Passwords at start screen

[Adam]

I forgot the password I use to protect my PC from house
guests etc. and can not access my personal files. What
should i do?

 

[Chris Lanier]

Greetings

Because of the security features built into Windows XP, it is virtually
impossible to get

back into the system without a valid password. You have several options to
try and get

around this problem.

If you have access to another user account with administrator rights, you
can use that

account to change the password of the account that is locked out. You can
also use the

default Administrator account that is built into Windows
XP.

First you need to boot the system into Safe Mode:

1. Restart your system.
2. When you see the initial startup screen, press the ( F8 ) key about 3
times a
second.
3. You should get the Windows startup menu. Use the (Up or Down) arrow keys
to
highlight (SafeMode)
4. Press (Enter) on (Safe Mode), then press (Enter) on (Windows XP).
5. The system should boot to Safe Mode.

Once you are at the Account Log on Screen, click on the icon for the user
account with

administrator rights, or click on the icon for the administrators account.

Note: For Home the Administrator account isn't normally shown & in Safe Mode
you have to

press Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys twice to show. For PRO you can do this in normal
mode.

When the system has booted to the desktop, use the following steps to change
the accounts

password:

1. Click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools.
2. Click Computer Management.
3. Double click Local Users and Groups, double click the folder Users.
4. Right click on the account name that is locked out, and click on Set
Password.
5. You may get a warning message about changing the password, simply click
proceed.
6. Leave the New Password box blank, also leave the Confirm Password box
blank.
7. Click OK, and OK again.
8. Then close all Windows, reboot the system and try to log in.


There are also applications that can recover the password for you.
The following companies provide these applications at a cost:

iOpus® Password Recovery XP: http://www.iopus.com/password_recovery.htm
LostPassword.com : http://www.lostpassword.com/
Asterisk Password Recovery XP v1.89 :
http://www.fadsoft.com/password_recovery.htm
Windows XP / 2000 / NT Key:
http://www.lostpassword.com/windows-xp-2000-nt.htm


If the above information does not help in recovering the password, the only
option left is

to format the hard drive then reinstall Windows and the system software.

Perhaps the following articles can help:

How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your Password
Expires
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321305

Administrator and User Passwords in Windows XP
http://www2.cajun.net/~theriots/xpsitefolder/win_xp_passwords.htm

[Courtesy of Kelly Theriot, MS-MVP]

Ultimate Password Recovery Guide
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,3504258,00.html

[Courtesy of Carey Frisch MS-MVP]

 

[Alex Nichol]

I forgot the password I use to protect my PC from house
guests etc. and can not access my personal files. What
should i do?

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