Password Problem

[Guest]

I have just re-installed Windows XP in my laptop. Everything was ok until it
asked me my name for my account and whether i wanted a second named account,
which I thought I did. Arriving at the log-on page I was asked for my
password. I had not yet set up a password. I tried some of the passwords I
use but each one brings up the message :
The system cannot log you on due to the following error
The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted.
Please try again or contact your system administrator

Since i am de facto the system administrator -- what do I do?

I cannot even turn off the computer, other than by holding down the power
switch - it is stuck on this page.

 

[Bob [MVP]]

If you haven't set up a password yet, don't enter one
when you log in. The same applies to the actual
Administrator account.

--
-Bob
_______________________________
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Media Center Edition
http://www.microsoft.com/ehome

 

[Guest]

It makes no difference as soon as i click on my name I am asked for a
password and even if I enter nothing I still get the same message as before.
I think I'll try reloading XP and see what that does.

 

[Guest]

Try hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del twice at the logon screen to bring up the classic
logon. Then use the account name of Administrator with no password.

 

[Guest]

Have just tried that. It made no difference. I am re-installing from CD and
hope that if I skip wherever that is an option instead of filling in forms
that i might get there.

 

[DanS]

Have just tried that. It made no difference. I am re-installing from
CD and hope that if I skip wherever that is an option instead of
filling in forms that i might get there.

use the boot disk here: http://home.eunet.no/
~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

which contains a p/w changing utility to change the password of ANY account
w/o knowing the original p/w

(shows how incredibly easy it is to bypass Windows logon security)

DanS

 

[Malke]

use the boot disk here:
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

which contains a p/w changing utility to change the password of ANY
account w/o knowing the original p/w

(shows how incredibly easy it is to bypass Windows logon security)

DanS

I also use NTpasswd and highly recommend it. Just a note here, though -
this doesn't show anything about Windows logon security. Any computer
running any operating system can be gotten into by a person with skill
and time and physical access. You can do the same with my SuSE Linux
box. This doesn't make Windows or SuSE logons insecure - computers that
need to be absolutely secure can't be physically accessible by just
anyone.

Malke

 

[DanS]

I also use NTpasswd and highly recommend it. Just a note here, though -
this doesn't show anything about Windows logon security. Any computer
running any operating system can be gotten into by a person with skill
and time and physical access. You can do the same with my SuSE Linux
box. This doesn't make Windows or SuSE logons insecure - computers that
need to be absolutely secure can't be physically accessible by just
anyone.

Malke

Maybe my statement may have been somewhat harsh, but still, I think non-
technical people, that don't have vast experience with comuters, don't
know that there are utilities like this. I know several people,
personally, that were truly shocked when I demonstrated using this disk
to just get into any machine no problem. They were small business owner's
that took care of their own network's, so they knew enough to keep the
thing's running. But they were under the assumption that you just
couldn't do that.

It was funny.....one company had a 256K DSL connection. The owner thought
that was fast, being only used to dial-up. I mentioned to him that I get
sustained d/l thru cable of 4 megabit's/sec. Almost 3 T1's, I said. Being
a very intelligent engineer and successful business owner, he got this
look of disbelief on his face, then said, 'It can't be better than a T1.
I'll have to verify that with Steve'.

Steve is a consultant in control electronics he calls in here and there
for projects. His computer expert. He just didn't think I could get that
speed to my home when his slow business DSL cost's 4 times as much. He
also still believed that a T1 line was the best you could get.


DanS

 

[Guest]

This looks like my way forward. Right now I am again reloading the XP from
disk and whereas previously had chosen the Recovery option, this time I have
chosen set-up from scratch, thus reformatting the HD, so we'll see what
happens. FYI the guy in the shop whom I've been consulting without charge,
thinks I may have a damaged sector on the HD. Thanks folks for all comments,
even the ones that didn't solve the problem. It's good to know there are
these forums available.