Unable to log into machine

[IanB]

I have just been trying to set up an ad hoc network between myself and two
colleagues in a client office. The machine of one of my colleagues (running
XP Pro) was acquired from a previous client and had been LAN-connected there,
so on bootup he is prompted for a username and password, even though he has
left the previous company and only works stand-alone on that machine.
On trying to set up a workgroup name for his machine, the 'change name'
window under 'My computer/properties' indicated that the machine featured on
a domain, mutually exclusive to a workgroup. On selecting 'workgroup' and
entering the required name, it prompted for the account name of a user
authorised to make such a change - my colleague's username showed in the
drop-down and so we chose that.
This looked successful and we were prompted to reboot the machine for the
change to take effect, which we did. This returned us to a logon screen that
now does not recognise the previous logon name/password - so effectively
logging my colleague out altogether. He's not best pleased and I'm
embarassed ...

Anyone got a way out of this situation, please?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have just been trying to set up an ad hoc network between myself and two
colleagues in a client office. The machine of one of my colleagues
(running
XP Pro) was acquired from a previous client and had been LAN-connected
there,
so on bootup he is prompted for a username and password, even though he
has
left the previous company and only works stand-alone on that machine.
On trying to set up a workgroup name for his machine, the 'change name'
window under 'My computer/properties' indicated that the machine featured
on
a domain, mutually exclusive to a workgroup. On selecting 'workgroup' and
entering the required name, it prompted for the account name of a user
authorised to make such a change - my colleague's username showed in the
drop-down and so we chose that.
This looked successful and we were prompted to reboot the machine for the
change to take effect, which we did. This returned us to a logon screen
that
now does not recognise the previous logon name/password - so effectively
logging my colleague out altogether. He's not best pleased and I'm
embarassed ...

Anyone got a way out of this situation, please?

When you moved to a workgroup environment, you broke the
trust relationship you previously had. You must now use a local
user account & password. The previous owner should be
able to give you one.

 

[IanB]

Pegasus, thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately the previous owner was over 2 years ago and has left the
company concerned. We have no way of getting past the login panel to find
out if there was any other account set up! Would booting up from a Windows
CD give us the option of creating such an account?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Wow! Your friend has been sailing on the back of an account
based on a trust with a domain that ceased to exist two years
ago. I did not know that you can do this! Anyway, you can
reset the administrator's password with a boot disk from here:
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

You will need to do some profile manipulation in order
to restore your friend's various settings. He should also
plan ahead and create a second admin account, same as
he has at least two sets of car keys, for obvious reasons.

 

[IanB]

Thanks again - we'll have a look into that.

I.

Wow! Your friend has been sailing on the back of an account
based on a trust with a domain that ceased to exist two years
ago. I did not know that you can do this! Anyway, you can
reset the administrator's password with a boot disk from here:
http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

You will need to do some profile manipulation in order
to restore your friend's various settings. He should also
plan ahead and create a second admin account, same as
he has at least two sets of car keys, for obvious reasons.