks
|
if XP was pre-installed then it is 99.99% probable that the
Administrator password is blank. Try just hitting "enter" when the
dialog box comes up and see what happens.

 

[Jason]

I did try just a blank character and it tells me that it
is an invalid password. I have the same exact problem as
listed in Article 330184. Unfortunately for me, I cannot
get passed the admin password portion.

 

[Mike]

Here is a web site where you can download a local
administrator password reset utility. BE SURE TO READ ALL
DIRECTIONS FIRST. The publisher of the site states USE AT
YOUR OWN RISK. With that being said, I have used it 5-6
times on Win2k machines and it worked great. Have not
tried it on an XP box so I'm note sure it will work. The
web site may have updated info on that.
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

Mike