Logon password forgotten, cannot get to windows

henrysmom said:

i cannot get to the start button to do this. when i turn on the computer the "logon to windows" box comes up. asking for user name and password. this is where i'm stuck. so i cannot actually access the computer.

Click to expand...

Logon as administrator buy pressing F8 when windows first starts up and chosing safe mode and you should be able to logon. Then follow the instruction from the message above.

Or you can do it by clicking the start button and then control panel and then click the user accounts once there click on the name you would like to reset the password of any account you wish.



Hope this helps
Puppetgrimm1

I suggested the safe mode option.Henrysmom said she couldn`t get there.

This is my latest google.If you don`t like it,I have others-

Set computer to boot from CD in BIOS.Boot the XP CD.Select the Recovery Console.Manually go in to c:\windows\system32\config and delete the SAM file.

i don't have the cd

the computer is running windows 2000pro. i don't have the original cd to reinstall. i have tried signing in as admin. in safe mode but it still goes to the logon to windows box and since i do not have the password to enter here i can go no farther.

opp's, I thought we where working with windows XP

Here are my other googles-
http://wiki.ittoolbox.com/index.php/FAQ:I_have_forgotten_my_Windows_password._How_do_I_get_in?# - http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

no luck

tried these. the first one didn't work for me and the second site seems to be down.

The second site should be working now, it's up for me.
The most common Linux based password recovery tool is http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/

Read very carefully how to use it, it can seem pretty cryptic to use and may not be suitable for a novice. But if it's your last hope...

You say you tried to log in as "admin", by that you mean "administrator" right? In the login box for SAFE mode, type "administrator" as the username and leave the password box blank, see if you can get in. Then use the "control userpasswords2" command.

re:

tried the logon as administrator thing but it didn't work. i'm not very knowlegdable with technical stuff but i sure would like to use my computer so i am willing to give it a shot. i have been holding off on messing with the motherboard and things i know nothing about but i'm getting desperate.

If u are able to obtain (download and burn image) Hiren's boot CD 7.7, you can boot the pc from the cd and there ara several password changing tools you can try. I used Active password changer and worked perfectly. :grinthumb

henrysmom said:

tried the logon as administrator thing but it didn't work. i'm not very knowlegdable with technical stuff but i sure would like to use my computer so i am willing to give it a shot. i have been holding off on messing with the motherboard and things i know nothing about but i'm getting desperate.

Click to expand...

You don't need to mess with "motherboard and things" to fix this. It is entirely software, so don't think you have to get "in the case". That is, if we are all in the understanding that this password is the WINDOWS logon password, and not like a BIOS password.

At this point, only a password "recovery" or erasing program is going to do the trick. Try finding the program in the last post before mine, or try the link I gave. Use it to erase the password, not change it, but erase. Then you should be able to get in.

If you want a step by step guide for any of these, just ask. Otherwise, read the website and give it a try.

re:

i can download or burn cd's from my desktop computer which is what i am using. i'm just so unsure of which things i need to do. if you could please give me step by step instructions i would be greatly appreciative. i did read these articles but was honestly not sure which to try. thank you all for your help!

Quote-

Austrumi is a Linux bootable ISO image for recovering NT passwords and other cool tools and methods, sized for Business Card size CD media (50Mb). It allows you to change any password, including that of the Administrator, on a partition occupied by Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Simply boot the CD and when you get to the initial boot prompt, type:

boot: nt_pass

This will launch a console utility that will detect Windows partitions on the hard disk and provide you with a menu to modify any user or Administrator passwords on the Windows system. It will even give access to the Windows registry for recovery purposes. Quite a handy utility to keep in your wallet (AUSTRUMI is small enough to fit on a business card-size CD) if you are unfortunate enough to having to deal with Windows machines in your line of work.
- http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/austrumi/austrumi-0.9.9.iso?download When you`ve burnt the image to CD,set your 2000 pc to boot from the CD in the BIOS.Away you go.Edit :If it doesn`t work first time,see the last post here- http://www.petri.co.il/forums/showthread.php?t=3280&pp=10

Here is a link to the archive with the image for the boot cd i mentioned:
http://www.9down.com/downloads.php?fileid=257

at the end of the page is the downoad button. after this unpack and burn the image on cd (i used nero burning rom). restart the pc and boot it from the cd. most of the programs are dos based. there is a menu called Password Tools. choose that menu and after that choose Active Password Changer 3.0. follow the instructions in the program and you are done. :grinthumb

re:

thank you! i will try this today. :wave:

re:

how long did this take for you to download? i still have not finished. i'm going to keep trying and will let you know if it works.

if you are doing the 50mb one then it should not take long on broadband. But if you are on dialup, then it could take a while for sure!

Maybe try one of the other password erasers that isn't so big.

henrysmom said:

how long did this take for you to download? i still have not finished.

Click to expand...

Um,sorry,I should have said choose the download nearest you.If you already did,ignore this post.

another question

i got the archive file downloaded but now i need a "rar" program to open it. any certain one i should try?

Winrar is the most famous. You can get the trial or demo or whatever.

For a free archiver that supports RAR format, try http://www.7-zip.org/
It is pretty popular.

re:

the 9down file was corrupt so i can't use it. i am trying now to use the austrami one but cannot seem to get it to boot off the cd for some reason.

Well since you seem to have so much trouble downloading things and using boot CDs, might as well go for the Peter Hagen tool.
Go to http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
the click Bootdisk at the top.
I suggest reading the whole dang thing. Especially parts about resetting the password

You can download the floppy disk version, thus avoiding boot CDs, and large downloads.

Note that by erasing a password this way, if you had any files "encrypted" in XP, or set your profile folder to hidden, you may not be able to access these files without some serious tweaking. But if you never encrypted or hid stuff, this should work fine.

This tool is not difficult, most selections (for password erasing) are set as the default selection. So for the most part, when the utility boots, you just hit <enter> 5 times and you get there. But of course you want to read each screen.

Hopefully THAT does it!

update

just had to let you all know my computer is now up and running! you guys are the greatest. now i have one more question. i would like to be able to get on the internet to set up everything on it but theres no internet on it right now. so how can i get internet access on it to be able to download new programs? thanks again!