Lost administrator password

[rocks911]

I recently inherited my daughters older XP laptop because I bought her a new one, how nice for her huh? anyway's shes never needed administrator privileges so shes never needed to log in as the administrator. I need to to update some software and perform some maintenance. I think the password was set by Costco where we bought it and I have no idea what it is.

I have been pulling my hair out trying to get this done and to no avail. I've looked at youtube how to vids and they arent working for me. Someone recommended Kon Boot but the directions are hard to follow (I dont think English is the creators first language) so how on Earth do I do this?

I have probably ten hours invested and I've gotten absolutely nowhere.

 

[DjKraid]

If it's a old laptop I think it would be best to re-install windows, and if you want some files that are locked you can always boot from an Ubuntu Live cd...

But if you want the admin password you could maybe call the company where you bought the laptop from..? -and have you tried all the "default" passwords like "0000", "12345","qwerty", "password" or something that is written on the laptop?

 

[hughva]

XP Home or Pro?
The built-in Administrator account is hidden from Welcome Screen when a user account with Administrator privileges exists and enabled. In Windows XP Home Edition, you can login as built-in Administrator in Safe Mode only. For XP Professional, press CTRL + ALT + DEL twice at the Welcome Screen and input your Administrator password in the classic logon window that appears.
Very often, this password is blank, so try just pressing enter.