Lost password XP Pro administrator account

[Ray]

Help!

Hey, our 10-year old made himself administrator on our XP
Pro but forgot his password. Can I do anything about
this. If not, can I go in from a limited other user's
account and format the C drive to reinstall?

Thanks a bunch...

Ray

 

[Brian]

If you boot up in safe mode F8 prior to splash screen it
will ask you to enter a password for the administrator
account. Now what is not common knowledge is that this is
not the pawword you changed it is the password you set
during the install (if you installed) most people do not
relize this and leave it blank. Once you get into windows
in safe mode you can go and reset the user passwords and
rights.

Brian

 

[Alex Nichol]

Hey, our 10-year old made himself administrator on our XP
Pro but forgot his password. Can I do anything about
this. If not, can I go in from a limited other user's
account and format the C drive to reinstall?

This is where the reserve, emergency account called Administrator comes
in. Boot, hitting F8 as BIOS info goes to black; take Safe Mode, There
will then be an icon for Administrator on the Welcome screen. (If not,
hit CTL-ALT-DEL twice and enter the explicit name
Administrator
and leave the password blank)

In that, Start - Run the line
control userpasswords2
where you can select any account name and Reset Password

 

[rifleman]

This is where the reserve, emergency account called Administrator comes
in. Boot, hitting F8 as BIOS info goes to black; take Safe Mode, There
will then be an icon for Administrator on the Welcome screen. (If not,
hit CTL-ALT-DEL twice and enter the explicit name
Administrator
and leave the password blank)

In that, Start - Run the line
control userpasswords2
where you can select any account name and Reset Password

And then remove his Administrative rights and password-protect the
Administrator log-on so the little **** can't do it again.