how to retrieve administrator's password

[OR]

I am not sure whether or not I set an administror's password when I
installed XP professional. I want it for accessing the Recovery Console. XP
won't boot so I can't use the Management Console. Is there a way around this
predicament?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am not sure whether or not I set an administror's password when I
installed XP professional. I want it for accessing the Recovery Console. XP
won't boot so I can't use the Management Console. Is there a way around
this predicament?

You cannot "retrieve" it but you can reset it while WinXP
is up and running, e.g. like so:
- Click Start/Run/cmd{OK}
- Type this command:
net user administrator {NewPassword}
And while you're at it: Create a new admin account + password
and store the details in a safe place. Having a single admin
account is asking for trouble, same as having just one single
set of car keys.

 

[Nepatsfan]

I am not sure whether or not I set an administror's password when I installed
XP professional. I want it for accessing the Recovery Console. XP won't boot so
I can't use the Management Console. Is there a way around this predicament?

Since you can't boot XP, you might want to try running one of these bootable
CDs. They will allow you to reset the password for the Administrator account to
a blank password.

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

Ultimate Boot CD for Windows®
http://www.ubcd4win.com/howto.htm

Good luck

Nepatsfan