XP Pro

[Guest]

I forgot the admin password, installed new drive and had significant problems installing XP Pro again, in the process I lost track of the admin password?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Cesar,

I always wonder how people "lose" a password, especially one so critical.

In any case, if you can't come up with it, and there are no other admin
account passwords (and by the way there is no need for the admin password
when doing a repair installation by booting the CD, you only need the
Product Key), then you have two choices:

1) Format, start clean

2) http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_passwords.htm

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Andrea Howard]

I was having trouble with the admin password too. I never even knew about it
until I was asked for it. I am trying to do a repair with the cd and it asks
for the password. I don't know what to do because this is as far as I can
get in the computer. Not using the cd has my computer rebooting over and
over once it reaches the Windows black screen. I have no idea what happened
to cause this and I would really like to try and save the things on my hard
drive. But any help would be great.

Thanks
Andrea

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Andrea,

The admin password is blank until you set one. If you never set one, then
simply hitting <enter> should get you by the prompt.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Andrea Howard]

I tried to hit enter without typing anything and it goes to c:\ windows>
Or something very close to that. I have no idea where to go from there.
Thanks for the help but I'm still stuck.

Andrea

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Andrea,

That "C:\Windows>" prompt is exactly where you want to be when you run the
Recovery Console. It means you are in and can work on the system. What you
do from here depends on what is actually wrong.

Now, I am assuming you booted the CD, at the prompt to hit "r" to repair the
system, and you did exactly that. Doing this loads the Recovery Console, a
command line environment which is where you are now.

*If* you are seeking to do a repair installation (which I suspect you are),
then you are the victim of a misleading prompt. Boot the CD, do NOT hit "r"
to repair, instead start setup. Hit F8 to agree to the license screen. The
installer should now detect the existing installation and offer to repair
it. If you are looking to repair the existing installation, you should
select it now and proceed. You may also at this point wipe out everything
and start from scratch. Either way, make sure you have your Product Key
handy as you will need it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone