Lost Password on Laptop

T

Tom D.

A friend has asked my help with his Laptop. He is running Windows XP but has
forgotten his password. He has never created a "password" recovery disk but
he does have his Windows XP disk.

Can I boot up on the Windows Disk and reinstall XP creating a new password
to resolve the problem? If so, can I do it without reformatting his hard
drive?

Tom D.
 
J

Jerry

Boot from the XP CD and do a Repair install. You should then have the option
for Name, password, etc.
 
D

David Senior [MVP - Most Valuable Provocateur]

Repair Install always requires a password! So this is a non starter. The only way round is to do a clean install but before that try these utilities some of which are free:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=password+recovery+in+XP&btnG=Google+Search

Hope this helps.
http://www.microscum.com/ns/mlslies/index.htm

Boot from the XP CD and do a Repair install. You should then have the option
for Name, password, etc.

--
I use non Microsoft products wherever possible which requires no activation.

I use Netscape 7.2 as my default browser which has everything I need for my work.

I believe in good Financial Management!! I do not believe in enriching rich jerks!
 
B

Bruce Chambers

Tom said:
A friend has asked my help with his Laptop. He is running Windows XP
but has forgotten his password. He has never created a "password"
recovery disk but he does have his Windows XP disk.

Can I boot up on the Windows Disk and reinstall XP creating a new
password to resolve the problem? If so, can I do it without
reformatting his hard drive?

Tom D.


Simply log in using the built-in Administrator account (which
cannot be deleted) and modify the desired account(s). By 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 Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279783

--

Bruce Chambers

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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having
both at once. - RAH
 
G

Guest

Tom D. said:
A friend has asked my help with his Laptop. He is running Windows XP but has
forgotten his password. He has never created a "password" recovery disk but
he does have his Windows XP disk.

Can I boot up on the Windows Disk and reinstall XP creating a new password
to resolve the problem? If so, can I do it without reformatting his hard
drive?

Tom D.
 
G

Guest

Tom D. said:
A friend has asked my help with his Laptop. He is running Windows XP but has
forgotten his password. He has never created a "password" recovery disk but
he does have his Windows XP disk.

Can I boot up on the Windows Disk and reinstall XP creating a new password
to resolve the problem? If so, can I do it without reformatting his hard
drive?

Tom D.
 
B

Bert Kinney

Hi,

Boot tapping the F8 key as the BIOS information goes by. At the
Windows Advanced Options menu select Safe Mode. On the welcome screen
select Administrator. This is the hidden Administrator account and
assuming a password was never assigned to it click enter. From there
go to Start - Run and type

control userpasswords2

then you can select any user account and Reset Passwords.
 

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