Cann't Access windows after NTFS conversion from FAT32

[Guest]

After conversion of FAT32 to NTFS, the machine rebooted. I tried to use the
same user password or admin password without any luck. I have Win XP Pro and
I'm the only user. Any help to gain access back to windows? I have SP2
installed. Thanks.

Mahmoud

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

Try treating this as a lost or forgotten password as follows:
If you have XP Pro on your computer, at the log in screen type
ctrl-alt-delete
twice. In the user account type administrator, leave the password blank and
press enter. You likely didn't create a password for this hidden account
during setup and if the computer was purchased with XP pre-installed it
doesn't likely have one either,

If you have Home, boot into Safe Mode (F8 after the post test and before
Windows starts. Once Windows starts loading, you've missed it and will have
to try again). You'll have an option to log on as Administrator. Again,
the same procedure, you'll be asked to log in to get into safe mode, type
administrator, leave the password blank and press enter.

This will get you in. Then go to Control Panel, user accounts, select the
specific user and select change password. Once you've changed the password
it would be advisable to create a Password Reset Disk by clicking "Prevent a
Forgotten Password" link in the left pane.


--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

 

[Guest]

Mike,

Thanks. It didn't work. Still asks for password for administrator. I plugged
the machine to my small network and I could see its C:drive, but I could not
access any of its files or subdirectories.

Mahmoud

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

That's the hidden admin account unless that was the account you were using
as administrator. If you created your own administrator account, you should
still be able to access the account named "Administrator" by leaving the
password blank and pressing enter.

--
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol.

Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

 

[Guest]

Mike,
In Safe Mode, and under "to begin, click your user name" there are two
icons, one for Administrator and one for user account. If I click on the
Administrator and press enter, the yellow ballon with "Did you forget your
password?" appears and I cannot pass without typing a passowrd. It does not
accept the password that I know from before converting to NTFS on either
icon. So, I'm stuck.

Mahmoud

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

Okay, we've pretty well shot our wad here.

If you can see the files when plugged into your network, the access issue is
likely one of file ownership. Take ownership of the files according to my
instructions below, move the files to a different system and format this
system and start over from scratch:

Note, file ownership and permissions supersede administrator rights. How
you resolve it depends upon which version of XP you are running.

XP-Home

Unfortunately, XP Home using NTFS is essentially hard wired for "Simple File
Sharing" at system level.

However, you can set XP Home permissions in Safe Mode. Reboot, and start
hitting F8, a menu should eventually appear and one of the
options is Safe Mode. Select it. Note, it will ask for the administrator's
password. This is not your administrator account, rather it is the
machine's administrator account for which users are asked to create a
password during setup.

If you created no such password, when requested, leave blank and press
enter.

Open Explorer, go to Tools and Folder Options, on the view tab, scroll to
the bottom of the list, if it shows "Enable Simple File Sharing" deselect it
and click apply and ok. If it shows nothing or won't let you make a change,
move on to the next step.

Navigate to the files, right click, select properties, go to the Security
tab, click advanced, go to the Owner tab and select the user that was logged
on when you were refused permission to access the files. Click apply and
ok. Close the properties box, reopen it, click add and type in the name of
the user you just enabled. If you wish to set ownership for everything in
the folder, at the bottom of the Owner tab is the following selection:
"Replace owner on subcontainers and objects," select it as well.

Once complete, you should be able to do what you wish with these files when
you log back on as that user.

XP-Pro

If you have XP Pro, temporarily change the limited account to
administrative. First, go to Windows Explorer, go to Tools, select Folder
Options, go to the View tab and be sure "Use Simple File Sharing" is not
selected. If it is, deselect it and click apply and ok.

If you wish everything in a specific folder to be accessible to a user,
right click the folder, select properties, go to the Security tab, click
Advanced, go to the Owner tab,
select the user you wish to have access, at the bottom of the box, you
should see a check box for "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects,"
place a check in the box and click apply and ok.

The user should now be able to perform necessary functions on files in the
folder even as a limited account. If not, make it an admin account again,
right click the folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab and be
sure the user is listed in the user list. If not, click add and type the
user name in the appropriate box, be sure the user has all the necessary
permissions checked in the permission list below the user list, click apply
and ok.

That should do it and allow whatever access you desire for that folder even
in a limited account.



--
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol.

Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

 

[Guest]

Mike,

You are correct, I can see the files and directories of that machine through
another machine on the network, but I still cannot access that machine
according to your instructions below which assume that Admin password is
empty or available to change files ownership. The second problem is that if I
try to use my Win CD to reformat or re-install a clean copy, existing win SP1
currently on the machine will not allow older version of OS to overwrite the
newer version on the machine. Any work around?

I also checked MS KB articles about losing PWD after simple upgrade or
update of Win XP and I'm surprised to see MS not yet developed a fix to this
SERIOUS problem.

I have seen your contributions in answring many other questions and I really
appreciate the time you put into this.

Mahmoud

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

You're welcome and thank you for the kind words.

I think you are saying you cannot move the file from the old machine to the
other machine by initiating the move from the other machine. If that's the
case, a different scenario might be tried. If you can install XP to a
separate partition on the same system, you might then be able to move the
files across from one to the other. If you don't have an extra partition on
this hard drive, creating another one would require the use of third party
software such as Partition Magic or System Commander. If that fails, I'd
think your only choices would be to either lose what's on there and start
over or take it to a professional file recovery service. Though, there is
the possibility you might find a file recovery utility on the Internet that
might do the trick as well, you'd have to do a search on Google, I have no
recommendations for such a utility.

As to the second issue, the procedure for a clean install is as
follows-NOTE: below those instructions I will provide information on what to
do if you receive the same message with regard to an older version of the
OS:

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive, boot with the XP
CD in the drive. If it isn't or you are not sure, you need to enter the
system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter setup press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

A few screens into the boot process, if you see the message on the boot
screen to "Press any key in order to boot from the CD," do so.

After loading drivers and files, you should be taken to a screen with
the following:

To Setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To Repair a Windows XP Installation using Recovery Console press R.
To Quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

In your case, press ENTER.

Agree to the License agreement by pressing F8.

You will then be taken to a screen with two options.

To repair the selected Windows XP installation press R.
To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing,
press ESC.

This will bring you to a partition map where you
can delete, create and format partitions.
Select the drive you wish to format, delete the partition, then create a new
partition, format as desired and continue with XP installation.

If the above fails for the problem you mentioned, you can use any Windows 9x
boot floppy disk to FDISK the partition, then run setup as above. You would
boot from the floppy, switch to the "C" drive at the "A" prompt, type FDISK
and press enter. If the conversion to NTFS was successful, you would delete
the Non-Dos Partition, then exit FDISK, reboot with the XP CD in the drive
and follow the above steps to create a new partition, format and install XP
clean.

With regard to losing a password, if that's all this was, that has been
addressed by Microsoft in the form of giving users the option to create a
password reset disk when they create a password for a user account. That
option is in that area, located in the left column under the heading,
Prevent Lost or forgotten password.

However, this appears to be something different, perhaps some sort of
corruption that either existed prior to the conversion or may have been
caused by it. Whatever the case, the only way to deal with such an
eventuality is for the user to regularly backup their system, at least their
data files, to some media off their hard disk. While procedures such as
this generally go without issue, you are still performing brain surgery on
your system, things can and do go wrong and its just as important/imperative
for users to take the proper steps to help insure their data against loss.
You should realize, that some measures Microsoft might take to address some
issues such as this beyond user backups would compromise security and as
such would place user files at even greater risk than the potential of loss
in a situation such as this.





--
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol.

Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/