Lost Password/Locked out of computer

D

dks-n-tn

We are trying to help a friend fix his computer. I use XP, but his computer
is Vista Home Premium, so i don't know anything about Vista.

The problem is when he signs on, he is prompted to enter a password. He does
not have a password assigned. He also has no access to any other account
choices...only his. I used Trinity Rescue Kit, and it says no Windows
installed. I tried Ophcrack, and the passwords are empty for his account,
administrator, and guest. Vista cd's did not come with the computer. Is there
any way to repair this without having to restore default settings? Will
everything be lost if restoring default settings such as pictures, etc?

Thanks for any help you can provide.
 
J

Joe Tinney

Boot the machine into Safe Mode by pressing F8 during boot time. In Safe
Mode, the Administrator account that is typically disabled is enabled and
can be used to reset the password of the user. The Administrator account has
no password. Reboot the machine after the change is made. This may result in
a loss of any data under the users profile if Vista does anything like
Private files in Windows XP. Further research may be required regarding
changing a users password from another account in Windows Vista.

Good luck.
 
D

dks-n-tn

Joe, thank you for your replay. I cannot even get into Safe Mode. I read on
another forum that perhaps the Norton 360 is the problem as they have some
issues with their updates and Vista. I have been trying to get Norton to
help, but it is useless. After waiting nearly 30 minutes, the rep didn't even
understand my problem. Thanks for any additional info.
 
D

dks-n-tn

We ended up reinstalling Windows. We could not even try to repair or restore.
Everything needed a password except for reinstalling. After nearly 12 hours
of fighting with this, we finally got into the computer. Now is the task of
setting everything up again...email, additional programs, etc. I have XP and
had considered to upgrade to Vista, but after working with this computer. I
think I will just stay with XP. I'm not sure if it was the computer I was
working on or not, but it sure seemed Vista was slow and jumbled.

I would love to know how a password could mysteriously be needed when there
was no password installed. I sure don't want to go through all this again!
Any ideas??? Windows Update, Norton 360, dumb luck???
 

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