Password problem

[Decapad]

Hello - I was trying to get rid of the XP welcome screen on my Compaq pc - in doing so the guideline I followed got me into some trouble. I put in a password ( one I commonly use) and on reboot it did not recognize it - so I am locked out of the pc. Can I do anything? Thank you! D

[CloneRanger]

Try booting in Safe Mode and then doing a System Restore to a time before you attempted the change.

You might need to be in Admin to do it.

[philby]

XP Home or Pro...? It matters: see here (http://help.lockergnome.com/windows/Locked-Xp-Home--ftopict447017.html).

Failing that:

If it was a simple dictionary type password, the basic-tables Ophcrack (http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/) live CD might recover it.

I have also tested this (http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/change-your-forgotten-windows-password-with-the-linux-system-rescue-cd/) method of resetting your (admin) account password and it worked on both machines I tried.

You will, of course have to have access to another machine to create the required disk(s)... :)

HTH

philby

[pajenn]

There are programs for resetting Windows password.

The one I'm familiar with is called Active@ Password Changer (http://www.password-changer.com/). You can use it to create a boot disk (floppy, cd, ...), which lets you change the password. However, it's not free but you could try the demo.

I also think BartPE or the XPE plugin for it includes a free password changer, however I'm not sure (never used it), plus you would have to build a BartPE rescue disk on another computer.