Lost my Username & Password

[macmike]

I am an old man with a memory problem (in my head, not my laptop) and I have lost my username and password to log on to my laptop which is a Gateway Pentium III with 312 MB of RAM running Windows XP Home. How can I get around this?

DESPERATE!

[Big Booger]

well,
do you have files you want to access? One way I know of getting around the password, is to reinstall XP over the existing installation.

Do you have a copy of your XP Home CD? Is it a full Os or is it a restore CD from a company like Sony, Compaq, HP, etc???

If it is the full retail Home version, I think you can put it in the CD drive, reboot, and (if your BIOS is setup to boot from CD) you can boot the PC into the XP Home installation, and overwrite the current windows setup. Remember this will not erase your programs, your files, etc...
But it may get rid of your IE favorites, contacts for outlook etc.. if you have any.

Other than that, if you have the funds, there is a program that will recover the password for you.. it is rather expensive, and i'd only recommend it if the data is valuable and you need it right away:

http://www.winternals.com/products/r.../locksmith.asp

Hope that helps! And welcome to TZ! Look out for others who post here, as they may offer some better advice than what I have given.

[macmike]

Thanks Big guy for the info. I do have the Home CD which I bought new. I have tried what you suggest but was notified than I cannot write one OS over another and it wanted to partition my HD. Will I not then have one functional partition and one I still cannot access?

[Big Booger]

did you run the CD from within windows or from the boot? Just checking. Usually when you run it from the boot, it goes through the setup, through the checks, then asks to press F8 for the Eula, then onto several other steps (outlined at the link below)

http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/O...allxphome1.htm

Now we are interested in steps 5 or 6!

At that stage seeing as you have another install of XP Home, you are gonna want to install over the pre-existing installation.

Select the option to install over the current partition, but don't choose to delete it.

When it comes to the format option, leave the current partition intact.. don't format quick or full!

If you need assistance with it, let me know. Black viper's guide is really extensive and gives a lot of great info with images.

If you still cannot get it to work after that, try installing in a separate partition, and trying to move the files and folders that you want, into the new partition. Then format the old password protected partition.

[macmike]

Allrighty, I'll follow your proceedure and see what happens and post the results. I thank you for your time and information. It is a blessing to me.

Mr. Gratefull.....!

[macmike]

Well Big Guy, I did as you suggested and it was sucessful!
Thanks a bunch!

[Dehcbad25]

macmike, now that you can access your computer it will be a good idea to try what we discussed at this post
http://www.techzonez.com/forums/show...light=password
I haven't tried it, but if it works it will be very usefull for you. I am not sure if it works with home edition.

[macmike]

Originally posted by Dehcbad25
macmike, now that you can access your computer it will be a good idea to try what we discussed at this post
http://www.techzonez.com/forums/show...light=password
I haven't tried it, but if it works it will be very usefull for you. I am not sure if it works with home edition.

Thank you very much for the information. I will try this.

[SupaStar]

Agreed. THis will get you out of strife quickly next time

[Big Booger]

Another idea is to put your password and username on a floppy and tape it to the inside of your case. I put my grandmothers under the CDROM drive. If she ever forgot it, i could come over and get the floppy out, check it on my laptop, and she'd be back in business in no time.


The downside is if someone stole your PC (highly unlikely), then they'd have access to your machine.


You could keep it in an alternate location, like a wall safe, or in a locked container of some sort.

[biker666_05]

another way is to go to command prompt and then type net user "the accounts name" *

[cash_site]

Originally posted by biker666_05
another way is to go to command prompt and then type net user "the accounts name" *

Be careful with this one, it resets the password for the account.

Also, this assumes you have access to the cmd prmpt, nice little trick though - in other situations

[joshsiao]

Originally posted by Big Booger
You could keep it in an alternate location, like a wall safe, or in a locked container of some sort.

Er if you were to put it in a safe of some sort, then don't forget the combination or the locaton of the key or you'll probaly have to torch open the safe!

[Big Booger]

at least with a safe you could call a locksmith LOL


With a PC that is a little more of a challenge.