Forgotten Password

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Guest

If I forget my admin password, and none of the third party tools are working,
can I just reinstall Windows XP Professional?

If so, how does one reinstall XP Professional?
 
[email protected] said:
If I forget my admin password, and none of the third party tools are working,
can I just reinstall Windows XP Professional?

If so, how does one reinstall XP Professional?
Click to expand...

You have two options:
- Plan ahead and create a second admin account whose
password you lock away in a safe place.
- Live dangerously and cop it on the nose when the inevitable
happens. Just boot your machine with your WinXP CD
and do a fresh installation.
 
You have two options:
- Plan ahead and create a second admin account whose
password you lock away in a safe place.
- Live dangerously and cop it on the nose when the inevitable
happens. Just boot your machine with your WinXP CD
and do a fresh installation.
Click to expand...

If your talking about the "Administrator" account...You might be able
to reset the password from another account that was given admin
rights. If you set a password for the "Administrator" and had no other
accounts that were given "Administrator" permiisions you can simply
re-install XP and start anew...
Remember though that all your applications will have to be
re-installed as a re-install will create a new registry which will not
have any entries in it as to the applications that where once
installed.

Good Luck,

Trev
 
In (e-mail address removed) had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
If I forget my admin password, and none of the third party tools are
working, can I just reinstall Windows XP Professional?

If so, how does one reinstall XP Professional?
Click to expand...

In addition to what everyone else has said... EFS...

Password Problems:
http://kgiii.info/windows/2k-XP/security/password_problems.html

Be careful with that.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/

"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes
 
When you installed XP if you created a new user account with administrator privileges You may be able to access the built-in administrator account to solve the problem. This account does not have a password, by default.

Reboot the computer and when the log in screen appears, press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice. This will bring up a different log-in dialog. Type Administrator in the user name box and press the ENTER key.

If this logs you onto the system, go to Start / Control Panel / User Accounts. Click "Change an account" and select the user account with the password. Click "Change my password." Type the new password twice and click Apply/OK.

Reboot the computer and log onto your account using the new password that you typed.
 
If I forget my admin password, ....
Click to expand...


Simply log in using the built-in Administrator account (which
cannot be deleted) and modify the desired account(s) and use Start > Run
"control userpasswords2" to modify the desired account(s). By
Click to expand...
design, the only way to log into the Administrator account of WinXP Home
is to reboot into Safe Mode. For WinXP Pro, pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL twice
at the Welcome Screen will produce the standard login dialog box.

How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your
Password Expires
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q321305

Failing that, Linux-based password cracking utilities abound on the
Internet, freely available to anyone who can use Google.

....and none of the third party tools are working,
can I just reinstall Windows XP Professional?
Click to expand...

If you want to spend several hours fixing a problem that normally would
require only minutes, sure. It's your computer (and your time), after all.
If so, how does one reinstall XP Professional?
Click to expand...


After backing up any data you wish to transfer to the new OS
installation, and after downloading all of the WinXP-specific device
drivers from the manufacturer's web site and burning them to a CD,
simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm


--

Bruce Chambers

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safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell
 
I was having some difficulty with the Offline NT site, but I tried again, and
after some effort, was finally able to reset the password.

Thanks for all who replied.
 
In (e-mail address removed) had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
I was having some difficulty with the Offline NT site, but I tried
again, and after some effort, was finally able to reset the password.

Thanks for all who replied.
Click to expand...

Not a problem - I just like to make people aware of the problems they may
potentially encounter if they're using NTFS with EFS enabled. 'Tis a mission
of mine. ;)

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/

"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes
 
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