windows XP home - password

[ash]

I've been trying to reinstall my windows XP home to correct a few issues. It
asks for 'administrators password'. This OS was last installed 3 years ago..
I dont recall if I ever created a password. Is there a default password? ..or
how do I access if I never created a password? thanks -

 

[Malke]

I've been trying to reinstall my windows XP home to correct a few issues.
It asks for 'administrators password'. This OS was last installed 3 years
ago.. I dont recall if I ever created a password. Is there a default
password? ..or
how do I access if I never created a password? thanks -

It sounds like you are in the Recovery Console, which is not how you
reinstall Windows. The password being requested is the Administrator
account's password. With XP Home, that is almost always a blank. However,
as I said that isn't how you install Windows. You need to boot from the XP
CD and not push "R". Here are instructions:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand

Remember that when you do a clean install, everything will be gone so make
sure you've backed up your data first.

Malke

 

[omultiv]

I've been trying to reinstall my windows XP home to correct a fe
issues. It
asks for 'administrators password'. This OS was last installed 3 year
ago..
I dont recall if I ever created a password. Is there a defaul
password? ..or
how do I access if I never created a password? thanks -

I little confused about this problem..but i thought its not nee
password if you reinstalled the OS.
maybe you forgot the administrator passwords. You can reinstall agai
the OS

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I've been trying to reinstall my windows XP home to correct a few issues. It
asks for 'administrators password'. This OS was last installed 3 years ago..
I dont recall if I ever created a password. Is there a default password? ..or
how do I access if I never created a password? thanks -

Three points:

1. Yes there's a default password, and it's blanks.

2. If you are asked for a password, you are undoubtedly doing the
installation incorrectly.

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

3. However reinstalling to correct a few issues is almost always a
mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to
reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0,
3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and
now Windows Vista, each for the period of time before the next version
came out, and each on two or more machines here. I never reinstalled
any of them, and I have never had anything more than an occasional
minor problem.

It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost
any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and
reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the
phone quickly, it almost always works, and it doesn't require them to
do any real troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't
possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to
restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your
programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and application
updates, you have to locate and install all the needed drivers for
your system, you have to recustomize Windows and all your apps to work
the way you're comfortable with.

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may
have trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs?
Can you find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data
backups to restore? Do you even remember all the customizations and
tweaks you may have installed to make everything work the way you
like? Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve
that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far
between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for
troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only after all
other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have failed.

And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without
finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the
behavior that caused it, and quickly find yourself back in exactly the
same situation.

If you have problems, post the details of them here; it's likely that
someone can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.

 

[philo]

I've been trying to reinstall my windows XP home to correct a few issues.
It
asks for 'administrators password'. This OS was last installed 3 years
ago..
I dont recall if I ever created a password. Is there a default password?
..or
how do I access if I never created a password? thanks -

You do NOT need a password to install XP.

 

[haunt]

Want to get rid of Windows Vista? Discovered that none of the software (and even some hardware) you’ve been using for years is compatible? You’re not alone…

Windows Vista has been out for a year and a half now, and public opinion is still fiercly divided. Those who purchased ultra-fast new computer systems may love it, but the rest of the public, especially those who upgraded an older PC from Windows XP to Windows Vista probably wish they never had…

It’s possible to go back to Windows XP, though it may not be easy. Especially not if you purchased a new system with Windows Vista but now find yourself pining for the easy charms (and fast loading times) of Windows XP.

Why would anyone want to go back to Windows XP? Well, because it still works just fine.

After all, you know that Windows XP runs fast, and you know it likes the software applications you’ve already paid good money for. Windows Vista has a lot of new features, and may prove to be the better OS in the long run, but for right now, many, many users will be better served within the familiar confines of Windows XP.

First the unfortunate truth: There is no ‘undo’ button for getting rid of Windows Vista. Sadly, there is no easy way to go back to Windows XP as such… you’ll either have to remove the entire operating system and start fresh with Windows XP, or do nothing at all.

Making Preparations

Before PCSTATS gets into the nitty-gritty of preparing your computer for a Vista Exorcism, let’s go over how to save your essential files, emails and contact information. Vista is going to be completely wiped off your computer forever, so you will need to preserve those precious bits of yourself that are already stored in the ill-fated OS.

If you’ve used Windows Mail in Vista and can’t afford to be without your valuable email messages and contact info, here’s how to back it up. Once backed up you can return it to Outlook Express or Windows Mail installed on Windows XP, for that matter.

Backing up E-Mail

Windows Vista stores all emails in the .eml file format at the location ‘C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsMail\ Local Folders’ where ‘Username’ is the user name that you use in Windows Vista. You will have to enable the viewing of hidden files and folders to navigate to this location. To enable hidden file viewing, open any directory, then go to ‘organize/folder and search settings’ and click the ‘view’ tab. Enable the ‘view hidden files and folders’ option.


As you can see, the directories here mimic the various mail boxes in Windows Mail. Each contains multiple .eml files which correspond to individual email messages. Their names are not particularly revealing, so if you want to be picky about the messages you save, export the whole lot and delete the ones you don’t want later. To export these messages to Windows XP, we simply need to copy the data onto removable media such as a USB drive or burn it to a CD. If you have a second hard disk or partition, you can also move the data to a folder there for safekeeping.